On the pathway of driving the global energy transition, we have achieved great progress over the last decades. Both in Germany and China the share of renewable energy in the electricity sector has rapidly increased. Today, renewables account for more than 40% of Germany’s net electricity production and China boasts the world’s largest capacity of renewable energy, more than 700 GW. However, we have a long way to go. While renewable energies have already become competitive in both countries, other sectors, particularly the building and transport sector, still predominantly depend on fossil energy. Therefore, it is our goal to promote the integration of electricity from renewable sources into further energy-related sectors and to achieve a comprehensive transformation of the energy systems in both countries. Our focus sectors are transport, heating and industry.
Switching from fossil-based energy sources to renewable electricity in all sectors, poses challenges that require supportive policy frameworks as well as innovative technological and system solutions. Germany is the pioneer of energy transition and has adapted supporting schemes to create favourable market conditions and to incentivise the development and application of leading technologies. In China, fuel switching from coal to gas, from coal to electricity in the heating sectors and exploring alternative fuels for the mobility sector are discussed as viable options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating air pollution.
In the Sino-German energy related cooperation projects, we facilitate knowledge exchange on strategies, policies and system solutions to use renewable energies to power the heating and mobility transition. Meanwhile, Germany and China are looking into possibilities for leveraging the transformative value of green hydrogen for applications in industry and mobility.
In Northern China’s harsh winters, coal-based district heating in cities and scattered coal use in rural areas are the main causes of poor air quality. Hence, the twin challenge …
