Renewable Heat Policy in China: Development, Achievement, and Effectiveness

Abstract

Heat is the largest energy end-use sector, accounting for half of the global final energy consumption and more than 40% of energy-related CO2 emissions. China produces more than one-quarter of global heat. Policy interventions are of great necessity to overcome the economic and non-economic barriers the sector encounters. The purpose of this study is to explore the evolution history of China’s renewable heat policies over the last 20 years and to assess the effectiveness of the current policy system. The evolution of the policies is strongly linked to China’s socio-economic background and is driven by various factors at each stage. A policy intensity index model is formulated to further dive into the dynamic characteristics of renewable heating. The results indicate that regulation-based instruments are always preferred, with varying degrees of lag for the other three types of instrument. Since the inception of the clean heating program in 2017, the intensity of renewable heating has increased dramatically, revealing that renewable heating has received increasing policy attention and is gradually becoming a key pillar in the context of climate change targets.