China has become a world leader in green energy, rapidly rolling out wind and solar farms across the country.
Wind, solar and hydropower generated more than a third of China’s electricity in 2024. But the country has since expanded its renewables grid significantly, with estimates saying more than half the installed capacity is now from clean sources.
As a result of its renewable push, crude oil only made up around a fifth of China’s total energy consumption in 2024.
And this demand for oil is unlikely to rise again in the future, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), external.
Energy economics researcher Roger Fouquet said China’s “ambitious” transition to renewables is not merely an environmental move, but has also helped to protect its economy from global risks like those we’re seeing with the Iran conflict.
“To some extent, China is fortunate that 25 years ago it began its investment in renewable energy and it is now reaping the benefits,” he said.
Electric vehicles (EVs), which account for at least a third of new cars sold in China, have also helped the country’s economy become less reliant on oil, said Roc Shi from the University of Technology Sydney.
“It means an EV owner in Beijing simply doesn’t feel the pain at the pump when the Middle East flares up,” he said. “Their mobility costs are decoupled from international oil markets.”
