Power sector carbon intensity in China 2000-2023

The carbon intensity of electricity generation in China was 582 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour (gCO₂/kWh) in 2023. Although China's emission intensity has fallen over the past two decades, it still has the fourth highest globally. One reason is the country's dependence on coal power generation.Decades of coal-dependenceEarly in the PRC’s existence, economic development relied on domestic resources. Despite its size, China is not rich in energy resources, except coal, which became the main fuel source until today. Because of its relative abundance and cheap prices on the world market, the Chinese energy sector had little incentive to change. Therefore, as the economy grew, so did the carbon emissions, which remain the highest worldwide until today.Adapt and overcomeIn a top-down approach, the Chinese energy sector has begun to change course and throw its weight towards renewable energy. In 2023, China was the leading investor in energy transition, allocation more than twice as much money towards green energy than the United States. As a result, the PRC was the only country among the top four economies globally who significantly decreased its carbon factor.

我国电力生产之碳排放强度于2023年达到每千瓦时582克二氧化碳（gCO₂/kWh）。尽管我国在过去二十年间碳排放强度有所下降，但全球排名仍位居第四。其成因之一即我国对煤炭发电的依赖。自中华人民共和国成立以来，经济发展长期依赖国内资源。尽管我国幅员辽阔，能源资源却相对匮乏，唯有煤炭资源丰富，直至今日仍为主要的燃料来源。鉴于其在国际市场上的相对丰富与低廉价格，我国能源行业缺乏转变的动力。因此，随着经济的增长，碳排放也随之增加，至今仍位居全球之最。然而，我国能源行业已采取自上而下的策略，积极转型，大力投资可再生能源。2023年，我国成为能源转型领域的领先投资者，在绿色能源方面的投资是美国的两倍以上。因此，我国成为全球前四大经济体中唯一一个显著降低其碳排放系数的国家。