Literature Review of Energy Policy in China after 2010

Literature Review of Energy Policy in China After 2010
Student Full Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Full Title
Instructor Full Name
Due Date
Literature Review of Energy Policy in China After 2010
Energy Policies
Policy Name

Issue Date

Issue Department

Major Content

Golden Sun Projects

June 2011

Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

Subsidizing photovoltaic power generation projects to phase out coal-fired units (Wang et al., 2017).

Piloting ETS for CO2

July 2011

Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection

Restrain increased carbon emission intensity and achieve carbon neutrality (Hu et al., 2020).

Hydro: EIA for river-level development plans

October 2011

National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China

Tapping rivers in Southwestern China for increased power generation (Hunan Co., Ltd, 2011).

Top-10000 Enterprises Program

December 2011

Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection

Achieving energy efficiency and reaching low carbon targets in the nation's 11th and 12th FYP (Lo & Wang, 2013).

National Low Carbon Day

June 2012

National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China

Peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and attain carbon neutrality by 2060 (Su et al., 2016).

Tech Promotion Catalogue

May 2014

National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China

Promoting energy-efficient and low-carbon technologies (Ministry of Ecology and Environment, 2018).

FIT: Offshore wind

June 2014

National Energy Bureau

Harnessing wind power as a renewable energy source (Korsnes, 2014).

Local Targets for CO2 emission reduction

November 2014

National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China

Achieve peak CO2 emissions by 2030 and increase the share of non-fossil fuels by 20% by 2030 (He, 2014).

Ambient Air Quality Standard Adjustment

January 2016

Ministry of Environmental Protection of China

Reducing fine particulate matter air pollution (Zhao et al., 2016).

“Greening” small hydropower

June 2017

National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China

Balancing river conservation and renewable energy production (Li et al., 2019).

Plan of National ETS (Electricity Sector)

December 2017

Ministry of Ecology and Environment

Reducing carbon emissions among registered entities in China (Liu, Hou, et al., 2022).

Environmental Protection Tax

January 2018

Ministry of Environmental Protection of China

Reducing pollution levels and improving livelihoods (Hu et al., 2018).

Adjustment of companies’ environmental supervision

March 2020

Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China

Heighten environmental regulation of Chinese firms (Wei, 2020).

Launching the National Green Development Fund

March 2020

Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China

Increase financial investment in environmental and ecological conservation (Lee, 2020).

Modern Energy FYP

March 2022

National Development and Reform Commission

Increasing the proportion of non-fossil fuel sources in power generation and consumption (Zhang & Chen, 2022).

Literature Review
Literature Source

Energy Policy

Major Content

Andrews-Speed & Zhang, (2015); Wang et al., (2017); IEA, (2021); Chen, (2016); Zhang et al., (2014)

Golden Sun Projects

China's Golden-Sun program was suitable for large-scale green power generation, but it lacked effective coordination with other policies.

Chai et al., (2022); Zhang, (2015b); European Commission, (2021); Ma et al., (2022); Hu et al., (2020)

Piloting ETS for CO2

ETS pilots in China are effective at reaching emission-reduction efficiency targets

Hunan Co., Ltd, (2011); Li & Taeihagh, (2020); Wilmsen et al., (2011)

Hydro: EIA for river-level development plans

EIA for river-level development plans is a step toward renewable energy generation, but improvements are needed in benefit-sharing initiatives

Zhang, (2015); Lo & Wang, (2013); NDC, (2015)

Top-10000 Enterprises Program

The Top-10,000 program has helped China reduce its over-reliance on coal for power generation.

Li et al., (2022); Sun & Wang, (2021); Su et al., (2016)

National Low Carbon Day

Establishing a low carbon day is effective in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in cities and households.

Pigato et al., (2020); Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, (2018); Wang & Jiang, (2021)

Tech Promotion Catalogue

China's financing of energy-efficient technologies is imperative for achieving carbon neutrality.

Wei et al., (2021); Korsnes, (2014); Sherman et al., (2020)

FIT: Offshore wind

China's offshore wind policy is flexible and resilient, as indicated by price, capacity, technology, and subsidy.

He, (2014); Wang et al., (2020); Zhou, (2015)

Local Targets for CO2 emission reduction

Local targets for CO2 emission reduction are effective at achieving CO2 peaking and reduction targets.

Zhao et al., (2016); Zhang et al., (2019); Chen et al., (2020); Kutlar Joss et al., (2017); Li & Liu, (2014)

Ambient Air Quality Standard Adjustment

China's current ambient air quality standard reflects a progressive revision in pollutant items and environmental development.

Shiji et al., (2021); Piovani, (2016); Li et al., (2019)

“Greening” small hydropower

"Greening" small hydropower is effective in developing a resilient green economy.

IEA, (2020a); Liu et al., (2022); IEA, (2020b)

Plan of National ETS (Electricity Sector)

China's national ETS is essential to achieving carbon reduction but is relatively immature and needs further improvement.

Tu & Wang, (2021); Hu et al., (2018); Wu & Tal, (2017)

Environmental Protection Tax

China's Environmental Protection Tax Law is environmentally effective but may negatively influence economic growth.

Liu, Zhao, et al., (2022); Wei, (2020); ECB, (2022)

Adjustment of companies’ environmental supervision

Environmental protection supervision is essential to regulating the environmental behavior of Chinese firms

Lee, (2020); Peng et al., (2018); Zhou & Xu, (2022)

Launching the National Green Development Fund

Green finance is an effective way of speeding up China’s green economy

Xu et al., (2022); Pu et al., (2022); Zhang & Chen, (2022)

Modern Energy FYP

China’s 12th FYP is critical to technological advances in energy conservation.

Summary
The list of energy policies issued after 2010 in China demonstrates a comprehensive approach by the government to reducing carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Current literature indicates that a vast majority of these policies have effectively promoted renewable energy production and technologies while curbing the country's overreliance on fossil fuels for power generation. However, a few energy policies, such as the Golden Sun Program and "Greening" small hydropower, still require further improvement. For instance, the Golden Sun Program was disadvantaged by poor systematic design, ineffective policy coordination, lack of effective regulation, and institutional insufficiencies. On the other hand, China's "Greening" small hydropower has been hampered by environmental concerns and regulatory constraints, including reservoir level constraints, downstream impacts (especially on farmers), water quality concerns, and spillage limitations. These challenges illustrate the challenges involved in intensifying renewable energy production in China.
On the whole, the hotspot for China's energy policies is connected to efforts at regulating firms' environmental behaviors and promoting energy-efficient technologies. The government has heightened regulatory oversight of company pollution levels as indicated by the following policies, including Environmental Protection Tax, adjustment of companies' en...