dependence on nuclear power. Germany introduced the Renewable Energy Sources Act in
2014, which requires the share of new energy
consumption to eventually exceed 50%. Earlier,
in March 2009, Germany passed the Renewable
Energies Heat Act to increase the share of
renewable energy in heat production.
Renewable energy is an irreversible trend.
According to the International Renewable
Energy Agency, by the beginning of 2016 173
countries had set renewable energy development
goals and 146 countries had introduced related
support policies. For instance, by 2050 Denmark
will be free from fossil fuels and in Germany
renewable energy will account for 60% of energy
consumption.
China has yet to introduce an energy law to
support energy development. In May 2016, the
National Energy Administration of China issued
the Energy Legislation Plan 2016–20, identifying
“five laws and four regulations” as priority projects. These include the Energy Law of the
People’s Republic of China and laws on electric
power, the coal industry, oil and gas, oil and gas
pipelines, nuclear power administration, offshore
oil and gas pipelines, national petroleum
reserves, and energy supervision and administration. As the energy industry develops, the gap
between safeguarding energy security and regulating and managing energy is increasingly
apparent. To reform the supervision and administrative system of the energy industry in China,
it is important to implement the Energy Law of
the PRC.
In recent years, China’s new energy development has accelerated. Installed wind and solar
power capacity is at a world-class level. However, there are still some challenges for China to
address, including wind and solar curtailment,
destructive exploitation of geothermal energy
resources, and management and operational
mechanisms for new energy development. Solving these problems will largely depend on
adjusting relevant policies and laws and regulations, and by drawing on those of other countries.
1.5 The Energy Technology
Revolution: IT, Smart
Technologies
and the Energy Internet
The energy landscape is undergoing major
change. This is an age where technological
breakthroughs are continually made in energy
technologies and the energy system undergoes
game-changing evolution. It is the age of systemic change, where the electricity market is
increasingly deregulated and existing business
and profitability models in the energy industry
are shaken. This is the age of the Energy Internet
(Internet+), where the Internet and energy are
integrated and disruptors spring up to accelerate
the game-changing process.
According to Jeremy Rifkin, a renowned
American trend expert, the revolutionary combination of communications technologies and
energy is breeding the third industrial revolution.
Advanced information and communications
technologies like the Internet of things (IoT), big
data and cloud computing create the Energy
Internet by reshaping energy production, transmission, marketing and use. The Energy Internet,
with the smart grid as a carrier, is the inevitable
result of the extension of Internet development
into the energy and other industries. New technologies like cloud computing, IoT, big data and
E-commerce connect people with things and
enable dispersed components like information
and the grid to be consistently managed. In this
way, grid production and management can
gradually emerge from their decentralised silos
into a culture of centralised collaboration, thus
improving business, management and innovation. As the integrator of energy and information,
the Energy Internet will drive technological and
industrial revolution and have a broad and profound impact.
Many governments and businesses are
exploring Energy Internet projects. The US
FREEDM project is building the Internet of
energy: a network of distributed energy resources
406
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie
2014, which requires the share of new energy
consumption to eventually exceed 50%. Earlier,
in March 2009, Germany passed the Renewable
Energies Heat Act to increase the share of
renewable energy in heat production.
Renewable energy is an irreversible trend.
According to the International Renewable
Energy Agency, by the beginning of 2016 173
countries had set renewable energy development
goals and 146 countries had introduced related
support policies. For instance, by 2050 Denmark
will be free from fossil fuels and in Germany
renewable energy will account for 60% of energy
consumption.
China has yet to introduce an energy law to
support energy development. In May 2016, the
National Energy Administration of China issued
the Energy Legislation Plan 2016–20, identifying
“five laws and four regulations” as priority projects. These include the Energy Law of the
People’s Republic of China and laws on electric
power, the coal industry, oil and gas, oil and gas
pipelines, nuclear power administration, offshore
oil and gas pipelines, national petroleum
reserves, and energy supervision and administration. As the energy industry develops, the gap
between safeguarding energy security and regulating and managing energy is increasingly
apparent. To reform the supervision and administrative system of the energy industry in China,
it is important to implement the Energy Law of
the PRC.
In recent years, China’s new energy development has accelerated. Installed wind and solar
power capacity is at a world-class level. However, there are still some challenges for China to
address, including wind and solar curtailment,
destructive exploitation of geothermal energy
resources, and management and operational
mechanisms for new energy development. Solving these problems will largely depend on
adjusting relevant policies and laws and regulations, and by drawing on those of other countries.
1.5 The Energy Technology
Revolution: IT, Smart
Technologies
and the Energy Internet
The energy landscape is undergoing major
change. This is an age where technological
breakthroughs are continually made in energy
technologies and the energy system undergoes
game-changing evolution. It is the age of systemic change, where the electricity market is
increasingly deregulated and existing business
and profitability models in the energy industry
are shaken. This is the age of the Energy Internet
(Internet+), where the Internet and energy are
integrated and disruptors spring up to accelerate
the game-changing process.
According to Jeremy Rifkin, a renowned
American trend expert, the revolutionary combination of communications technologies and
energy is breeding the third industrial revolution.
Advanced information and communications
technologies like the Internet of things (IoT), big
data and cloud computing create the Energy
Internet by reshaping energy production, transmission, marketing and use. The Energy Internet,
with the smart grid as a carrier, is the inevitable
result of the extension of Internet development
into the energy and other industries. New technologies like cloud computing, IoT, big data and
E-commerce connect people with things and
enable dispersed components like information
and the grid to be consistently managed. In this
way, grid production and management can
gradually emerge from their decentralised silos
into a culture of centralised collaboration, thus
improving business, management and innovation. As the integrator of energy and information,
the Energy Internet will drive technological and
industrial revolution and have a broad and profound impact.
Many governments and businesses are
exploring Energy Internet projects. The US
FREEDM project is building the Internet of
energy: a network of distributed energy resources
406
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie