Sustainable Energy Transitions in China: Renewable Options and Impacts on the Electricity System

Xiaoyang Sun, Baosheng Zhang, Xu Tang, Benjamin C. McLellan and Mikael Höök
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Xiaoyang Sun: School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Baosheng Zhang: School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Xu Tang: School of Business Administration, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Benjamin C. McLellan: Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
Mikael Höök: Global Energy Systems, Department of Earth Science, Uppsala University, Uppsala 75236, Sweden

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: Chinese energy consumption has been dominated by coal for decades, but this needs to change to protect the environment and mitigate anthropogenic climate change. Renewable energy development is needed to fulfil the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for the post-2020 period, as stated on the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. This paper reviews the potential of renewable energy in China and how it could be utilised to meet the INDC goals. A business-as-usual case and eight alternative scenarios with 40% renewable electricity are explored using the EnergyPLAN model to visualise out to the year 2030. Five criteria (total cost, total capacity, excess electricity, CO 2 emissions, and direct job creation) are used to assess the sustainability of the scenarios. The results indicate that renewables can meet the goal of a 20% share of non-fossil energy in primary energy and 40%–50% share of non-fossil energy in electricity power. The low nuclear-hydro power scenario is the most optimal scenario based on the used evaluation criteria. The Chinese government should implement new policies aimed at promoting integrated development of wind power and solar PV.

Keywords: EnergyPLAN; energy transition; renewable energy mix; sustainability assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

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