Abstract:
To achieve carbon neutrality, the energy and power system, the main source of China’s carbon emissions, needs to undergo a “decarbonization revolution”. The core of this revolution involves reshaping the pattern of energy supply and demand by applying disruptive technological innovations. Using the theory of a multilevel perspective to analyze the evolution of China’s energy and power systems, issues and challenges are presented. Combined with the theory of disruptive technology, this study constructed a framework for China’s dynamic energy and power transition driven by disruptive energy technologies from a multilevel perspective. The proposed transition framework provides pathways for China’s energy and power transitions driven by disruptive energy technologies from a multilevel perspective. Energy technologies with the potential for disruptive changes are cultivated in the transformation pathway and technological substitution(early stage of the transition). In the reconfiguration pathway phase(mid-period of the transition), disruptive technologies enter a period of growth and diffusion, gradually shaping new technology mixes and regimes, and the existing high-carbon energy socio-technical regime is being reconfigured on a large scale. In the dealignment and realignment pathway(late stage of the transition), disruptive technologies enter a mature and stable phase, driving a fundamental change in the energy structure and achieving a new type of energy system that is clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient.