Sustainable Energy Indicator System and Its Application in China

Energy is a condition, a foundation, an essential factor, and the key driving force for human socioeconomic development, and the sustainable use of energy is also vital to achieve the objectives of sustainable development. As the world's largest energy producer, consumer, and carbon emitter, China is facing with severe challenges domestically and internationally, which means that China must transit toward a pathway of sustainable energy development as early as possible. Under such context, there is a pressing need for China to establish an indicator system for sustainable energy development, which aims to monitor and evaluate the progress toward the objectives of sustainable energy development and the results of implementing relevant policies, support policymaking, guide and promote the sustainable transformation of energy system. In this article, we firstly explore the challenges of sustainable energy development in China, then redefine the concept of sustainable energy, and then propose the hypothesis of three “inverted U-shaped curves”, which is the evolutionary relation between economic growth and energy consumption or carbon emission. Then, a policy intervention conceptual model, that is, Policy intervention-Behavior adjustment-Process change-Targets and effects (PBPT) for sustainable energy indicator system that links policy actions and performance is established, and the sustainable energy indicator system in China is also developed from the perspectives of energy supply and demand. Finally, this article gives an example of the application of the indicator system with wind power as a case study, and explains the policy implication of the indicator system. Keywords: sustainable energy; theoretical framework; conceptual model; indicator system; wind power