The ambiguous chinese energy investment dragon: an analytical model and multiple case study in the light of the international political economy of energy transitions

• Grant number: 23/01918-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics
• Principal Investigator: Rosana Icassatti Corazza
• Grantee: Marina Betetto Drezza
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/08988-0 - RENEWABLE ENERGY INITIATIVES AND ASSOCIATED TECHNOLOGIES IN TWO CHINESE TIER 1 CITIES MULTIPLE CASE STUDIES IN BEIJING AND SHENZHEN THROUGH THE LENS OF MULTILEVEL PERSPECTIVE, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

China is the leading Greenhouse Gas emitting country on the global scene, largely because it is the world's largest consumer of coal. The country stands out for its efforts and performance in the production of knowledge, technologies, and installed capacity in renewable energy, especially solar photovoltaics, and associated technologies. The theoretical and conceptual background of the research is aligned with studies on energy transitions, with contributions from the emerging field of International Political Economy of Energy Transitions. The basic analytical model in this literature is the Multilevel Perspective (MLP), which will be adapted to understand the three analytical levels for the case of China. In empirical terms, two central objectives are raised and articulated according to the research's two foci (international and domestic). Under the international focus, the aim is to identify and describe the strategies for the energy sector promoted by the Chinese central government through the energy investments financed by the two banks Ex-Im and CDB in Indonesia and Vietnam. Under the domestic focus, the objective is to identify, describe and analyze the initiatives of Chinese subnational governments at the scale of two of the Tier 1 Cities, Beijing and Shenzhen, regarding the promotion of renewable energy. The methodology involves the following strategies: i) conceptual-analytical framework specific to the MLP, with systematic and snowball literature review with attention to the case of China, and its adaptation for the purposes of this research; ii) document analysis; iii) retrieval and analysis of data from selected databases; iv) multiple case studies, qualitative and quantitative, incorporated (i.e. comprising several units of analysis) of exploratory, descriptive and explanatory nature; and v) interviews with experts. (AU)