Are There Conflicts among Energy Security, Energy Equity and Environmental Sustainability in China’s Provinces?

Abstract

In the process of achieving carbon-peaking and carbon-neutrality goals, conflict situations often arise from advancing energy equity, energy security, and environmental sustainability. Taking China as a case study, we developed an assessment model for conflict levels of energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability, based on an evaluation method for the degree of synergy in composite systems, and measured and analyzed the conflict levels of these three dimensions in 2010 and 2017. According to the results, China’s overall energy security and energy equity are in a state of conflict. While the level of conflict has eased, the conflict between China’s provincial energy security and energy equity is relatively large and more serious in certain provinces, including Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, and Guizhou. Concerning the relationship between energy security and environmental sustainability and between energy equity and environmental sustainability, China as a whole has moved out of a state of conflict, but significant differences exist among different provinces. This paper reveals the relationship between energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability in China’s energy transition and provides support for the just energy transition of this country.