China as a Global Clean Energy Champion

Philip Andrews-Speed is a Senior Principal Fellow at the Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore. He has 35 years in the field of energy and resources, starting his career as a mineral and oil exploration geologist before moving into the field of energy and resource governance. Until 2010 he was Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Dundee and Director of the Centre of Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy. His main research interest is the political economy of energy and resource governance. Recent books include China, Oil and Global Politics (with Roland Dannreuther) and The Governance of Energy in China: Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy.

Sufang Zhang is Professor at the School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University (NCEPU), China. Before joining the NCEPU in 1993, she worked in provincial government as a project officer in charge of international aid programmes. Her research field focuses on energy policy, China's renewable energy policy in particular. She has directed and participated in many renewable energy research projects supported by China's central and local government, as well as international organizations such as the Energy Foundation China. Recent research projects include Institutional Constraints to the Renewable Energy Development in China.

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.

Presents an overview of China's energy sector, applying the analytical framework to wider aspects of governance in China

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.