1 China’s Energy Transition Strategy in the Context of Global …
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415.59 Mtoe, with an average annual growth rate 12.54%. The share of nonfossil energy grew from 5.9 to 13.9% while coal dropped from 73.7 to 58.3%.
The coal consumption realized negative growth in 2014, and energy-related CO 2
emissions also fell for the first time in the same year.
Based on the foregoing, the 2005–2015 period was chosen for research. This
decade was featured by a difficult energy transition, which was largely enabled by the
government’s strategic guidance. China’s first comprehensive five-year energy development plan—the 11th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development (NDRC 2007a) was
unveiled during 2005–2010, followed by the 12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development (State Council 2013), the Renewable Energy Law of the People’s Republic of
China (National Energy Administration 2006), the medium and long-term development plan for renewable energy (NDRC 2007b), the 11th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development (NDRC 2008), and the “Strengthening Actions to Address
Climate Change—China’s National Independent Contribution” (State Council 2015)
formulated in the new era to support the Paris Agreement. Identifying the trends of
China’s energy system during this period not only helps us understand the actual
impact of previous policies on energy transition, but also provides reference for
future strategies in this regard.
1.3.2 Recent Trend of China’s Energy System
To understand the structural changes in China’s energy system from 2005 to 2015,
the 2005 China Energy Allocation Sankey diagram (Fig. 1.4) drawn by Ma et al
(2012) was compared with the 2015 diagram (Fig. 1.5) by Yang et al. (2019). The
diagrams reveal in details the flow and distribution of energy in various stages of the
Chinese energy system, from sources, end-use conversion devices, passive systems
Fig. 1.4 China’s energy allocation sankey diagram in 2005
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415.59 Mtoe, with an average annual growth rate 12.54%. The share of nonfossil energy grew from 5.9 to 13.9% while coal dropped from 73.7 to 58.3%.
The coal consumption realized negative growth in 2014, and energy-related CO 2
emissions also fell for the first time in the same year.
Based on the foregoing, the 2005–2015 period was chosen for research. This
decade was featured by a difficult energy transition, which was largely enabled by the
government’s strategic guidance. China’s first comprehensive five-year energy development plan—the 11th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development (NDRC 2007a) was
unveiled during 2005–2010, followed by the 12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development (State Council 2013), the Renewable Energy Law of the People’s Republic of
China (National Energy Administration 2006), the medium and long-term development plan for renewable energy (NDRC 2007b), the 11th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development (NDRC 2008), and the “Strengthening Actions to Address
Climate Change—China’s National Independent Contribution” (State Council 2015)
formulated in the new era to support the Paris Agreement. Identifying the trends of
China’s energy system during this period not only helps us understand the actual
impact of previous policies on energy transition, but also provides reference for
future strategies in this regard.
1.3.2 Recent Trend of China’s Energy System
To understand the structural changes in China’s energy system from 2005 to 2015,
the 2005 China Energy Allocation Sankey diagram (Fig. 1.4) drawn by Ma et al
(2012) was compared with the 2015 diagram (Fig. 1.5) by Yang et al. (2019). The
diagrams reveal in details the flow and distribution of energy in various stages of the
Chinese energy system, from sources, end-use conversion devices, passive systems
Fig. 1.4 China’s energy allocation sankey diagram in 2005