Issue Brief: China's Actions on Clean Power

This issue brief analyzes China's clean power sector, detailing its massive growth in electricity capacity, its continued heavy reliance on coal, and the government's strategic shift toward renewable energy and emissions controls under the 12th Five Year Plan.

• China possesses the world's largest power capacity, reaching 1,073 gigawatts (GW) in 2011, which is more than double its 2005 capacity of 519 GW. While it is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases as of 2006, it led the world in renewable energy technology investments in 2011, spending $52 billion.
• Coal remains the primary source of electricity, representing approximately 65 percent of installed capacity in 2011 and 70 percent of total energy consumption in 2009. China is the world's top producer and consumer of coal, though it became a net importer in 2009, importing 240 million short tons in 2011 primarily from Australia and Indonesia.
• Coal combustion is responsible for significant pollution in China, including 70 percent of smoke dust and carbon dioxide emissions, 90 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, and 67 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions. Additionally, 16 proposed coal power bases under the 2011-2015 Five Year Plan are expected to require at least 10 billion cubic meters of water annually by 2015, threatening water supplies in arid provinces like Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Ningxia.
• China has become a global leader in wind and solar energy. In 2011, it had the world's largest wind power installed capacity at over 62 GW, though 17 GW (nearly 28 percent) remained unconnected to the grid. In the solar sector, Chinese manufacturers supplied approximately 60 percent (21 GW) of the global PV market in 2011, though the industry faced challenges in 2012 due to reduced demand in Europe and US tariffs.
• The 12th Five Year Plan is the first to explicitly mention climate change, setting targets to reduce carbon emissions intensity per unit of GDP by 17 percent and energy use intensity by 16 percent from 2010 levels. It aims for non-fossil fuel use to satisfy 11.4 percent of electricity demand and targets an additional 70 GW of wind capacity and over 5 GW of solar capacity.
• China is implementing new economic mechanisms to control emissions, including pilot emissions trading schemes starting in 2013 in five cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Chongqing) and two provinces (Guangdong and Hubei), with a goal of a national scheme by 2015. There are also reports of a planned carbon tax starting at 10 Yuan ($1.59) per ton of carbon dioxide.

APA

Lutenegger, B. (2012). Issue Brief: China's Actions on Clean Power. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-chinas-actions-on-clean-power

Chicago

Lutenegger, Brian. Issue Brief: China's Actions on Clean Power. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2012. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-chinas-actions-on-clean-power.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lutenegger |first1=Brian |title=Issue Brief: China's Actions on Clean Power |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=15 October 2012 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-chinas-actions-on-clean-power |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lutenegger2012issue, author = {Lutenegger, Brian}, title = {{Issue Brief: China's Actions on Clean Power}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2012}, month = oct, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-chinas-actions-on-clean-power}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }