China's renewable energy goals by 2050

Abstract

The world is facing an energy crisis, environmental pollution and climate change as a result of the depletion and use of fossil fuels. In the meantime, China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, as it consumes the world's largest quantity of energy with 67% of the primary energy consumption and 73% of electricity generation from coal. To cope with energy security and environmental challenges, China has been actively developing renewable energy since the year 2000 and has made rapid progress (with an average annual growth rate of 62.5% over the past decade). China plans to achieve 16% renewables by 2030 while aggressive studies reveal that China should be able to reach 26% renewable energy by 2030 and 60% renewable energy and 86% renewable electricity by 2050. In this paper, we analyze the historical and current status of China's renewable energy development and discuss challenges and strategies for China's renewable energy goals for 2050.