Adopting pathways to carbon neutrality

China is leading the way in increasing the use of renewable energy and developing new energy vehicles to reduce carbon emissions, adds Angelica Buan in this article.

Becoming net-zero by switching to low-carbon energy

Without a doubt, China is the world's factory, an industrial powerhouse that is a major pillar of global economic growth. However, the negative consequences of its brisk economic activity can be traced back to the volume of carbon emissions, specifically those emitted by the energy sector, which accounts for 90% of China's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

According to the World Bank 's Country Climate and Development Report for China , China emits 27% of global carbon dioxide and one-third of global GHG. With the global push to reduce carbon emissions, China's success in reducing carbon emissions will help the world meet its 1.5°C global warming limit target.

As it works toward its economic goals, the country has made it a priority to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and green energy policies are being developed as a result.

Energy Agency ( IEA ) report, An Energy Sector Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality in China

Furthermore, Nearly 10% of the renewable energy and electric vehicle patents are filed in China.

Over the years, China has made significant investments in the energy transition. According to the Energy Foundation China ’s, China 2050 High Renewable Energy Penetration Scenario and Roadmap Study , the nation has committed to reducing CO2 emissions by 2030. This is made possible by the development of its renewable energy sector.

Not moving away from coal

Coal, like oil and gas are non-renewable fossil fuels and by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75% of GHG emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions, according to the United Nations ( UN ).

Despite its efforts to promote renewable energy, China, the world’s largest consumer, producer and importer of coal continues to invest in coal plants.

China's new coal-fired power capacity in 2022 reached 26,765 MW, up from 26,217 MW in 2021 but less than half of the 40,860 MW in 2019.

According to the 2023 briefing from Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air , 50 GW of coal power capacity began construction in China in 2022, an increase of more than 50% from 2021.

New coal power projects totalling 106 GW, or two sizable coal power plants every week, were approved; 60 GW of the projects permitted in 2022 were not under construction in January 2023, but are expected to begin soon.

But an expansive shift in resources and innovation is needed to make this transition. The fact that China pioneers clean energy innovation is not surprising. China's public spending on low-carbon energy R&D has increased by 70% since 2015, according to the International

In total, 86 GW of new coal power projects were launched, more than doubling the 40 GW planned for 2021. The most capacity was added in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Hubei.

Coal production and imports both increased dramatically. Between January and February, 730 million tonnes of raw coal were produced, representing a 5.8% increase year-on-year, with an average daily output of 12.44 million tonnes.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics , coal imports totalled 60.64 million tonnes, a 70.8% increase year-on-year.

The immense and ongoing use of coal, however, does not imply that the country is abandoning its commitments to reduce carbon emissions.

China has the fourth largest coal reserves in the world and produces roughly 90% of the coal it consumes. With the country's rising energy demand, it relies on coal, which is cheap and abundant, to power its industries and meet its electricity needs.

Robust adoption of high renewable energy

At the rate of renewable energy development, China's 14th Five-Year Plan target of requiring 33% of electricity consumption to come from renewables by 2025 is likely to be met sooner than expected. This is demonstrated by ongoing and planned installations across the country.

Research conducted by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences indicated that prefecture-level regions plan to increase installed capacity for wind and solar energy by at least 800 million kW between 2021 and 2025.

Overall, the pace of renewable energy capacity development is rapid. Installed capacity increased in the first two months of 2023.

News agency Xinhua has reported that wind power installed capacity increased 11% yearon-year to approximately 370 million kW by the end of February 2023, while solar power installed capacity increased 30.8% year-onyear to approximately 410 million kW. Over this period, China's installed power generation capacity totalled about 2.6 billion kW, an increase of 8.5% over the previous year.

At the same time, major Chinese power companies invested a total of RMB28.3 billion in solar energy in the first two months of the year.

Meanwhile, efforts are clearly paying off as a recent data from National Bureau of Statistics of China show that in 2022, the electricity generated by clean energy such as hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power was 2,959.9 billion kWh, up by 8.5% over the previous year,

Hotspot for solar energy

China currently dominates global solar photovoltaic (PV) supply chains, according to an IEA report.

Since 2011, China has invested more than US$50 billion in new PV supply capacity, ten times more than Europe, and has created more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs across the solar PV value chain. China accounts for more than 80% of all solar panel manufacturing processes (including polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells, and modules), which is more than twice its share of the world's PV demand.

China is currently building what it claims is the world's largest wind power and PV base in the Kubuqi Desert, China's seventh largest desert, and Gobi areas.

The project, which is being undertaken jointly by state-owned power company China Three Gorges Corporation ( CTG ), and electricity integrated services provider Inner Mongolia Energy Group , is expected to have a total installed capacity of 16 million kW.

The project, which has received over RMB80 billion in investment, is expected to deliver approximately 40 billion kWh/year of electricity to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, or onetenth of Hebei Province's annual electricity consumption. Also located in the Kubuqi Desert is the Junma Solar Power Station, another massive PV facility with more than 196,000 PV panels and has produced more than 2.312 billion kWh of electricity.