La Chine en transition énergétique : Un virage vers les énergies renouvelables?

Since the seventies the People’s Republic of China has undergone an impressive and successful effort of industrialization and economic development. While millions of Chinese were getting rid of extreme poverty and while the country was becoming the world’s second largest economic power, this development came at a cost: natural resources have been intensively overexploited, energy consumption has reached new heights and the natural environment has paid a steep price. Since the turn of the century, the Chinese government has started to acknowledge the need to tackle these negative impacts of rapid development. Sustainability has emerged as a major concept in terms of energy policy in the PRC and since 2007 Beijing has formally included it inside its growth objectives. In March 2011, the XIIth Five-Year Plan has stressed the need to build a sustainable and environmentally aware society. This commitment has been followed by several regulations aiming towards the evolution of the Chinese economic model energy system reducing its consumption of fossil fuels and depending more and more on renewable and green energy sources, while maintaining a high growth rate. This ambitious objective faces huge challenges such as the geopolitical impacts of China’s energy policy and the current lack of innovation experienced by the country in terms of energy technologies. To address these issues, Beijing has developed an international cooperation strategy based of two concepts: « go global » et « bringing in », while being extremely firm in defending its interests at the international level. The Chinese green revolution seems quite real and huge progresses have been recorded in terms of developing renewable energies (such as solar, wind or hydropower). Water, air, and soil pollution are still major issues, “green energies” remain far from providing a reliable alternative to coal and oil, while the discordance between energy production and energy consumption sites inside China strongly diminishes the efficiency of the country’s efforts. There is an undeniable political will to develop a new and more sustainable and energy-friendly economic model in the PRC, though. The next decade will thus be vital for China’s economic and environmental future