China’s Role in the Global Energy Transition

Dr. Scott Moore is the director of China Programs at the University of Pennsylvania, and the author of the book, China's Next Act: How Sustainability and Technology are Reshaping China's Rise and the World's Future.

China is a complicated climate topic: on the one hand, China is the largest solar energy producer in the world and has the largest EV industry in the world, each of which rose from being nearly non-existent 15 years ago. On the other hand, China generates more than 60% of its electricity from coal and is the world's largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases.

Scott and Cody cover a lot of ground, including how the Chinese economic and political system operates, how the solar and EV industries came to be, China's climate policies, global commitments, and the country's current climate, tech and innovation priorities. Given China's role and impact in just about everything, we probably should do another 100 or more MCJ episodes on topics related to China. Hopefully this initial primer can help us all get oriented.

In this episode, we cover:

• [02:36]: Scott's background and climate journey
• [06:08]: An overview of China's economy and its "two big bets"
• [08:11]: The nationalist, protectionist, and authoritarian approach to policy in China
• [10:24]: An overview of target-setting and policymaking
• [14:55]: The role of "corporate innovation parks" and local government in innovation
• [17:47]: China's role in technological development versus deployment
• [19:53]: Four big factors that led China to go all in on solar PV manufacturing
• [26:00]: The emergence of the EV industry
• [29:15]: Two distinct advantages China has in the clean tech ecosystem
• [30:38]: China's current energy mix
• [32:38]: The country’s emissions sources and intensity
• [35:35]: China’s two headline policy goals regarding emissions
• [38:19]: The country's compliance carbon market, the China Emissions Trading Scheme
• [39:39]: Entrepreneurial activity and emerging tech innovation in China
• [43:48]: China's current climate tech priorities, including hydrogen and thorium fission
• [45:16]: Scott's thoughts on competition and cooperation during the global energy transition

Get connected:
Dr. Scott Moore Twitter / LinkedIn
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on June 2, 2023 (released on July 10, 2023)

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