Author Archive

The Future of Natural Gas vs. Coal Consumption in Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai: An Assessment Utilizing MARKAL

Abstract PESD has been studying the emerging global market for natural gas through a series of closely integrated research projects. The topics of these studies range from focusing on the geopolitical implications of a shift to a global gas market, the factors that affect gas pricing and flows as LNG links the U.S. and European markets across the Atlantic basin, and how gas projects fare in privately-owned independent power projects (IPPs) in emerging markets.  One of the open questions in all these studies concerned China–the country uses relatively small amounts of gas now but could use much more in the future. The role of natural gas in the Chinese economy is of critical import both domestically and for global energy and environmental issues. The competition between coal and natural gas in this market has tremendous implications for local air pollution and for climate change. Rising demand for imported gas in China will also shape the LNG market in the Pacific Basin and could lead to the construction of major international pipeline projects to monetize gas supplies in Russia and the Middle East. The present paper is one in a series that looks at the Chinese market in detail.
Date 2007 09
Author BinBin Jiang
Publisher Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
Link https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1/1422602_765682063448781_1724580545_n.jpg
Series Working Paper #62
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2 Coal, 2.1 General Status Reports

The Evolution of China’s Coal Institutions

Abstract Coal is the major primary energy which fuels economic growth in China. The original Soviet-style institutions of the coal sector were adopted after the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. But since the end of 1970s there have been major changes: a market system was introduced to the coal sector and the Major State Coalmines were transferred from central to local governments. This paper explains these market-oriented and decentralizing trends and explores their implications for the electric power sector, now the largest single consumer of coal. The argument of this paper is that the market-oriented and decentralizing reforms in the coal sector were influenced by the changes in state energy investment priority as well as the relationship between the central and local governments in the context of broader reforms within China’s economy. However, these market-oriented and decentralizing reforms have not equally influenced the electric power sector. Since coal is the primary input into Chinese power generation, and power sector reform falls behind coal sector reform, the tension between the power and coal sectors is unavoidable and has raised concerns about electricity shortages. Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD), Stanford,  Working Papers Series #86.
Date 2009 08
Author Peng Wuyuan
Publisher Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD)
Link http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/22612/PESD_WP_86.pdf
Series Working Papers Series #86
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2 Coal, 2.1 General Status Reports

The Chinese Coal Industry in an Energy Security and Carbon-Constrained World, a seminar with Kevin Jianjun Tu, Mark Jaccard, David Burwell

Abstract China currently consumes almost half of global coal output, and relies on indigenous coal for about 80 percent of its electricity generation. While the use of coal has greatly benefited China in terms of economic growth and energy security, it has created enormous environmental and social challenges, from land subsidence and regional water shortages to global issues concerning air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Carnegie hosted Kevin Tu, senior associate at Carnegie’s Energy & Climate Program, and Mark Jaccard, professor at Simon Fraser University, in a discussion on how the United States and China could work together on coal issues in order to move the climate agenda forward. Carnegie’s David Burwell moderated.
Date 2011 10 27
Author
Publisher Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Link http://carnegieendowment.org/2011/10/27/chinese-coal-industry-in-energy-security-and-carbon-constrained-world/60ha
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2 Coal, 2.1 General Status Reports

Industrial Organization of the Chinese Coal Industry

Abstract In this comprehensive analysis of the Chinese coal value chain commissioned by the PESD at Stanford University, Kevin Jianjun Tu examines the industrial organization and structure of China’s coal production, transport, and consumption.  Currently, the size of the China’s grey coal markets seems to have grown to dangerous levels that are too significant to be ignored, it is recommended that the Chinese government should consider assessing the current situation and keep fixing any inconsistency within its statistical reporting system. Program on Energy and Sustainable Development,  Working Paper 103.
Date 2011 07
Author Kevin Jianjun Tu
Publisher Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Link http://carnegieendowment.org/2011/07/25/industrial-organization-of-chinese-coal-industry/483m
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2 Coal, 2.1 General Status Reports

Introduction to the Website

Abstract This website is a project of Focus on the Global South. It gathers together a wide range of English language texts relating to energy development in China. The site contains information and analysis about coal, oil, hydro-power, nuclear, renewable energy (especially wind and solar energy), and energy intensive industries and energy efficiency, as well as about the power sector more generally. In addition to giving an overall understanding of the different branches of the Chinese energy sector, the selection of texts also seeks to explore some of the linkages between energy, work, land and the environment, as well as structures of ownership, control and decision-making. This is based on an understanding that energy is a key means of production and subsistence. The materials seek to portray both the positive and negative effects that energy development has on people’s lives, and also conflicts of interests that in some cases are resulting from this development. In addition to written materials directly relating to energy, there are also materials on related areas, such as climate change. It also contains a brief general introduction to questions of work, land, civil society and geopolitical concerns in China, in order to understand the social, political, economic and environmental context, in which China’s energy development is occurring, and its role in the word political and economic system.

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Baseline for Carbon Emissions in the Indian and Chinese Power Sectors: Implications for International Carbon Trading

Abstract The study examines the dynamics of carbon emissions baselines of electricity generation in Indian states and Chinese provinces in the backdrop of ongoing electricity sector reforms in these countries. Two Indian states-Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, and three Chinese provinces-Guangdong, Liaoning and Hubei have been chosen for detailed analysis to bring out regional variations that are not captured in aggregate country studies. The study finds that fuel mix is the main driver behind the trends exhibited by the carbon baselines in these five cases. The cases confirm that opportunities exist in the Indian and Chinese electricity sectors to lower carbon intensity mainly in the substitution of other fuels for coal and, to a lesser extent, adoption of more efficient and advanced coal-fired generation technology. Overall, the findings suggest that the electricity sectors in India and China are becoming friendlier to the global environment. Disaggregated analysis, detailed and careful industry analysis is essential to establishing a power sector carbon emissions baseline as a reference for CDM crediting. However, considering all the difficulties associated with the baseline issue, our case studies demonstrate that there is merit in examining alternate approaches that rely on more aggregated baselines.
Date 2005 01
Author Chi Zhang,
Publisher Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
Link http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/20798/WP34%2C_14_Jan_05.pdf
Series Working Paper #34
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7 Electric Power, 7.4 Environmental Impact and Regulation

A Study of the Environmental Regulatory System for China’s Power Industry- The Case of Jiangsu Province

Abstract The power industry, as an important infrastructure for and an important part of China’s national economy, is the largest fixed source of air pollution. With the rapid growth of the power industry, power plant emissions are threatening the sustainability of China’s economy and environment. In China’s current environmental regulatory system, environmental protection bureaus are the key agencies that execute environmental regulatory power; and local people’s governments are responsible for the protection of environmental quality in their administrative areas. This type of regulatory system has some weaknesses; non-compliance and weak enforcement of the laws is common. China is facing a pressing need to improve its environmental regulatory system for the power industry and strengthen power industry pollution control. This thesis takes Jiangsu Province as an example. Through investigations and theoretical analysis using the principal-agent model, the thesis analyzes the institutional barriers to environmental regulation of the power industry in Jiangsu Province.
Date 2005 06
Author
Publisher Lu Hong, School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University
Link http://tinyurl.com/kxlanrn
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7 Electric Power, 7.4 Environmental Impact and Regulation

Rural Electrification in China 1950-2004: Historical Processes and Key Driving Forces

Abstract The historical process of rural electrification in China can be divided into three stages. The first stage lasted from 1950 until the end of 1970s, when policies of economic reform and liberalization were introduced. Rural electrification was slow, yet impressive progress was made under strict central planning. The second stage encompasses the last two decades of the 20th century, during which time rural industrialization proceeded full force, with investment mainly from local rather than central government. The third stage began at the turn of the century and included large scale consolidation and upgrading of rural grids, funded by a variety of sources. This further improved the quality of electricity service and extended access to remote rural corners of the country. The process of rural electrification has now neared its end, having become almost fully integrated into the power sector in China.
Date 2006
Author Pan Jiahua
Publisher Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
Link http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/21292/WP_60%2C_Rural_Elec_China.pdf
Series Working Paper #60
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7 Electric Power, 7.3 Rural Electrification

Rural Electrification in China: History and Institution

Abstract China has been highly successful in electrifying rural areas in the past half century. Institutional structure and its reform are important for investment and, therefore, development of rural electrification. Over time, there have been three major institutional changes initiated by the central government; When the People’s Republic was founded in 1949, it was short of capital, technology and management professionals to promote rural electrification, so rural electricity had a separate administrative system from the urban areas. From 1949 to 1977, China established a comprehensive vertical system of rural electricity administration under strict central planning. At the end of the 1970s, with the adoption of economic reform policy, the central government handed over the management of the local electricity system to local government. County level has proved the most effective implementation unit for both planning and project implementation of the rural electricity system. From 1998 to 2002, the central government has been separating local electricity supply from local governments to facilitate the commercial operation of the utility market. After 2002, the rural electricity system was merged with the urban system, forming an integrated national electricity administrative system in China.
Date 2006
Author Peng Wuyuan
Publisher
Link http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/22224/Rural_Electrification_China_Peng.pdf
Series China and World Economy, Vol. 14 no. 1
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7 Electric Power, 7.3 Rural Electrification

Best Practices Guide: Implementing Power Sector Reform

Abstract China’s ongoing utility sector reform efforts can benefit greatly from the many lessons learned in the United States and other countries. This manual contains a distillation of material developed by the Regulatory Assistance Project for use in teaching the full range of issues needed for a restructured electric utility industry. There are many lessons being learned around the world. The list of lessons have been learned from mistakes as well as from successes. Learning and applying the lessons creatively to the situation in any given country will assure that reforms serve the widely held goals of an efficient, fair, and environmentally sustainable electricity sector.
Date 2000 02
Author
Publisher Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), China Sustainable Energy Programme
Link http://www.efchina.org/csepupfiles/report/2007122111817548.1454622771278.pdf/ChinaBPGd.pdf
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7 Electric Power, 7.2 Recent Structural Reforms in the Sector