Chapter One Toward a Green and Low-Carbon Future: The Past and Future of China’s Energy

Energy serves as an indispensable material basis for modern social life, which indicates the importance of the energy sector to the economy. In the process of industrialization and modernization, all countries have regarded reliable energy supply as one of the prerequisites for development. Ensuring adequate and reliable energy supply has always been a linchpin of economic development in all countries. The geopolitical and economic battles over the energy security issues have become a major political, diplomatic and even military concern that is too important to be ignored for most countries. As China’s economy and industrialization gain pace, energy shortage had fettered the economic growth for a long time. The past few decades have witnessed the Chinese people’s efforts to develop an independent energy industry and energy supply system by making best use of domestic resources. Today, China has put in place a complete and extensive system of energy supply and consumption.