Transition to low carbon energy policies in China-from the Five-Year Plan perspective

Energy policy plays a critical role not only in the energy development, but also in the social and environmental aspects of a nation. Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development is one of the most important government plans, which documents the national strategy during that period. This study presents a critical review of 12 Five-Year Plans that have been released by the Chinese central government in last 58 years. In particular, the recently released Twelfth Five-Year Plan is reviewed. The results clearly shows pattern of increasingly level of attention of Chinese government to energy efficiency improvement, air pollutant emission reduction, new and renewable energy development, carbon dioxide emission and climate change. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.