Energy Efficiency in China: Regulation, Deliberation and CapacityBuilding in State-Owned Enterprises

Abstract

This thesis looks at the regulation of energy efficiency in giant Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating in refining and petrochemicals. It asks what factors firms respond to and why, as they seek to become more energy efficient. Using the framework of regulatory theory, the thesis identifies factors that affect energy efficiency regulation in these SOEs in four cities: Xi'an, Shanghai, Luoyang and Ningbo.

The thesis seeks to understand how three broad groups: regulators, regulatees, and third parties collectively interpret, apply and respond to regulatory influences intended to promote energy efficiency among Chinese SOEs in the energy sector. Regulation of energy efficiency in Chinese SOEs occurs in an elite policy space where enforcement and compliance have a different complexion from those domains of regulation where consumers or the public are directly involved, such as environmental protection or food safety. This study looks at the dynamics of regulation from the ground-up, using an object-specific and sector-specific approach. Data for this study was collected between 2013 to 2015 and updated through to 2019, through document collation, direct observation of refineries and petrochemical plants and interviews with nearly 55 respondents from government and industry.

This thesis finds that, while laws and legal enforcement remain an important part of the regulatory landscape for energy efficiency regulation in China, they are not the forum where regulation occurs for the energy sector's SOEs. Instead, informal factors aimed at increasing willingness to comply and capacity to comply are currently used to drive enterprises along a maturity curve, with the intent of making individual enterprises more self-actuated to drive energy efficiency.