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Episode 149
Dear listeners, we hope you missed us during the long summer break! Now, we're back, and hope you'll join us again for another in-depth episode dealing with a rapidly expanding element of China's energy transition: offshore wind.
Today, we’re talking about China’s offshore wind sector and how it compares to the strategies pursued by Western countries, typified perhaps by the example of Norway.
Our guest is longtime Beijing Energy Network member Erlend Ek, who was posted to Beijing and lived in China for over 15 years. He is now Senior Research Strategy and Energy Lead with China Policy.
Erlend has over this time headed a long list of commissioned research projects across a diverse range of topics, including China’s industrial development, trade policy, regional economic coordination, and the economic zones system. His master's thesis is entitled: "China and Norway: who leads in offshore wind energy and why? A study in motivation."
Key points addressed in the podcast:
How China's offshore wind industry started out, and how it compares to the rest of the world. (It started late, but is now largest in the world by far.)
How China's offshore wind compares technologically. (China has mastered almost the complete supply chain, but so far mainly competes for domestic projects.)
The role of policy versus markets in China in offshore wind. Erlend points out that the Chinese state plays an important coordinating role, and a very active role in setting objectives, but relies heavily on the market for efficient outcomes within that context.
How China's strategy differs from that of Norway and other countries more focused on "technology neutral" or "low cost" approaches to the energy transition.
The two main critiques of China's energy transition and whether they are valid:
(1) that subsidies have declining effectiveness and rising costs, meaning they are ultimately unsustainable in bringing about a transition and overly costly, and
(2) that the private sector is inherently better at deciding where society should invest than the public sector or policymakers.
How China localized the wind industry and whether its criticisms of industrial policies in Europe make sense.
Whether other countries can compete with China in these fields, even with the best policies, given its scale and other advantages.
The Host
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Environment China is a bilingual podcast featuring conversations with advocates, entrepreneurs, and experts working in the sustainability field in China for both Chinese and international audiences. So far, we have released 149 episodes already. You can listen to them on Environment China's official website, BEN's WeChat Account, or Google/Apple/Spotify Podcast.
「环境中国」是在2017年成立的中英双语播客栏目，至今已发布149集。在每一期节目中，我们将邀请到中外环境和能源领域的研究学者、创新创业者以及行业专家与大家分享他们的独到见解和经历。您可在环境中国官网、北京能源网络公众号、以及谷歌/苹果/Spotify播客收听到我们的节目。
