Opinion | China’s energy transition proves a boon in the Iran crisis

As the world’s largest oil and gas importer, China undoubtedly faces a significant disruption, what with the US-Israeli war on Iran and its cascading impact across the Gulf.

But it could have been worse. Beijing has worked unstintingly for well over a decade to build energy self-reliance

and reduce the role of fossil fuels in powering the country’s manufacturing economy.

There will be keen interest in what the new five-year plan will say in detail

on the energy security plan going forward.

China has been under acute pressure over the past decade because of its colossal consumption of fossil fuels and contribution to global warming. It could not have become a manufacturing superpower without a massive investment in power generation, with the lion’s share coming from coal-fired plants. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says China’s power generation per capita has soared by over 550 per cent since the turn of the century.

China’s economic rise has come at huge environmental cost, in terms of carbon emissions and air pollution. China’s energy sector is responsible for nearly 90 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions, with coal still accounting for over 60 per cent of power generation. Air pollution driven by coal-fired power is estimated to have caused over 400,000 deaths in 2021 alone.