Carbon Emission Reduction Strategy for Energy Users in China

The Chinese government has made a commitment to control carbon emissions, and the deployment of renewable energy power generation is considered as an effective solution. In recent years, great effort has been exerted to support the development of renewable energy in China. While, due to fiscal pressures and changes in management policies, related subsidies are diminishing now and energy users are asked to pay for the cost. Regulations about carbon cap and renewable energy consumptions are issued to transfer the responsibility of consuming renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions to energy consumers. A national carbon trading system is set up in China and is under its growth stage. Therefore, this study lists the factors that should be considered by the energy users, analyzes the levelized cost of electricity generated by renewable energy in four cities in China, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and compares the results with current carbon prices. Based on the research, under the current status, it is still more cost-efficient for enterprises to buy carbon credits than introduce renewable energies, and great differences among cities are shown due to different natural conditions. Besides, with diminishing subsidies and development of the carbon trading market, the carbon price will gradually reflect the actual value and carbon emission reduction costs will become an important part of enterprise expenditure. In the long term, enterprises should link more factors to carbon emissions, like social responsibility and brand image, instead of only the cost.