Today, we’re looking at the issue of phasing out coal power in China, looking at a report issued recently by scholars at the University of Maryland Center for Global Sustainability and the California-China Climate Institute at UC Berkeley.

Our guest is Dr. Ryna Yiyun Cui, who is an expert in global coal transition and climate and energy policies in China. Her research focuses on climate change mitigation and sustainable energy transition, and she is experienced in global and national integrated assessment modeling of China, India, and the United States. She is a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report on the topic of the global coal transition. And notably, she joined us on Podcast 84 in November 2019!

The report we're discussing today is: "A Decade of Action: A Strategic Approach to Coal Phase-Down for China."

It discusses a strategic plan to retire China's old or outdated capacity even as the country builds new coal plants. This is in line with government strategies, which posit that new coal should help meet peak loads and ensure stable electricity supplies even as clean energy should supply most incremental energy or electricity overall.

The report has three recommendations:

1. Conduct a plant-level review to identify an early retirement schedule and strategy.

2. Combine this strategy with an analysis of renewable energy, grid, storage, and transmission investment to fund these investments and replace any lost tax revenues.

3. Evaluate the job losses and their composition at the county level, and provide support for job training.

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 109 episodes already. You can listen to them on Environment China's website, BEN's WeChat Account, or Google/Apple/Spotify Podcast.

「环境中国」是北京能源网络2017年成立的中英双语播客栏目，至今已发布109集。在每一期节目中，我们将邀请到中外环保领域的倡导人士、创新创业者以及行业专家与大家分享他们的独到见解、创新策略和解决方案。您可在环境中国官网，BEN公众号，和谷歌/苹果/Spotify播客收听到我们的节目。