Comparative Case Studies in Sustainable Energy Management

Judging sustainable energy management

Sustainable energy management means meeting present energy needs without undermining the ability of future generations to meet theirs. A country can attempt this by increasing renewable energy generation rather than relying entirely on resources that will eventually run out.

However, increasing supply is not the same as making it sustainable. A useful judgement considers whether a strategy supplies energy effectively, reduces environmental damage and avoids unacceptable costs for people and places. Renewable schemes can bring benefits while still damaging the environments where they are built.

Norway, a developed country, and China, an emerging country, provide contrasting examples. Both have expanded renewable electricity generation, but their achievements and remaining challenges need to be considered separately.

China: investment in renewable energy

China is an emerging country, making it a suitable example of attempts to manage energy sustainably outside the developed-country group. It combines very large investment in renewable energy with the challenge of being one of the world's largest polluters.

In 2017, China invested US$126.6 billion in renewable energy projects, accounting for 45% of global investment in these projects that year. Wind farms, solar power and hydroelectric power are major contributors to its renewable generation.

This investment demonstrates the scale of China's attempt to change its energy supply. Building renewable generating facilities allows naturally replenished resources to provide energy that could otherwise require fuel combustion. Using several renewable sources also broadens the country's energy mix rather than relying on a single technology.

The distinction between an attempt and an outcome matters. Investment measures financial commitment; it does not directly measure how much pollution has been prevented. China can make substantial progress in renewable generation while still having a large overall environmental impact.

Solar power: the Longyangxia Dam Solar Park

The Longyangxia Dam Solar Park is a named example of China's investment in solar generation. Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity, so electricity can be produced without burning fuel during operation.

This provides a clear connection between the strategy and sustainability: sunlight is replenished naturally, unlike a finite fuel reserve. Nevertheless, a large individual solar project does not, by itself, establish that the country's whole energy supply is sustainable. Its contribution must be considered alongside other sources of energy.

Hydroelectricity: benefits and land-use costs

Hydroelectric power supplied 20% of China's electricity in 2015. This is evidence of an achieved contribution to electricity supply, rather than simply a proposed project or an investment commitment.

The Three Gorges Dam is China's largest hydroelectric power plant. Water released through turbines generates electricity, allowing river flow to supply renewable energy without fuel combustion during generation.

However, creating the dam flooded over 1,000 square kilometres of land. Land previously available for other uses became part of the reservoir. This illustrates an important trade-off: a scheme can provide renewable electricity at national scale while causing substantial environmental change locally. Renewable does not mean impact-free.

Norway: a developed country using hydropower

Norway is a developed country in northern Europe with very high energy demand. It has substantial oil and gas resources and is a major energy exporter, yet hydropower provides approximately 90% of its electricity. Its network of over 1,500 hydropower plants demonstrates how extensively it has developed renewable electricity generation.

Generating electricity from moving water reduces the need to burn fossil fuels for that electricity. However, electricity is only one part of energy use: transport and heating also matter. Norway's high renewable electricity share therefore does not mean that all its energy use is renewable, or that its oil and gas exports have ended.

Heavy dependence on hydropower also brings a reliability challenge. During dry periods, less water is available for generation. Large hydropower schemes can also have environmental impacts. Norway consequently faces two linked tasks: maintaining a dependable supply as demand rises and avoiding excessive dependence on one renewable source.

Norway: diversifying supply and changing transport

Norway is expanding wind power, including onshore and offshore generation, to broaden its renewable energy mix. The expansion programme described in 2024 included 36 additional wind projects planned to start or be completed by 2030. This is evidence of an attempt to diversify supply, not proof that every planned project has been completed.

Norway has also encouraged household solar generation. Homeowners in Oslo were offered a 30% subsidy towards installing solar panels. By reducing the installation cost, the subsidy makes it easier for households to invest in renewable electricity. This complements large generating schemes with action at the household scale.

A further strategy is to encourage electric cars, reducing the use of oil in transport. In 2021, approximately two-thirds of new car sales in Norway were electric. When charged using Norway's largely hydroelectric electricity supply, these cars connect renewable generation with reduced petrol and diesel use.

This sales figure shows substantial uptake, but it describes new cars sold in one year, not every vehicle already on the road. It therefore indicates progress in changing transport rather than the complete replacement of oil-powered vehicles.

Comparing achievements and remaining challenges

Both countries have used hydropower to expand renewable electricity supply. China also demonstrates very large investment in wind and solar power; Norway combines an already high hydropower share with diversification and measures to change household and transport energy use.

Their evidence reveals different kinds of achievement. China's 2017 investment shows financial commitment, while its 2015 hydropower share shows an achieved contribution to electricity generation. Norway's 2021 electric-car sales show uptake of a transport technology. These measures are useful, but they do not measure the same thing and should not be treated as a direct ranking of overall sustainability.

A balanced judgement is that both countries have made substantial attempts to manage energy more sustainably, but neither example demonstrates an entirely sustainable energy system. Norway has achieved a very high renewable electricity share, although dry-period reliability, rising demand and its continued fossil-fuel industry remain challenges. China has invested heavily and developed major renewable projects, but the land flooded by Three Gorges shows that national energy benefits can come with substantial local environmental costs.