China as a Global Clean Energy Champion

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.