This book assesses China’s reputation as a global clean energy champion, and applies institutional and public policy theories to explain how the country has achieved so much and why there continue to be so many unintended consequences and constraints to progress. It considers the extent to which the government has successfully boosted the manufacture and deployment of low-carbon electricity generating infrastructure, cleaned up thermal power generation, and enhanced energy efficiency, dramatically constraining China’s rising carbon dioxide emissions, but also examines the substantial political and financial capital required to reinforce the predominantly administrative policy instruments and the mix of special interests and poor coordination that are endemic to the energy sector. Arguing that the current approach seems to be encountering ever diminishing returns, the book considers whether ongoing sector reforms and the new national emissions trading scheme can reinvigorate the nation’s clean energy trajectory.

New feature

This book considers China’s role as a rising champion of clean energy and document the policy decisions and actions which have underpinned this evolution. It considers the construction of the world’s largest fleets of advanced coal-fired power stations, wind farms and solar photovoltaic arrays, examines sustained efforts to reduce national GDP intensities of energy and CO2 emissions, and assesses the rhetoric of government announcements on national policy and international commitments, including the Thirteenth Five-year Plan for Energy (2016-2020). The book notably considers the factors that have supported these achievements, including the availability of large amounts of capital, the role of state-owned companies with soft budgetary constraints, and many forms of indirect support from local governments. It also explores the obstacles to reaching the formal goals of reducing air pollution and CO2 emissions as well as the costs and unintended consequences of these policies, and identifies those parts of the energy supply chain where the governance of energy has been less effective in terms of energy efficiency and environmental protection.

1. Introduction 2. China as a Global Clean Energy Champion: Goals and Achievements 3. Transitions, Institutions and Public Policy 4. Governance in China 5. Low-Carbon Electricity 6. Low-Carbon Electricity Technology, Innovation, Manufacturing and Internationalisation 7. Fossil Fuels 8. Energy Efficiency and Conservation 9. The Water-Energy-Food Nexus 10. Carbon Pricing 11. Conclusions