My MA dissertation will compare legislation adopted in recent years by the UK and China to promote energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings.
One aspect of the policy analysis will be to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of these environmentally friendly policies. My intention with this research is to shed light on the struggles in crafting and implementing environmental policy-making in both developed and developing countries.
For the months of June and July I will travel to Beijing and the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus to conduct interviews and do research.
Report on Dane's travel
I arrived in Beijing on May 29th in order to conduct research for my master’s dissertation, which is supervised by Dylan Sutherland in the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies. My dissertation is a comparison of the energy efficiency in buildings between the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China. Another goal of my trip to China originally was to take part in an internship in a Chinese construction company, where I would work to help a Taiwanese company with ties to both construction projects on mainland China and to UK construction companies to promote mutual understanding. However, because of a lack of readiness to host this internship I focused on the dissertation work.
Aim
My plan for the comparison of energy efficiency in buildings between the two countries had several parts. First I wanted to evaluate the two country’s energy policies and how this would affect the agenda-setting and ideological framework that would inform the laws and regulations. Secondly, I looked at the institutions and ability to implement the laws on an analysis of the responsible institutions. Thirdly, I compared the pieces of legislation and how the differences in legislation were a result of the agenda-setting and institutional frameworks. Finally, I compared prominent characteristics of the actual building regulations that building engineers would follow in order to meet the efficiency standards.
This dissertation topic met my goals for a research topic because it deals with the fascinating subject of the energy industry and energy policy-making in China. Since the Asia Pacific region is poorly endowed with oil and natural gas resources, China’s energy security is an international issue. The regional shortage of energy resources is an especially acute problem because China is expected to double its total energy demand between 2002 and 2020. Secondly, the energy industry in China is in the midst of a transition from a plan, where isolation and self-reliance are the official policies, to joining the interdependent global energy system that relies on market forces to make economic decisions. There are substantial questions about the willingness of China to reform their energy policy because of energy’s strategic importance as the foundation of the economy. An example of this reluctance is that energy prices, although based on international market indicators, are still government controlled and the procurement of energy supplies not from the international market remains one of the most important diplomatic tasks for the Chinese. One step the Chinese government has taken is to make energy efficiency an essential strategy in their quest for energy security.
The Trip
Having the opportunity to be in China I was able to do many things that deepened my research. In Beijing I was able to visit several specialty bookstores where I could peruse and buy relatively obscure official regulations that dealt with buildings. But the majority of my time was spent in Ningbo in Zhejiang province at the University of Nottingham’s Ningbo campus. At this campus I had the advantages of an English academic library and, because of its suburban location, a variety of construction sites within short walks where I could go to talk to workers in the construction industry. China’s east coast had in the spring of 2008 several diesel fuel shortages and this was the case in Ningbo. On June 21st the government announced a price hike for diesel fuels, which led to long queues for petrol before midnight on June 20th as drivers sought to beat the price change.
I conducted one official interview in Ningbo with a building engineer with experience dealing with the government. My questioning dealt with his work as an engineer, and in particular with the interaction between the local government and the building industry. My findings in this interview were that the local government inspectors viewed certain parts of the building regulations as ancillary and secondary, including energy efficiency and worker safety measures. Local officials regarded the quality construction of the building frame safety and resistance to extreme weather events as the most important measures. In the light of the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province where many public buildings, especially schools, collapsed this was somewhat unanticipated. But because evaluations of the performance of government officials is based on relatively few criterion such as social stability, the focus of inspectors on building safety was tantamount. With my contacts in the building industry I could also tour ongoing construction sites for more insight into the Chinese building process.
Another advantage of the Ningbo campus was the access to experts in the area of construction. The Nottingham campus in Ningbo emphasises energy efficiency in buildings and a new prototype demonstration building called the Center for Sustainable Energy Technologies. With easy access to staff specialising in this field, I could better understand technical issues, which was helpful for me because of my focus on legal and policy issues and lack of a background in engineering. Returning to China also gave me the chance to continue my ongoing study of the Chinese language, especially my oral language and translation skills. Part of my research included reading Chinese laws that had no official English translations and in China I could readily ask native speakers for assistance if I needed help making an interpretation.
Conclusion
I think my experience with the Chinese construction industry and making contacts in this industry, along with a chance to practice language skills and practice research skills in the Chinese setting will be invaluable in the future. I would like to thank the Institute of Asia Pacific Studies for the travel bursary that gave me this chance to travel to China.