Energy transition index for 282 Chinese cities

The global target of limiting the increase in temperature to 1.5°C requires a shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, particularly in urban areas that house over half of the world's population and are major consumers of energy and emitters of carbon. However, cities vary in their energy systems and socioeconomic capacities to transition to renewable energy. To address this heterogeneity, this study proposes an Energy Transition Index (ETI) specifically designed for cities, and applies it to track the progress of energy transition in Chinese cities. The city-level ETI framework is based on the national ETI developed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and comprises two sub-indexes: the Energy System Performance sub-index, which evaluates the current status of cities' energy systems in terms of energy transition, and the Transition Readiness sub-index, which assesses their socioeconomic capacity for future energy transition. The Energy System Performance sub-index includes two dimensions and seven components, while the Transition Readiness sub-index has four dimensions and eleven components. Each component consists of one or more indicators. The initial version of the dataset includes ETI and its sub-indexes for 282 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019, with annual updates planned. The spatiotemporal data provided by the dataset facilitates research into the energy transition roadmap for different cities, which can help China achieve its energy transition goals.

将全球气温升幅控制在1.5℃以内的全球目标，要求全球能源体系从化石燃料向可再生能源转型，而承载全球过半人口、同时为能源消费与碳排放大户的城市地区，正是这场转型的关键场域。然而，不同城市的能源系统与可再生能源转型的社会经济能力存在显著异质性。为应对这一异质性，本研究提出了专门面向城市的能源转型指数（Energy Transition Index，ETI），并将其应用于追踪中国城市的能源转型进展。城市级ETI框架以世界经济论坛（World Economic Forum，WEF）开发的国家级ETI为基础，包含两大分指数：其一为能源系统绩效分指数，用于从能源转型维度评估城市能源系统的当前状态；其二为转型准备度分指数，用以评估城市未来开展能源转型的社会经济能力。能源系统绩效分指数涵盖2个维度与7个构成要素，转型准备度分指数则包含4个维度与11个构成要素，每个构成要素均由1项或多项指标组成。本数据集的初始版本涵盖2003年至2019年中国282座城市的ETI及其分指数数据，后续将按年度进行更新。本数据集所提供的时空数据，可为不同城市的能源转型路径研究提供支撑，助力中国达成能源转型目标。