Technologies and policies for the transition to a sustainable energy system in china

The paper highlights the energy dilemma in China's modernization process. It explores the technological and policy options for the transition to a sustainable energy system in China with Tsinghua University's Low Carbon Energy Model (LCEM). China has already taken intensive efforts to promote research, development, demonstration and commercialization of sustainable energy technologies over the past five year. The policy actions cover binding energy conservation and environmental pollution control targets, economic incentives for sustainable energy, and public R&D supports. In order to achieve the sustainable energy system transformation eventually, however, China needs to take further actions such as strengthening R&D of radically innovative sustainable energy technologies and systems such as polygeneration, enhancing the domestic manufacturing capacity of sustainable energy technologies and systems, creating stronger economic incentives for research, development, demonstration and commercialization of sustainable energy technologies, and playing a leading role in international technology collaborations. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.