China Energy Transition Review looks at country's green transition leadership

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe spoke to Richard Black, Director of Policy and Strategy at Ember think-tank.

Transcript

00:00China's surge in renewables and electrification is reshaping energy for the rest of the world,

00:06according to global think tank Ember. It found that in 2024, growth in clean generation accounted

00:13for 84 percent of electricity demand growth. In the first half of this year, it outstripped

00:19demand growth, resulting in a 2 percent fall in fossil generation compared with the same period

00:24the year before. From 2015 to 2023, fossil fuel use in buildings, industry and transport in China

00:33fell by 1.7 percent. The use of electricity grew by 65 percent. And 75 percent of global clean energy

00:43patent applications now come from Chinese companies. And that's up from just five percent in 2000.

00:51Richard Black is director of policy and strategy at Ember, who released this report. Great to have

00:57you on the program. So how is China leading the world's energy transition from an investment

01:05perspective? Yes, well, China is definitely the biggest and biggest investor worldwide now in

01:12clean energy, accounting for about one third of the global total. And I think that's quite a

01:17remarkable figure when you remember that Europe in particular is engaged in its own clean energy

01:23transition. And we see countries in Latin America and other Asian countries also invested in that.

01:29China is clearly outstripping everyone else in terms of the money that's being spent.

01:33And I think what's really important is that money is going into lots of different aspects of the

01:37transition. So it's wind and solar generation. It's building out the grid. It's building storage.

01:43It's electric vehicles. It's heat pumps. It's all of the things that are needed basically to take

01:48fossil fuel use eventually out of both electricity generation and end use sectors.

01:54It's investing in all those things domestically and also abroad. But according to your report,

02:00there hasn't been a reduction in Chinese greenhouse gas emissions, which is, after all, the objective of

02:07the energy transition, isn't it? So is all of this investment more about the economy and strategy

02:14than sustainability? Well, it's a very interesting question. So I think 10 years ago, one would have

02:19said, yes, the objective of the clean energy transition is to do with climate change. Now, I think there are

02:25multiple objectives. One undoubtedly is climate change. There's also air pollution, which has been a big

02:29factor in China. But increasingly, investing in clean energy and building up your clean energy system

02:35is a way to make energy more affordable. It's a way to reduce import dependence, which is a very big issue

02:42for China with 70 percent of oil, for example, coming from imports and 40 percent of gas. It's a way to guarantee

02:48energy security. And for China, as also the world's biggest manufacturer of pretty much all clean energy

02:55products, it's also a way to develop an export market. So out goes importing oil and gas. In comes exporting

03:01clean energy goods. How do you think the rest of the world can benefit and maybe learn from China's green

03:08energy drive? Well, I think it depends on where you are in the world. So countries in the global south

03:14where energy access is a problem. We've seen just in the last year, many countries in Africa, for example,

03:21where imports of Chinese made solar panels are really going up remarkably. And that's going to bring real

03:26benefits to citizens of those countries who didn't have access to electricity before. I think in what

03:32you might call the sort of middle tier of developing countries. So I'm thinking about here about

03:37Southeast Asia, some in Latin America, for example, there are clear opportunities to be gained

03:41partnering with Chinese companies. So building supply chains, building manufacture, which I think will in

03:48turn help cement the clean energy transition in those countries as well. And for the richest countries,

03:55particularly the EU and the United States, I think, you know, there is a choice to be made

03:59between do we try and build this ourselves and sort of catch up with China's lead? Or do we basically

04:05build China's, do we basically just sort of buy the cheapest stuff, which generally will be Chinese?

04:11And, you know, that's a difficult dilemma, especially in Europe. But clearly the one thing not to do

04:16is to go back to the fossil fuel economy when the rest of the world is very clearly moving in this

04:21clean energy direction. And just quickly, Richard, I wonder, are they moving quickly in that direction or is the

04:27rest of the world playing catch up with China? I'm thinking about the the patent figures, the clean energy

04:33patent applications, really striking 75 percent of them from Chinese companies compared to 5 percent and 25 years ago.

04:40Yeah, on the manufacturing side of the innovation side, basically everyone is looking at playing catch up.

04:45Now, on deployment, it's a different it's a different board game. You know, if you look at the shares of

04:50renewable generation, you know, China is one of the leaders, but not the leader in shares of electric vehicle

04:56adoption. China is one of the leaders, but not the leader. So it depends a little bit what you're looking

05:01at. Richard Black, director of policy and strategy at Ember. Great talking to you. Thank you.

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