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2019 | Buch

Introduction Kapitel lesen Erstes Kapitel lesen

China as a Global Clean Energy Champion

Lifting the Veil

verfasst von: Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang

Verlag: Springer Nature Singapore

Buchreihe : Palgrave Series in Asia and Pacific Studies

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

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.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
Many consider China to be a global clean energy champion on account of its rapid deployment of different forms of clean or low-carbon energy and the vast size of its related manufacturing industry. The aim of this book is to ‘lift the veil’ on these achievements. The analytical approach draws on the progressively converging literatures on socio-technical transitions, institutions and public policy. The core argument is that the institutions of governance that shape the trajectory of China’s low-carbon energy transition are changing only slowly. The continued use of traditional administrative policy instruments has proved effective to date, but with huge costs, unintended consequences and many limitations.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 2. China as a Global Clean Energy Champion: Goals and Achievements
Abstract
This chapter presents some of the evidence that has persuaded observers to see China as a global clean energy champion. The term ‘clean energy’ is applied to a wide range of reductions of environmental damage caused by energy supply chains within China. The chapter provides key background information on trends since 1990 with respect to China’s production and consumption of energy, installed energy infrastructure, energy intensity and carbon emissions, and draws attention to China’s deployment and exports of clean energy technologies. The chapter’s structure broadly follows the government’s five-year planning cycle and concludes with some perspectives on the outlook for China’s carbon emissions from energy and on the likely outcome of the Energy Revolution Strategy 2016–2030.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 3. Transitions, Institutions and Public Policy
Abstract
This chapter outlines the main concepts that will underpin the analysis. The framework builds on the growing convergence between transition studies and institutionalism and between institutionalism and public policy. The chapter begins by summarising the main features of socio-technical transitions before examining those aspects of institutional theory that help to elaborate transitions and transition management. This is followed by a synthesis of selected concepts from the field of public policy that illustrates the relevance of institutionalism to different stages in the policy cycle. The final section shows how a growing number of scholars have been drawing on different elements of institutional theory to analyse energy governance in general and the low-carbon energy transition in particular.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 4. Governance in China
Abstract
This chapter applies the concepts relating to institutionalism and public policy presented in Chap. 3 to outline selected characteristics of political and economic governance in China. China resembles a mature, limited access social order in which state building is still in progress. A relatively large number of sophisticated organisations and institutions have emerged over the last 40 years, but they mainly owe their existence to the Communist Party. Although the government has shown the ability to adapt and innovate, China’s adaptive efficiency continues to be constrained by the nature of the governance institutions. Within the organisational field of energy, the prevailing policy paradigm and other institutional logics also constrain the way in which the sector is governed.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 5. Low-Carbon Electricity
Abstract
This chapter traces the development of four forms of low-carbon electricity generation that lie at the heart of the country’s strategies for the low-carbon energy transition: hydroelectricity, nuclear power, and wind and solar energy. It describes the policy processes that led to the growth of installed capacity in each of these technologies at different times. The analysis identifies the policy priorities, the interests, sources of success, the points of constraint, the costs and the reaction of government to policy failures or distortions. The government has deployed traditional administrative policy instruments to promote low-carbon electricity, but the efficacy of this approach is being tested in the case of intermittent renewable energy. The ongoing power market reforms are intended to overcome these challenges.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 6. Low-Carbon Electricity Technology, Innovation, Manufacturing and Internationalisation
Abstract
China’s success in deploying low-carbon electricity generating capacity would not have been possible without a domestic manufacturing and construction industry that provided the required inputs and services at the necessary scale. The chapter examines four technologies: ultra-high voltage power transmission, nuclear power, wind energy and solar PV. The technological and industrial achievements in these fields were not accidental but rather were the result of concrete government policies and funding. The parallel emphasis on both industrial and energy policy has brought about obvious benefits to the national push for a cleaner energy sector. However, the interaction of these two streams of policy has also had some unintended and undesirable consequences, not least industrial overcapacity and curtailment of wind energy and solar PV installations.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 7. Fossil Fuels
Abstract
Fossil fuels still dominate China’s energy supply. This chapter will explain why the shift away from fossil fuels is proving difficult. Key factors include the continued preference for maximising the degree of self-reliance in energy supply, the nature of economic incentives and the interests of different actors. The focus is on the growing efficiency of coal-fired power generation and on the steady rise of gas production and consumption, as the management of these two industries will play a key role in the reduction of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Improvements in these fields have been driven mainly by administrative policy instruments backed by funding, but this approach tends to be less effective when enforcement is insufficiently rigorous or the incentives are weak.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 8. Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Abstract
Energy efficiency and energy conservation have long formed a significant component of China’s national energy policy. In 2003, energy shortages became widespread across China because of surge of energy-intensive economic growth. In response, the government embarked on a comprehensive programme to boost energy efficiency and energy conservation that has achieved remarkable success. This chapter examines the sources of success in this programme, as well as the ongoing constraints and limitations, paying particular attention to industry and buildings, also household energy use. Administrative policy instruments have been successful in improving industrial energy efficiency, but serious challenges remain in the building and household sectors.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 9. The Water-Energy-Food Nexus
Abstract
Energy interacts with other resources and factors, often with negative consequences in the form of either resource waste or environmental damage. In other words, clean energy is not just about energy itself but also about the interactions of the energy supply chain with other resources. This chapter sets energy in the wider context of the resource nexus, especially the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. It examines two specific challenges relating to the WEF nexus in China: the water-energy nexus, looking at water use for energy and energy use for water, and the role of synthetic nitrogenous fertiliser in the WEF nexus. Constraints to improved governance of the nexus include poor coordination, weak incentives, the role of pricing and subsidies, and the nature of property rights.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 10. Carbon Pricing
Abstract
In order to meet its international climate change commitments, China has a choice between continuing its decades-long practice of deploying administrative policy instruments or using market-based approaches, such as carbon emissions trading. This chapter examines the gradual emergence of the national emissions trading system (ETS) for carbon dioxide (CO2) from the early experiments with sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions trading in the 1990s, through the CO2 pilot schemes that commenced in 2013, to the announcement of a national CO2 ETS in 2017. This new national scheme will need to be designed to address the identified weakness in the pilot markets. Further, the broader question remains as to the effectiveness of such a market mechanism in a sector dominated by the state.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Chapter 11. Conclusions
Abstract
China has made extraordinary progress in cleaning up its energy sector at a time of continuing economic growth. It is a world leader in low-carbon electricity and related manufacturing, considerable progress has been made in respect to the use of fossil fuels and the government is facing up to the challenges of managing the resource nexus. Yet these achievements have come at a huge cost and have required sustained political commitment. The next significant step will be the launch of a national carbon emission trading system, alongside market reforms in the power sector. However, these programmes are unlikely to yield the desired results without wider reforms in the institutional environment and the organisational field of energy.
Philip Andrews-Speed, Sufang Zhang
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
China as a Global Clean Energy Champion
verfasst von
Philip Andrews-Speed
Sufang Zhang
Copyright-Jahr
2019
Verlag
Springer Nature Singapore
Electronic ISBN
978-981-13-3492-4
Print ISBN
978-981-13-3491-7
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3492-4