Climate protection and electro-mobility in China
Project description
Title: Climate protection and electro-mobility in China
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)
Country: China
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST)
Overall term: 2009 to 2016
Context
Against the backdrop of tremendous growth in traffic volumes, the Chinese Government is taking action at many levels to increase energy efficiency in the transport sector and promote alternative drive systems. In this context, China is opting for electro-mobility, not least for reasons of industrial policy. When combined with increased electricity generation from renewables, electro-mobility offers a viable means of achieving sustainable urban mobility. However, there are still no corresponding fully developed strategies in place anywhere in the world. China and Germany have entered into a bilateral cooperation agreement under which the project is to explore the potential of electro-mobility for enhancing climate change mitigation and environmental protection.
Objective
Ministries and leading think tanks have strategies at their disposal for exploiting the potential of electro-mobility to promote climate change mitigation and environmental protection in China. To this end, development paths are in place to allow the technology to be disseminated as effectively as possible.
Approach
The project identifies and assesses the impact of electro-mobility on the climate in China and works with its partners to analyse different scenarios, involving leaders from politics, business and society in the process. The resulting scenarios describe options for penetrating the market with electric vehicles in a climate-friendly and environmentally sound way. They offer a quantitative description of the roll-out of renewable energies and the smart integration of electro-mobility in China. This provides the basis for policy recommendations on shaping the legal framework and implementing pilot and demonstration projects for integrating renewable energies and an efficient battery-charging infrastructure.
Joint studies and events serve to build the capacity of the Chinese partners to develop methodical and legal basic frameworks. Environmental regulation of China's transport sector is designed to prevent a rise in greenhouse-gas emissions through the increased use of electric vehicles.
A feasibility study will be conducted into for a nationwide battery-recycling system for electric vehicles in time for the project's completion. On this basis, policy recommendations will be made on designing pilot and demonstration projects for implementing such a system in China.
The project supports the sharing of information between China and Germany on fleet tests with supporting environmental research. The project is also developing guidelines for municipal administrations on how to promote electro-mobility in a climate-friendly way and integrate it into sustainable urban transport concepts. Project partners are using these guidelines for joint information and training events. The focus continues to be on the feasibility of concepts for electric-vehicle use. Modified behaviour such as car-sharing and car-pooling is to result in additional contributions towards climate and environmental protection.
Results
Key actors such as the China Automotive Technology and Research Centre (CATARC), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) are working closely with the project. Awareness of electro-mobility and the opportunities it presents is increasing.
The corporate partnerships with the BMW Group, Daimler AG, Volkswagen Group China and Chang’an Auto have laid the foundation for companies on the Chinese market to view the project's results as guidelines for climate-friendly practices.
The Chinese partners are interested in using the participatory process of scenario analysis as an instrument for drafting policy recommendations. Working with Tsinghua University, the project produced a comprehensive assessment of the climate and environmental impact of electro-mobility in China up to 2030. In this assessment, the partners recommended that the Chinese electricity sector cease to rely on coal-fired power plants and that efforts be made to develop battery technology further. Another step in the project will involve analysing the contribution of electric vehicles to improving air quality, for instance in the city of Beijing.
With German assistance, China intends to integrate electric vehicles into its environmental and climate standards. To this end, the project partners are comparing and evaluating international regulations for promoting fuel efficiency in motor vehicles, the role of electric vehicles, and supplementary policy instruments for increasing vehicle fuel efficiency.
China and Germany are working together on the supporting academic research and in the area of smart, multi-modal mobility concepts and sustainable urban transport systems. Guidelines have been developed in cooperation with Tongji University, showing municipalities how they can integrate electro-mobility into a comprehensive package of climate-friendly, environmentally sustainable urban transport measures. Promising pilot projects for (electric-) car sharing have also been launched in China.