1 China’s Energy Transition Strategy in the Context of Global …
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Fig. 1.7 Embedded energy of final products in China for 2007, 2010 and 2012 Zhang (2019)
be seen that during this period, the total embedded energy of all final products keeps
increasing, while the embedded energy of fixed asset products always accounts for
the largest proportion, which also shows an upward trend. This is largely because
the huge investment in new infrastructure and industrial capacity after 2008 led to
the production and installation of fixed asset products which consumed vast amount
of energy, which was equivalent to large quantities of embedded energy in fixed
asset products. By Zhang Xi’s further calculation, among all the energy users in
this period, the construction sector remained the one with the largest proportion of
embedded energy in the final products, and it can be said that the high demand for
construction services in China resulted in the great amount of embedded energy in the
final products of the construction industry. Thus, if total energy use is to be curbed,
a focus on the construction sector is essential.
The construction energy use from the construction sector is not only high in
volume, but also considerable in terms of construction energy waste. Statistics show
that in recent years, China’s floor space has seen exponential growth, but building
service life is well below that of developed countries, and the frequent demolition
and construction of buildings has also implied tremendous energy waste. To deal
with this problem, Fu Feng defined four scenarios with analysis based on the two set
values of different per capita housing space demand and actual service life of houses.
The key features are shown in Table 1.1(Fu 2010).
19
Fig. 1.7 Embedded energy of final products in China for 2007, 2010 and 2012 Zhang (2019)
be seen that during this period, the total embedded energy of all final products keeps
increasing, while the embedded energy of fixed asset products always accounts for
the largest proportion, which also shows an upward trend. This is largely because
the huge investment in new infrastructure and industrial capacity after 2008 led to
the production and installation of fixed asset products which consumed vast amount
of energy, which was equivalent to large quantities of embedded energy in fixed
asset products. By Zhang Xi’s further calculation, among all the energy users in
this period, the construction sector remained the one with the largest proportion of
embedded energy in the final products, and it can be said that the high demand for
construction services in China resulted in the great amount of embedded energy in the
final products of the construction industry. Thus, if total energy use is to be curbed,
a focus on the construction sector is essential.
The construction energy use from the construction sector is not only high in
volume, but also considerable in terms of construction energy waste. Statistics show
that in recent years, China’s floor space has seen exponential growth, but building
service life is well below that of developed countries, and the frequent demolition
and construction of buildings has also implied tremendous energy waste. To deal
with this problem, Fu Feng defined four scenarios with analysis based on the two set
values of different per capita housing space demand and actual service life of houses.
The key features are shown in Table 1.1(Fu 2010).