We profile seven Chinese low carbon innovations, which have the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions in China – and the world.

Key findings

• In five years’ time, five of these innovations could together save up to 66 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, while the other two will be important players in markets that could have total savings of 270 million tonnes of CO2 per year. This is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of 25 million and 100 million Chinese homes respectively.
• Greater attention to this form of innovation alongside existing hi-tech innovation programmes would capitalise on current Chinese strengths and accelerate moves to a low carbon economy.

Big hydro, big solar photovoltaic (PV) and big wind – these are the usual focus of accounts of low carbon technologies in China. But a very different type of innovation – ranging from a farm cooperative in Yunnan, to woodchip and corn pellets in rural Beijing and air-conditioning using just salt and water in Hangzhou and Shenzhen – could be even more significant as examples of how to achieve a low carbon economy and society for China and the world.

This paper follows a 2007 Nesta report which profiled eight disruptive low carbon innovators from the UK, and explores the particular importance of this type of innovation to China with seven case studies.

These are the Chinese 'Game-Changers', each of which has developed a low carbon innovation that has the potential to make a significant contribution to emissions reductions and the move to a low carbon society.

Authors

David Tyfield (Lancaster University), JIN Jun (Zhejiang University) and Tyler Rooker (Oxford University)