On the 29th, the State News Office held a press conference on the "China's Energy Transition" white paper. During the conference, Li Chuangjun, Director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department at the National Energy Administration, stated that over the past decade, China has seen a 12.1 percentage point decline in coal consumption, while non-fossil energy consumption has more than double
From JWVIEW
On the 29th, the State News Office held a press conference on the "China's Energy Transition" white paper. During the conference, Li Chuangjun, Director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department at the National Energy Administration, stated that over the past decade, China has seen a 12.1 percentage point decline in coal consumption, while non-fossil energy consumption has more than doubled and electrification levels have increased by approximately 7 percentage points.
The data indicates that from 2013 to 2023, China's annual energy consumption growth rate of 3.2% supported an average annual economic growth of 6%. Additionally, China's energy intensity decreased by 26.1%, positioning it as one of the fastest declining countries in terms of energy intensity worldwide.
In light of these developments in China's energy usage patterns relative to previous years, Li Chuangjun emphasized that green is fundamental to ecological civilization. He further highlighted China's steadfast commitment to embracing and implementing the concept that "green mountains are gold and silver mountains." Since 2014, China has undertaken a series of green innovation initiatives aimed at accelerating the transformation of its energy consumption patterns. Specifically, these efforts are primarily manifested in three key aspects:
First, China has always prioritized energy conservation and efficiency improvement in key areas of energy use, resolutely suppressing irrational energy consumption. Over the past decade, China has achieved one of the fastest reductions in energy intensity globally, saving a total of 1.4 billion tons of standard coal in energy consumption. Despite maintaining an annual growth rate of 6%, our average annual growth rate in energy consumption has been 3.2%.
Secondly, there has been a significant shift towards cleaner and less carbonized energy consumption over the past decade. The proportion of coal consumption has decreased by 12.1 percentage points, while non-fossil fuel consumption has more than doubled. Additionally, the level of electrification has increased by approximately 7 percentage points.
By 2023, solar power generation in China is projected to exceed domestic electricity consumption for urban and rural residents combined; furthermore, one out of every three kilowatt-hours (KWH) consumed by society will be green electricity.
Furthermore, there have been notable improvements in the quality of oil products - upgrading from National 3 to National 6 standards - as well as a substantial increase in natural gas usage from 300 million to 560 million people.
Lastly, successful pilot applications have been made for nuclear energy used for heating and steam supply.
Last but not the least, the adoption of green energy has gained momentum. China actively promotes the concept of a green and low-carbon lifestyle, vigorously upholds the fine Chinese tradition of diligence and frugality, and advocates for the transformation of lifestyles and consumption patterns towards simplicity, moderation, greenness, low-carbon emissions, civilization, and health. We will launch campaigns to promote a green lifestyle, organize themed publicity activities such as National Ecological Day, intensify efforts to endorse green and low-carbon products, and encourage the public to prioritize environmentally friendly modes of transportation such as public transit, cycling, and walking.
Li Chuangjun emphasized that since the beginning of this year, both the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and The State Council on Accelerating Comprehensive Green Transformation in Economic and Social Development as well as the Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in 2024-2025 have been issued and implemented. These documents comprehensively lay out plans for promoting green transformation in key areas including industrial layout, spatial pattern development scientific innovation technology advancement ,and policy support. In our next steps we will focus on implementing various measures to actively expand green consumption while accelerating progress towards adopting greener production methods & lifestyles with lower carbon footprints."