Yet, if the world is also to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement,
credible scenarios suggest it must collectively stop adding greenhouse gases
to the stock in the atmosphere by 2070. It needs both more energy and
cleaner energy. There is a lot of work for the world to do if it is to succeed.
China’s goal, as President Xi told the 19th Party Congress, is a “New Era”
with a better quality of life. This is in tune with Paris. For China’s energy
system it means cleaner energy with better air quality and lower greenhouse
gas emissions. It also means affordable energy, secure energy supplies and
reliable delivery to consumers.
The main message of this book is that this is a goal that is well within
China’s grasp—even if reaching that goal does require new thinking of the
sort that has been laid out in these pages. The recommendations made in this
book are intended to be a route to reaching this goal. It is important to note
that they are recommendations that are only possible because of the transformational moves China has already made in its energy system.
They draw on the lessons from other countries going through energy
transition, taking on-board what has worked and avoiding the less successful
paths.
They also point out opportunities to move towards a system which harnesses the best of both government and the free market. The direction and
policy interventions that only government can provide, with the market
system’s inbuilt drive towards efficiency.
One of the findings is that China has the chance to build a unified, efficient
and flexible electricity market. Electrification enables an increasing amount
of energy use to be powered by renewables. So, electrification can be a
critical part of any shift to a low-carbon energy system, as long as electricity
is increasingly generated by zero-carbon sources.
Of course, coal is likely to remain in China’s energy mix for some time to
come, and the report suggests reforms aimed at driving out inefficiencies and
ensuring high quality. Ultimately, however, coal is expected to decline in
importance within China’s energy system and other cleaner sources of energy
such as renewables and gas will rise. The book goes on to look at ways to
deepen the reform of the oil and gas landscape to encourage investment and
development. It looks at reforms to the mining rights system, the natural gas
pipeline network, pricing and industry regulation.
It recommends establishing new regulatory authorities and suggests an
enhanced system of energy laws to back this up. These suggestions build on,
and deepen, the recommendations made in the second book that came from
the DRC-Shell collaboration.
The study also explores how to make the most of the plans for a national
carbon market. It is here that it becomes most clear how interconnected
China’s energy system is, and also how a harmonious approach can have a
greater impact than more dramatic, but less coordinated, action. Finally, the
book looks at the opportunities China can take by playing an ever-more
active role in shaping global energy governance. It suggests ways that China
can help address global energy concerns as part of the international community: making China’s voice heard clearly and influencing the outcomes.
viii
Foreword 2
credible scenarios suggest it must collectively stop adding greenhouse gases
to the stock in the atmosphere by 2070. It needs both more energy and
cleaner energy. There is a lot of work for the world to do if it is to succeed.
China’s goal, as President Xi told the 19th Party Congress, is a “New Era”
with a better quality of life. This is in tune with Paris. For China’s energy
system it means cleaner energy with better air quality and lower greenhouse
gas emissions. It also means affordable energy, secure energy supplies and
reliable delivery to consumers.
The main message of this book is that this is a goal that is well within
China’s grasp—even if reaching that goal does require new thinking of the
sort that has been laid out in these pages. The recommendations made in this
book are intended to be a route to reaching this goal. It is important to note
that they are recommendations that are only possible because of the transformational moves China has already made in its energy system.
They draw on the lessons from other countries going through energy
transition, taking on-board what has worked and avoiding the less successful
paths.
They also point out opportunities to move towards a system which harnesses the best of both government and the free market. The direction and
policy interventions that only government can provide, with the market
system’s inbuilt drive towards efficiency.
One of the findings is that China has the chance to build a unified, efficient
and flexible electricity market. Electrification enables an increasing amount
of energy use to be powered by renewables. So, electrification can be a
critical part of any shift to a low-carbon energy system, as long as electricity
is increasingly generated by zero-carbon sources.
Of course, coal is likely to remain in China’s energy mix for some time to
come, and the report suggests reforms aimed at driving out inefficiencies and
ensuring high quality. Ultimately, however, coal is expected to decline in
importance within China’s energy system and other cleaner sources of energy
such as renewables and gas will rise. The book goes on to look at ways to
deepen the reform of the oil and gas landscape to encourage investment and
development. It looks at reforms to the mining rights system, the natural gas
pipeline network, pricing and industry regulation.
It recommends establishing new regulatory authorities and suggests an
enhanced system of energy laws to back this up. These suggestions build on,
and deepen, the recommendations made in the second book that came from
the DRC-Shell collaboration.
The study also explores how to make the most of the plans for a national
carbon market. It is here that it becomes most clear how interconnected
China’s energy system is, and also how a harmonious approach can have a
greater impact than more dramatic, but less coordinated, action. Finally, the
book looks at the opportunities China can take by playing an ever-more
active role in shaping global energy governance. It suggests ways that China
can help address global energy concerns as part of the international community: making China’s voice heard clearly and influencing the outcomes.
viii
Foreword 2