16
L. Ma et al.
and consumption, and build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system.”
These dimensions and goals of energy revolution had been widely deployed in China,
such as in the 13th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development (NDRC 2016b).
It can be seen that the focus of China’s energy revolution has expanded from
energy conservation, usage reduction and energy security to consumption, supply,
technology, institutions and international cooperation. In recent years, “clean and
low-carbon” became the key focus. This means that in the context of global climate
change, low carbon is increasingly becoming one of the key goals of China’s energy
revolution. With this in mind, the “Energy Production and Consumption Revolution
Strategy (2016–2030)” (NDRC 2016a) went further in setting out two milesones:
(1) By 2030, the total energy consumption should be capped below 6 billion tons
of standard coal; non-fossil energy and natural gas should account for about 20%
and 15% respectively; carbon emissions should peak and should do so as soon as
possible; (2) By 2050, total energy consumption would stabalize, with over 50%
from non-fossil energy.
Despite the aforementioned strategic masterplan and goals of the energy revolution, the task of energy transition involves multi-faceted, multi-layered and intricate interactions between multiple forms of energy and technologies, which goes
far beyond the scope of the current policy. To illustrate, though the guideline of
“four revolutions and one cooperation” points direction for energy consumption,
energy supply, energy technology, energy system and international cooperation, this
approach may give rise to separate management of these interconnected workstreams.
Therefore, it’s essential to contemplate the means to build linkages between the overarching energy revolution strategy and objectives and the micro-level energy system
engineering and technical work. And this would warrant enhanced academic research
and policy formulation on energy system integration at the mesoscopic level to match
the macro and micro elements.
Aside from the existing goals, the increasing risk of climate change might call
for tightening these goals to accommodate new climate requirements. For example,
the IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (IPCC 2018) has imposed
more stringent emission reduction requirements on countries to keep temperature rise
within 1.5 °C. This means that China needs to continue strengthening energy system
integration under the existing policies to attain the set goals, and at the same time
envision a more forward-looking approach to create an energy system with higher
efficiency and greater uptake of non-fossile energy in order to embrace climate goals.
The following is based on our academic research on energy system integration,
and explores the coordinated development of China’s energy transition and other
important areas. The “three coordinations”, i.e.: coordination between energy and
economy, between energy and infrastructur, and between energy and regions, was
examined in detail, together with an illustration of the new solution of energy system
integration, i.e. “smart energy farms—smart energy towns—smart industrial parks—
smart energy transportation networks” that accommodate the “three coordination”
requirements and even harsher emission reduction goals.
L. Ma et al.
and consumption, and build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system.”
These dimensions and goals of energy revolution had been widely deployed in China,
such as in the 13th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development (NDRC 2016b).
It can be seen that the focus of China’s energy revolution has expanded from
energy conservation, usage reduction and energy security to consumption, supply,
technology, institutions and international cooperation. In recent years, “clean and
low-carbon” became the key focus. This means that in the context of global climate
change, low carbon is increasingly becoming one of the key goals of China’s energy
revolution. With this in mind, the “Energy Production and Consumption Revolution
Strategy (2016–2030)” (NDRC 2016a) went further in setting out two milesones:
(1) By 2030, the total energy consumption should be capped below 6 billion tons
of standard coal; non-fossil energy and natural gas should account for about 20%
and 15% respectively; carbon emissions should peak and should do so as soon as
possible; (2) By 2050, total energy consumption would stabalize, with over 50%
from non-fossil energy.
Despite the aforementioned strategic masterplan and goals of the energy revolution, the task of energy transition involves multi-faceted, multi-layered and intricate interactions between multiple forms of energy and technologies, which goes
far beyond the scope of the current policy. To illustrate, though the guideline of
“four revolutions and one cooperation” points direction for energy consumption,
energy supply, energy technology, energy system and international cooperation, this
approach may give rise to separate management of these interconnected workstreams.
Therefore, it’s essential to contemplate the means to build linkages between the overarching energy revolution strategy and objectives and the micro-level energy system
engineering and technical work. And this would warrant enhanced academic research
and policy formulation on energy system integration at the mesoscopic level to match
the macro and micro elements.
Aside from the existing goals, the increasing risk of climate change might call
for tightening these goals to accommodate new climate requirements. For example,
the IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (IPCC 2018) has imposed
more stringent emission reduction requirements on countries to keep temperature rise
within 1.5 °C. This means that China needs to continue strengthening energy system
integration under the existing policies to attain the set goals, and at the same time
envision a more forward-looking approach to create an energy system with higher
efficiency and greater uptake of non-fossile energy in order to embrace climate goals.
The following is based on our academic research on energy system integration,
and explores the coordinated development of China’s energy transition and other
important areas. The “three coordinations”, i.e.: coordination between energy and
economy, between energy and infrastructur, and between energy and regions, was
examined in detail, together with an illustration of the new solution of energy system
integration, i.e. “smart energy farms—smart energy towns—smart industrial parks—
smart energy transportation networks” that accommodate the “three coordination”
requirements and even harsher emission reduction goals.