China’s economic transition is being hindered by stagnant energy intensity. Over the past 40 years, China’s economy has become less energy-intensive due to industrial modernisation and a shift towards service sector output. However, energy intensity has remained constant for the past five years, making it challenging to replace coal with renewables and cap total emissions. Despite China’s active deployment of wind and solar generation, the rapid growth of economic output and energy consumption means that most additional renewables will be used to meet increasing energy demands rather than replace coal.

Source: Reuters