China's Path to Carbon Neutrality

China has officially set a plan to become carbon neutral by 2060, making it the largest climate plan yet conceived in the world. The plan includes cutting back on fossil fuel production and consumption – most notably coal – as well as an increased focus on clean energy and electric vehicles over the next four decades. Data related to the plan shows just how far China is willing to go for cleaner energy production in the coming decades.

In data about the plan provided by Tsinghua University’s Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, China plans to have 84 percent of their total energy sources be from non-fossil fuels. That’s an enormous increase from the current level, as China’s production of non-fossil fuels was just 15 percent last year. Tsinghua University shows how the massive switch to cleaner energies will start slowly at first but pick up steam after 2030.

Right now, China is the leading coal consumer and producer in the world, with an estimated 2.86 billion tons of coal-fired electricity produced in 2025. According to Bloomberg, cutting down on this fossil fuel is China’s number one priority in producing cleaner energy, and by 2060, they hope to be relying on just 110 million tons of coal-fired electricity – a 96 percent reduction. Other fossil fuels in the country, including natural gas and oil, make up just half of what is produced by coal. What China loses in coal it plans to gain back with a near-equal mixture of wind, solar and nuclear energy.