At the 75th United Nations General Assembly in September 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping made a commitment to the world to “strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060”. This commitment reflects China’s courage and responsibility as a responsible major country, and also points out the goals and direction for energy development. Energy is an important source of carbon dioxide emissions, and it bears important responsibilities in achieving emission targets, fulfilling climate commitments, and ensuring energy security. We must firmly grasp the key to energy development, unswervingly promote energy transformation, and carefully study and coordinate planning in all aspects such as transformation ideas, transformation strategies, key technologies and system design to ensure the realization of the goals of energy transformation and promote China’s energy security, green, coordinated and high-quality development.
1. The key to energy development lies in transformation
Human beings are becoming increasingly dependent on energy.
The importance of energy has been recognized in the early days of mankind. Therefore, since the beginning of social organization, mankind has paid great attention to storing food in preparation for famine. During the struggle period, cutting off food and grass was used as a tried and tested magic weapon to win the war. Only after the industrial production and application of energy has human society achieved more and greater productivity in less than a century than in all previous eras. Because whether it is industrial machinery, chemistry, ships, railways, telegraphs, etc., they all require large-scale energy as a foundation and support. Analyzing the economic development speed and energy supply curve in the past few decades, the development of modern social economy and energy are closely related. Fluctuations in energy supply will inevitably bring about fluctuations in economic development. Conversely, fluctuations in economic development will also bring about fluctuations in energy consumption. Human beings cannot live without energy. The destructive consequences caused by energy supply interruptions are a more intuitive demonstration of the dependence of human basic production and life on energy.
Fossil energy has always been the main source of consumer energy.
Since human society entered the industrial society, the demand for energy has been growing exponentially for a period of time. Even in recent decades, it is still in a relatively fast growth trend overall. According to BP statistics, by 2018, the total global energy consumption was 13.865 billion tons of standard oil, which is 3.72 times the total consumption in 1965. Among the energy consumed in 2018, fossil energy accounted for 11.744 billion tons, accounting for 84.7% of the total terminal energy consumption. Although this proportion is lower than the peak years, it still accounts for an absolute proportion, and the absolute consumption is still increasing.
The heavy reliance on fossil energy hides a serious crisis.
The serious dependence on fossil energy has brought about the following problems: First, fossil energy will be consumed soon. Although there are still undiscovered fossil energy reserves, the reserves of fossil energy are limited after all. If no suitable alternative energy can be found, the global fossil energy will be consumed in about 80 years at the consumption rate of 2018. Second, the large-scale development and utilization of fossil energy brings serious environmental pollution. At present, people mainly use fossil energy by direct combustion, and the sulfur and nitrogen contained in it are discharged into the atmosphere, forming corrosive pollutants such as acid rain. At the same time, other pollutants such as smoke and dust are discharged during the development, production and utilization process, causing damage and pollution to the water, soil, geology, etc. in local areas. Third, the large amount of carbon emissions during the use of fossil energy is the main factor affecting the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere. A large amount of carbon is originally stored in fossil energy in the earth’s rock formations. During the combustion of fossil energy, it is discharged into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide gas, which rapidly increases the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere and causes the earth’s atmospheric temperature to rise. It has become a global consensus. These problems will have a serious impact on the earth’s ecological environment and ultimately pose a challenge to human development and survival.
Neither energy technology nor energy governance has yet found a revolutionary breakthrough.
Human beings are aware of the challenges brought by energy problems and have been trying to find solutions to future energy supply. From a technical point of view, no good solution has been found yet. It is generally believed that the main energy sources that can replace fossil energy may be hydropower, nuclear energy, wind energy, solar energy and ocean energy. Except for ocean energy, which is still mainly in the experimental and small-scale construction of initial production, the application of hydropower, nuclear energy, wind energy and solar energy has been relatively mature and has made great progress in the past two decades. However, the proportion of these energy sources in total energy consumption is less than 16% in total, and no single energy source accounts for more than 10% of consumption (hydropower accounts for the largest proportion, 7%), so there is no energy source that can serve as an alternative to the three fossil energy sources. From the perspective of energy governance, energy issues are not a problem of one country or one nation. All countries and nations are closely bound together as a community of human destiny. The fate of all life on Earth ultimately depends on human choices. The Earth does not need human salvation, because even without humans, the Earth still exists. But the survival or death of humans and life on this planet depends on human consciousness, wisdom and execution ability. The problem is that although humans have recognized this problem, there are still serious problems in putting aside differences, achieving cooperation, achieving global unified action, and achieving effective energy governance.
All human activities are heavily dependent on energy, and energy supply is limited by factors such as resource depletion, technological capabilities, and atmospheric environment. Energy has increasingly become a bottleneck and constraint for human development. Ensuring future energy supply has become a major issue facing people. Humans must cooperate to achieve effective global energy governance and jointly cope with the difficulties and crises they face. However, there is no consensus on the technical direction of energy transformation, the realization of effective global energy governance, and the mechanisms related to the long-term and sustainable development of human destiny and the coordination of short-term interest distribution. Energy development is at a crossroads, and the destiny of mankind is at a crossroads.
2. The key to energy transformation lies in new energy
Energy transformation has become a consensus among industry experts and the whole society. However, there are still many different opinions on how to transform.
The key to energy transformation is to be able to develop and use new energy on a large scale. New energy refers to wind power, solar energy (including photovoltaic, solar thermal, and thermal power utilization), biomass energy, and ocean energy. These energy sources generally have the following basic characteristics, which are also the most basic requirements for transformation energy: First, the development and utilization of energy is technically and economically feasible. Only when it is technically feasible can energy development and utilization be possible; only when it is economically feasible can it be promoted and applied sustainably, and the cost per unit of energy should be at an affordable level under the condition of taking into account factors such as environmental costs. Second, energy will not bring negative external effects to the environment, atmosphere, etc. during development, transportation, and use. The energy process will inevitably have an impact on the external environment, but this impact is either positive, or its negative impact is within an acceptable range, or it can be corrected through technical and management measures. Third, this energy can be safely developed and utilized on a large scale, thus having the ability to replace traditional energy.
At present, energy sources that meet these three characteristics include hydropower, wind power, solar energy, biomass energy and other new energy sources. Nuclear energy is actually also a clean energy, but since the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, its development has not been smooth.
In my opinion, there are still some key issues that have not been resolved for these types of energy. If these issues are not resolved, it will be difficult to truly achieve energy transformation successfully.
First, the main factors that determine the resource reserves of solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, etc. are the environmental climate, geographical characteristics and geological features determined by longitude and latitude. When the resource exploration technology and capabilities are basically mature, the resource reserves are relatively stable and will not fluctuate significantly over a long period of time unless there is a sudden change in local geography or global climate. This point is rarely mentioned in the current discussion of energy transformation, but it is very important. This is very different from fossil energy resources – new mineral deposits are discovered in fossil energy resources almost every year. Can the resource reserves that can be developed by new energy sources meet future energy needs? The author’s research found that, at least for China, after all solar energy, hydropower and wind power that can be developed and utilized by all technologies are still not able to balance China’s strong future energy demand. Under the various scenarios analyzed, the share of energy demand that needs to be balanced by fossil energy in the target year is relatively large. This is an issue that deserves attention. If we cannot foresee and prepare in advance, it is not impossible for energy to be “hardly” cut off in a cliff-like manner when fossil energy is unsustainable, thus causing economic and social chaos.
Second, given a certain total amount of resource reserves, the only way to increase the supply capacity of new energy is to improve the efficiency of energy conversion through advanced technical means. For wind power, it is whether the technical route of wind power conversion into electricity by wind turbines can be changed to break through the conversion efficiency limit of Bates theory and reduce the difficulty of manufacturing wind power conversion equipment. For solar photovoltaic utilization, it is how to continuously improve the efficiency of solar photovoltaic conversion. The conversion efficiency of advanced photovoltaic power generation currently put into commercial application is about 25%. In theory, this efficiency can be increased to more than 70%. With the improvement of conversion efficiency, the supply capacity of solar energy as a supply energy can be greatly enhanced.
Third, new energy sources are intermittent and uncertain, which contradicts the requirements of continuous, reliable, sustainable and stable energy supply. Therefore, while developing new energy sources, supporting energy technologies must be developed, among which the most important are large-capacity energy storage technologies and energy sources with complementary or reverse regulation characteristics to new energy sources. In an energy system dominated by new energy sources, if the system itself does not have sufficient regulation capacity or does not have sufficient energy storage equipment installed, the stability, safety and reliability of the system’s energy supply cannot be guaranteed, and new energy sources cannot be used as the main energy source.
III. Prospects and Challenges of China’s Energy Transformation
As an ambitious nation and country, China’s basic policy on energy issues is to strengthen international cooperation to achieve ideal global energy governance, while at the same time achieving energy independence – not only energy supply, but also core energy technology and energy governance – so as to achieve independence and safe and full development. This is indeed a daunting challenge.
The basic idea of analyzing China’s energy transition process is to set an economic target and a corresponding energy target value, and then work backwards to calculate the reasonable time required to achieve this target value and the average growth rate of each level year, as well as the basic structure of energy allocation in each level year, so as to simulate the complete process of energy transition. In the simulation analysis, the author considers that in the next thirty years, China’s population base will remain unchanged at 1.4 billion, the per capita GDP will be 42,300 US dollars, reaching the level of Germany in 2018, and the energy intensity will be 1.08 kWh/US dollar, reaching the level of the EU in 2017. Considering that hydropower, wind power and solar energy resources will be fully developed and utilized by the target year, according to different growth combinations of the three fossil energy sources, the gap in energy demand will be supplemented by nuclear power, and the energy transition will be analyzed in four scenarios. The analysis shows that by the target year, China’s total primary energy demand will reach 6.32 billion tons of standard oil, 1.93 times that of 2018, and the annual per capita energy consumption will be 189.6 GJ.
Analysis of four energy transition scenarios shows that coal will continue to be the basic energy source in China’s energy transition process. In the most ideal scenario by the target year, coal will still account for the highest proportion of primary energy consumption, reaching 41%, followed by nuclear energy, accounting for 12%, followed by wind energy 11%, oil 10%, solar energy 9%, hydropower 8%, and natural gas 7%. Based on this energy structure, electricity consumption will account for 52.8% of terminal energy consumption.
Looking ahead to China’s energy transition, there are several issues that need to be focused on:
First, the status of coal. China is a country with a shortage of energy resources. Its fossil energy reserves account for only 8.3% of the world’s total, of which oil accounts for 1.5% and natural gas accounts for 3.1%. Even the most abundant coal accounts for only 13.2% of the world’s total, which is only about half of that in the United States. In recent years, China’s coal production has been large, and the reserve-to-production ratio in 2018 was only 38 years. Therefore, coal is China’s main energy source, but it is also the energy source that needs to be used with caution and carefully arranged. If coal is not used properly, China’s energy security cannot be reliably guaranteed, and it is impossible to achieve a “soft” transformation of energy.
Second, relying on new energy cannot support China to achieve energy transformation safely. There are two main problems here. First, without the support of fossil energy and the technical inability to develop ocean energy on a large scale, the available energy of new energy cannot meet China’s future energy needs. The technology of ocean energy development and utilization has just started, and its technical route, prospects and scale of development are still difficult to predict; second, without the support of fossil energy and nuclear energy, the regulatory characteristics of new energy do not have the ability to respond to energy demand characteristics, and the safety, reliability and sustainability of the energy system cannot be fundamentally guaranteed.
Third, we should strengthen the use of nuclear energy with good safety performance and strong regulation performance. Nuclear energy has extremely valuable characteristics such as high energy density, cleanness and low carbon. In the use of nuclear energy, first, we should pay attention to the safety issues in the use of nuclear energy. The technology of obtaining controllable nuclear energy based on the principle of nuclear fission has developed to the fourth generation, and the safety can be guaranteed in general. However, to ensure that there is no risk, we should strengthen the development and production application of technology that can obtain controllable nuclear energy based on the principle of nuclear fusion, and ensure the safety of nuclear energy in principle. Second, we should pay attention to the comprehensive utilization of nuclear energy. We should not limit the use of nuclear energy to power generation, but should strengthen research and application in the comprehensive utilization of electricity and heat, desalination of seawater with waste heat from nuclear power or hydrogen production, and improve the utilization efficiency of nuclear energy. Third, we should strengthen the flexibility of nuclear power units, and start to improve the regulation capacity of nuclear energy from the aspects of modularization, miniaturization and improving the regulation capacity of nuclear power units, so as to meet the conditions and requirements of a large number of new energy access systems.
IV. China’s Basic Strategy for Energy Transformation
The future of energy determines the future of mankind. Energy transformation is an urgent and important issue of this era. In the process of energy transformation, we must look ahead, respect science, conduct careful research, and base ourselves on reality to determine the basic strategy of energy transformation.
First, make full use of traditional fossil energy
First, reduce the use of oil for power. Oil has a wide range of uses and is very precious. The reduction of oil resources has a great impact on industry. At present, about 70% of oil is used for transportation power. Under the premise of controlling the overall oil consumption, we should speed up the development of high-energy power battery and other technologies, develop new types of transportation vehicles with electric power, hydrogen power and gas power, and gradually replace the use of oil in the field of transportation power.
Second, expand natural gas production channels to ensure a stable supply of energy. From the perspective of energy security, control the proportion of natural gas imports to about 40%. Based on the 2018 natural gas reserves, by 2048, there will be a 19.8% gap in natural gas, or 1.03 billion tons of oil equivalent. To meet the demand for natural gas, on the one hand, it is necessary to increase the intensity of natural gas exploration and discover more natural gas resources. On the other hand, it is necessary to increase the development and utilization of combustible ice resources and realize the low-cost sustainable production of combustible ice resources as soon as possible. Third, promote the research on power-to-methane technology, build a carbon-energy cycle system pilot project, and gradually realize industrialization to ensure the continuous and stable use of gas in the future energy supply system.
Third, properly utilize coal resources. In 2018, China’s coal imports accounted for 7.2% of the total coal. In order to extend the use of domestic coal reserves and buy time for energy transformation, the proportion of coal imports should be increased while controlling the total amount of coal used. Calculated by an annual import increase of 5.9% over the previous year, coal imports will account for 40% of the total coal by 2048. According to this, by 2048, a total of 68.89 billion tons of standard oil of coal will be consumed in 30 years, of which 13.84 billion tons will be imported and 55.05 billion tons will be produced domestically, with an average import accounting for 20.7% of total consumption. Calculated based on the coal reserves in 2018, by 2048, there will still be 14.35 billion tons of standard oil of coal reserves left. This amount, based on the annual coal production in 2048, can still be produced for more than nine years.
At present, coal is mainly used in the power industry, followed by the steel industry and the chemical industry. At the same time, there is still a large proportion of scattered burning in the country. The efficiency of various coal utilization methods is not the same. Concentrated utilization is more efficient, has lower emissions, and is cleaner. In the future, coal utilization should focus on developing ultra-low emission coal-fired power generation, strengthening scattered coal management and discrete energy demand substitution, and developing new coal chemical industry, etc., to improve the efficiency of coal use and reduce coal pollutant emissions.
Second, comprehensive utilization of clean energy
Currently recognized clean energy includes hydropower, wind power, solar energy and ocean energy. Nuclear energy is an extremely high-quality clean energy as long as its safety is guaranteed. Clean energy is an important choice for future energy transformation and should be vigorously developed and utilized. The design of the energy supply system is very important for the utilization of clean energy. Taking all factors into consideration, the future energy supply system mainly includes the following categories:
Traditional energy supply. This is the main energy supply mode currently adopted by cities and towns, and it will also be an important energy supply mode in the future. Reliable electricity supply is obtained by connecting to the large power grid, and reliable gas supply is obtained by connecting to the main gas system. If conditions permit, solar energy utilization facilities (power generation or heating) can be installed as a supplement to energy supply. This model may change in business model and operation mode in the future. For users, on the one hand, it will increase business selectivity and even participation in commercial activities. On the other hand, by developing a comprehensive optimization system for users’ multi-energy supply, energy supply will be more economical and intelligent.
Grid-connected energy supply. This method generally has a certain amount of energy production capacity, but is connected to the main energy grid, using the main energy grid as a backup energy source to enhance the reliability of energy supply. When the main grid is interrupted due to an accident, the energy supply of these users can generally guarantee the energy supply, and users with conditions can also return energy to support the startup of the large grid. This is also an important way of energy supply in the future. Whether users use their own energy or the main grid energy, and whether users are energy users or energy producers for the main grid, depends on the economic optimization results of users.
Off-grid energy supply. In remote areas, it is very costly or technically difficult to extend the energy supply network. Islands far away from the mainland are unlikely to build a physically connected energy system with the mainland, and it is sometimes difficult for islands to be connected through a physical energy transmission network to supply each other with energy. At this time, it is necessary to build an off-grid energy supply network locally according to local conditions. Whether it is a single rural user or an isolated island, the basic principles are similar, but the complexity varies greatly. For off-grid energy supply systems, the available energy can be any one or a combination of natural gas, biomass, solar energy, wind energy, ocean energy, etc. Among them, large-capacity energy storage facilities are indispensable key equipment.
Off-grid energy supply systems designed for isolated islands or island groups include ocean energy such as wave energy in addition to wind and solar energy in energy production facilities. If the carbon-energy cycle system is mature, this system can be used to supply gas to the islands. The islands are connected to form an energy supply network by transporting energy storage bodies or artificial natural gas between islands, and energy connections can also be established between island groups and the mainland through shipping.
Third, energy transmission and distribution system
When designing the energy supply system in combination with the actual situation, the energy transmission and distribution network will also be different from the current one. The increase in the proportion of electric energy in terminal energy, the development of electric storage technology and the development of comprehensive energy utilization technology may have a profound impact on the energy transportation pattern. This impact is reflected in the following aspects:
1. The increased proportion of electricity in terminal energy consumption is mainly new energy and nuclear energy. The randomness and low utilization rate of new energy make it less economical to build a large power grid to transmit electricity. For this reason, coal-fired power plants and natural gas-fired power plants should be comprehensively planned and built in conjunction with the development of new energy. To adapt to the characteristics of new energy, it is necessary to increase the flexibility of thermal power units and the flexibility of nuclear power units at the load center. This will make the efficiency and economy of thermal power units and nuclear power units worse, which needs to be carefully studied and solved.
2. As a power source with high energy density, nuclear energy should be built in the load center area, but the selection of nuclear power station sites will be a problem. In theory, modular nuclear power plants with high safety and comprehensive energy utilization characteristics can be built at the sites of retired thermal power units, but this will face the social pressure brought by nuclear energy safety issues. The layout of nuclear energy in the southeast coast can well balance the trend of power transmission from west to east and from north to south, but there are limited sites suitable for the development of nuclear power in the coastal areas. Under the severe situation of tight energy supply and demand, the development of nuclear power inland is a matter of sooner or later. All of these will have a great impact on future energy transmission and distribution.
3. With the popularization and application of small solar energy and small wind power, as well as the development of rural biomass energy utilization (such as biogas resources), the proportion of microgrid energy supply, such as grid-connected and off-grid types, will increase, which will have an impact on the energy supply of the main grid. On the one hand, it makes the construction of grid access in remote areas at all costs lose its comparative value and deprives the main grid of the right to implement energy supply to these areas. On the other hand, micro energy grids can be a good supplement to the main grid. When the main grid is damaged by external forces, it can not only guarantee its own energy supply, but also provide support to the main grid.
4. Electricity storage technology means that electricity does not necessarily have to be transmitted through the large power grid, but can also be transmitted through freight batteries. Large-capacity batteries provide reliable backup for off-grid energy networks, and also allow isolated power grids to be connected through freight networks, thus forming a new energy transmission network in addition to the power grid.
5. The electricity produced by the non-dispatchable, discrete new energy grid can also be converted into natural gas that can be stored and transported in large quantities on-site through the carbon-energy cycle system, and transported to the demand location through the freight network, and used directly as gas or converted into electricity for power generation again. This type of energy production unit, after the technology matures, has great potential in the future and will become an important part of the future energy supply system, making it possible for natural gas to become a permanent energy source.
Fourth, key technologies in energy transformation
In order to ensure that the energy transition process and future energy supply systems are safe, reliable, stable and sustainable, it is necessary to focus on mastering several key energy technologies, including large-scale energy storage technology, comprehensive development and technology of ocean energy, and technology and system integration of carbon-energy cycle.
Large-scale energy storage technology. At present, energy storage technology has been widely used in energy supply systems. However, the only mature technology that can store energy on a large scale is pumped storage technology. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) technology is currently only used in Germany and the United States, each with a 100,000-kilowatt power station. Research and engineering demonstrations are still being conducted in China. Electric energy storage technology has the advantages of high energy density, high comprehensive efficiency, and fast response speed. It is particularly suitable for use with new non-dispatchable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic and wind power generation. It is also very suitable for use in microgrids, but its main bottleneck is the low capacity and short life of a single battery and the environmental pollution caused by the treatment of waste batteries. The development direction of energy storage technology towards large capacity, miniaturization, mobility, standardization, and intelligence will bring essential changes to the future energy supply system, especially the power system, and is also the basis and key technology for the smooth transformation of energy.
Comprehensive development and utilization technology of ocean energy. Ocean energy includes tidal energy, wave energy, tidal current energy (ocean current energy), temperature difference energy, salinity difference energy, etc. The tidal energy power generation technology is more mature at present, and the wave energy and ocean current energy power generation technology have higher energy density. All three technologies have built and operated power stations or test stations, and are constantly developing towards larger capacity and scale. Temperature difference energy and salinity difference energy power generation are still in the experimental research stage, and there is still a certain gap from formal commercial application. The ocean occupies more than 70% of the earth’s surface area. When sunlight shines on the earth, most of the energy is absorbed by the ocean. The tides and ocean currents (ocean currents) caused by the gravity of the sun and the moon also contain huge energy. According to OES estimates, the global annual ocean energy generation totals more than 76 trillion kWh, which is close to three times the global total power generation in 2018 (26.6 trillion kWh).
The basic idea of developing and utilizing ocean energy is, first, to combine ocean energy power generation systems with offshore solar power generation systems and offshore wind power generation systems to realize multi-energy complementary ocean energy integrated system power generation. Second, to combine ocean energy power generation systems with energy storage systems. While improving the utilization rate of energy development, energy storage can make the ocean energy power generation system completely separated from the land shore, without the need to build costly power transmission and distribution facilities. Third, the ocean energy power generation system is combined with artificial fossil energy synthesis and seawater desalination systems, that is, the electricity produced by the ocean energy power generation system is used to desalinate seawater on site. Projects have been implemented in this regard. It is also possible to use the generated electricity and seawater to produce hydrogen, and then use hydrogen and carbon dioxide in the air to make artificial natural gas with mature safety technology and transportation technology, while absorbing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Artificial natural gas technology. It captures carbon dioxide and water from the air, consumes electricity to produce hydrocarbon fuels, and produces liquid hydrocarbon fuels that are easy to transport and store, such as methane and ethanol, thereby realizing carbon energy circulation. At present, this electricity-to-hydrocarbon fuel technology is not very mature overall. Among multiple technical routes, several demonstration devices have been built using the water electrolysis hydrogen production combined with carbon dioxide hydrogenation technology.
5. Integrated design of energy systems for climate change
The essence of energy-related climate problems is that the large-scale development and utilization of fossil energy has changed the natural cycle of carbon, released the reduced carbon in the lithosphere into the atmosphere too quickly, artificially accelerated the carbon exchange between the lithosphere and other spheres, and led to an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, destroying the original balance of nature. This has led to an imbalance in the global carbon cycle, changed the energy conversion form of the earth’s biosphere, and caused global warming, which in turn brought about a series of ecological and environmental problems such as rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and extreme climates.
The basic idea of the carbon-energy cycle system is to use some key technologies to reduce the excess carbon in the atmosphere, thereby opening up the two-way cycle of carbon in the atmosphere and lithosphere, and then controlling and adjusting the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to keep it within the permitted range. At the same time, it can provide a steady stream of fossil energy to ensure a reliable, stable and sustainable supply of high-density energy. The concept of the carbon-energy cycle system is realized by using an offshore integrated energy platform.
Each energy source in nature has different characteristics, and there is no energy source that perfectly meets all requirements. Therefore, we must be good at discovering the characteristics of various energy sources, giving full play to the strengths of each energy source, and avoiding its shortcomings. In an energy system, the diversification of the energy structure is very important. At the same time, it is possible to use systematic thinking to find ways to solve problems such as carbon emissions and achieve a safe, stable and sustainable energy supply. China’s energy resource endowment, economic and technological development level determine that the road to energy transformation will not be smooth, and many problems and difficulties will be encountered during the transformation process. In this process, we must respect science, respect laws, respect natural resource endowments, and firmly establish the goal of energy transformation to ensure the realization of national economic and social development goals, and provide strong energy guarantees for national prosperity and national rejuvenation. (Source: China Power Network)