Xinhua Digest reprinted ZHANG Xiliang，professor of Management Science and Engineering and director of the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy (short for 3E), Tsinghua University and colleague’s article Evaluating Economic and Social Benefits of Accelerated Energy Transition.
The authors said that to achieve carbon neutrality, China’s energy system needs a radical transition, and the development of new energy is of central importance. The low-carbon transformation of energy systems will have economic, social and environmental impacts, but most current studies lack a comprehensive assessment of the benefits of accelerating the energy transformation.
Based on the integrated assessment modeling framework, this study compares economic and social costs and benefits between a scenario reflecting the current energy transition momentum and a scenario of accelerated energy transition. We show that the accelerated energy transition dominated by new energy is essential to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 and the air quality target required by Beautiful China.
The large development of wind and solar power will further reduce their technology costs and the overall energy costs, which will benefit China’s wind and solar equipment export and other exporting industries, supporting sustainable economic growth. In addition, the accelerated energy transition will create more jobs and health benefits and avoid substantial social costs of carbon emissions.
Evaluating Economic and Social Benefits of Accelerated Energy Transition was published in Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vol. 36, No. 9. Professor ZHANG Xiliang is the corresponding author. The authors also include Zhang Hongyu (leading author), Huang Xiaodan and Associate Professor Zhang Da from 3E.
DOI：10.16418/j.issn.1000-3045.20210813003
Media contact:
F. Tang
3e@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn