In November 2022, Energy Foundation China released this new report, which revolves around electrification in China’s carbon neutrality pathways. The report was led by Energy Foundation China and coordinated by the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland, with contributions from 21 expert authors from nine research organizations.

As the second instalment in a series of multi-institution reports that assess China’s carbon neutrality transition, this report provides an overview of China’s new policies and energy and emissions trends since 2020 and an updated understanding of the country’s pathways toward carbon neutrality. It also dives deep into the role of electricity, focusing on the double transitions of electrifying end-use sectors and decarbonizing the electricity sector to achieve China’s carbon neutrality target. This report particularly highlights the role of electrification and associated electricity system transformation in achieving China’s “30/60” goals, and identifies a set of near-term sectoral actions and long-term sectoral strategies that can be taken to accelerate electrification and power sector decarbonization to put China on a successful, low emissions growth.

It was developed based on new, multi-model, multi-institution analyses, deep-dive working papers on specific sectors, and an assessment of existing research.