Saving energy

China is taking some drastic measures to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The government has ordered mills and factories to shut down and cut power to homes.

While the economies of other countries are struggling, China's economy has grown tremendously to become the world's second-largest economy, recently surpassing Japan.

It has made China the world's leading energy consumer and the largest source of climate-changing greenhouse gases. Although it is not bound by U.N. treaties aimed at reducing the gases, Beijing has vowed to limit emissions and set national energy-saving targets at odds with economic expansion.

Mills are being idled in rolling blackouts in some provinces. Homes left without power cannot flush toilets that need electricity for their water pumps. Earlier this year, Beijing closed nearly 2,000 factories with poor environmental performance records.

In another province, manufacturers of mobile phones, computers and other electronics have been forced to close for five days every two weeks.

The mandates have forced one major steelmaker, Baosteel Group, to suspend production, possibly for up to three months, curbing economic production, reducing jobs and interfering with delivery schedules domestic and foreign consumers depend on. Such harsh, extreme measures will come at a high cost.