Expanding carbon intensity to include industrial process emissions strengthens longer-term decarbonization, argue Hu Min, Li Xindi, and Yang Li.

This report examines the low-carbon transition pathways for thermal/heating systems in China's steel industry, reviewing the policy drivers behind decarbonization and analyzing the technological trajectory across near-, medium-, and long-term horizons (2025–2060). It surveys and compares the applicability, economics, and emissions-reduction potential of key technologies—including waste heat recovery, system efficiency improvements, and hydrogen-based metallurgy—through in-depth case studies (HBIS Group's hydrogen metallurgy, Shougang Jingtang's process interface optimization, and Sinosteel/CISP's hydrogen-based smelting reduction, among others). It further identifies the practical barriers to scaling these technologies (high green hydrogen costs, renewable energy intermittency, stranded-asset risk, and weak cross-sector coordination mechanisms), and proposes policy recommendations to accelerate the sector's shift toward integration with renewable energy systems.

This report tracks and quantitatively assesses the green and low-carbon transition of 30 Chinese provincial-level regions over the decade from 2013 to 2022 using the Subnational Low-Carbon and Green Index for China (Subnational LOGIC), which encompasses 26 indicators across four categories: carbon productivity; carbon emissions (covering energy, power, industry, buildings, transport, and agriculture); environmental conditions and land use; and policy systems and public participation. The analysis employs multiple classification frameworks—economic-geographic regions, economic development stages (Pioneer, Leading, Catching-Up, and Developing Economies), national major regional strategies, and energy development positioning—to identify structural divergences in transition patterns. It finds that scores improved across all provinces, with carbon productivity, energy, and power showing nationwide progress while transport, buildings, and industry remain key frontiers for deep decarbonization. The report also presents in-depth case studies of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Shanxi, and Hainan to examine differentiated transition pathways across economic development stages.

Examines the green hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol industry in China, contends that the sector is shifting from a supply-side capacity-expansion phase to a "demand-constrained" phase where commercial viability depends on forming a closed-loop offtake and consumption system, identifies critical bottlenecks—including high production costs (2–3 times higher than conventional routes), insufficient port refueling infrastructure, heavy reliance on volatile international certification (e.g., ISCC) and external demand, and the failure of green premiums to translate into stable domestic willingness-to-pay—and proposes a strategic policy reorientation from merely "building production capacity" to actively "creating demand" through enforceable domestic demand-side mechanisms (e.g., non-electric consumption targets, green procurement, and carbon market integration), enhanced domestic green certification and pricing capabilities, consumption-side incentives, and stricter project screening focused on commercial closure, in order to unlock the industry's low-carbon value, reduce dependence on external rules, and support its sustainable commercial scaling and contribution to China's energy transition.

As the parks multiply, unified standards and better carbon accounting are needed to maximize their potential.

This policy brief analyzes the structural shift in China's fossil energy consumption from fuel to feedstock, identifying provinces with high feedstock dependence and assessing the implications for subnational decarbonization under the "dual control" framework for carbon emissions. The methodology combines quantitative analysis of national and provincial energy statistics from the China Energy Statistical Yearbook (2019–2023) with a classification framework that ranks provinces based on the share of coal, oil, and natural gas used as feedstock relative to their total final consumption of each fuel. It then derives targeted policy recommendations centered on accelerating the deployment of green hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol as substitutes for fossil feedstocks in carbon-intensive industries, supported by a case study of Inner Mongolia's green hydrogen industry plan.