Making the Transition: EU-China Cooperation on Renewable Energy and Carbon Capture and Storage

Abstract

Traditionally, Europe is considered to rank among the top performers in renewable energy. However, its lead in this area is increasingly challenged, notably by newcomer China. Keen to sustain its economic growth and ensure the availability of sufficient energy sources to that effect, China’s progress in the field of renewable energy is as much about security of supply, as it is about counteracting the effects of environmental degradation and climate change.1 In its efforts to safeguard its economic growth, China is increasingly competing with the EU over scarce fossil fuel sources, such as natural gas from Central Asia.2 The focus of EU-China energy cooperation is therefore as much structured in terms of managing the latter’s energy demand to limit its impact on climate change and the environment, as it is about relieving pressure on the Union’s own security of supply. Particularly since the second half of the 2000s, much has changed in China after the adoption of the Renewable Energy Law (REL or ‘the Law’) and the establishment of the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change at the 2005 EU-China summit. The Chinese renewable energy market has grown tremendously since and significant efforts have been put into cooperation on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies. Despite of the renewable sector’s growth, several obstacles remain in the way of its further development, including problems feeding renewable energy into the grid; restrictive regulations concerning foreign ownership; a lack of enforcement of regulations and follow-up on bilateral cooperation; and the absence of a regulatory system that favours carbon captured electricity.