Chapter 1
China’s Energy Transition Strategy
in the Context of Global Climate Change
Linwei Ma, Christine Yuan, and Honghua Yang
Abstract Worsening climate change has brought grave challenges to global energy
development. All countries need to make urgent joint actions to speed up low-carbon
transition of the energy sector. China, as the largest energy-related greenhouse gas
emitter, plays a crucial part in global low-carbon energy transition. Clear strategic
guidance is one of the indispensable factors for the country’s successful transition.
With the integration of energy system in mind, this chapter builds on the basic
concepts of energy transition strategy and framework of system analysis to elaborate on China’s energy transition strategy amid global climate change. The chapter
contains three sections: energy challenges in China, the history, recent trends and
future path of China’s energy system, and policy recommendations for energy governance and energy markets. Overall, the challenge of China’s energy transition in the
context of global climate change lies not only in the call to expedite carbon emission
reductions in the energy system, but also in the need to address other energy issues
such as energy equity, energy security, and environmental protection. To solve all
these issues, it must consider the unique evolution and changing pattern of China’s
energy system itself, follow the mechanism, and meticulously craft the strategy
of energy transition (energy revolution) that suits the national situation. Under the
policy objectives of the energy revolution, such as capping total energy consumption,
peaking carbon emission, and increasing the share of non-fossil energy, China must
accommodate energy system integration relative to coordination between energy
and economy, between energy and infrastructure and between energy and regional
development. To this end, this chapter envisions the “3+1” energy system integration, and proposes to build a regional smart energy system that features the blend of
“smart energy farms—smart energy towns—smart energy industrial parks—smart
energy transportation networks”. However, this poses new challenges to the existing
energy governance system and energy market management. Therefore, it’s essential
L. Ma (B) · H. Yang
Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, China
e-mail: malinwei@tsinghua.edu.cn
C. Yuan
Corporate Relations, Rio Tinto China, 100004 Beijing, China
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Tsinghua-Rio Tinto Joint Research Centre for Resources, Energy and Sustainable
Development, Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Tsinghua
University, China’s Resources, Energy and Sustainable Development: 2020,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6100-3_1
1
China’s Energy Transition Strategy
in the Context of Global Climate Change
Linwei Ma, Christine Yuan, and Honghua Yang
Abstract Worsening climate change has brought grave challenges to global energy
development. All countries need to make urgent joint actions to speed up low-carbon
transition of the energy sector. China, as the largest energy-related greenhouse gas
emitter, plays a crucial part in global low-carbon energy transition. Clear strategic
guidance is one of the indispensable factors for the country’s successful transition.
With the integration of energy system in mind, this chapter builds on the basic
concepts of energy transition strategy and framework of system analysis to elaborate on China’s energy transition strategy amid global climate change. The chapter
contains three sections: energy challenges in China, the history, recent trends and
future path of China’s energy system, and policy recommendations for energy governance and energy markets. Overall, the challenge of China’s energy transition in the
context of global climate change lies not only in the call to expedite carbon emission
reductions in the energy system, but also in the need to address other energy issues
such as energy equity, energy security, and environmental protection. To solve all
these issues, it must consider the unique evolution and changing pattern of China’s
energy system itself, follow the mechanism, and meticulously craft the strategy
of energy transition (energy revolution) that suits the national situation. Under the
policy objectives of the energy revolution, such as capping total energy consumption,
peaking carbon emission, and increasing the share of non-fossil energy, China must
accommodate energy system integration relative to coordination between energy
and economy, between energy and infrastructure and between energy and regional
development. To this end, this chapter envisions the “3+1” energy system integration, and proposes to build a regional smart energy system that features the blend of
“smart energy farms—smart energy towns—smart energy industrial parks—smart
energy transportation networks”. However, this poses new challenges to the existing
energy governance system and energy market management. Therefore, it’s essential
L. Ma (B) · H. Yang
Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, China
e-mail: malinwei@tsinghua.edu.cn
C. Yuan
Corporate Relations, Rio Tinto China, 100004 Beijing, China
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Tsinghua-Rio Tinto Joint Research Centre for Resources, Energy and Sustainable
Development, Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Tsinghua
University, China’s Resources, Energy and Sustainable Development: 2020,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6100-3_1
1