By Bloomberg News

The gusts of wind cascading across China’s seas have the potential to power its populous coastal provinces many times over, a study from Harvard University shows.

Wind farms along the coast could potentially supply 5.4 times more electricity than the current coastal demand...

Download the Winter 2020 newsletter to learn more about the Harvard-China Project's fall semester research and endeavors:

• Valuing...

This fall, the Harvard-China Project hosted an inaugural Photo Contest. Winners in the three categories are:... Read more about Harvard-China Project Photo Contest Winners

Six new fellows joined the Harvard-China Project, and will spend the next year tackling a variety of climate-related issues.... Read more about Harvard-China Project Welcomes New Fellows

Study finds that as cities become wealthier, per capita emissions drop

China, the world’s largest carbon emitter today, may be on track to meet its emission goals up to a decade early, according to a recent study on the cover of Nature Sustainability led by researchers from Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, and Harvard University.

The research focuses the relationship between urban economic growth and CO2 emissions. Fifty cities...

Researchers quantify the region's renewable energy potential

The region covered by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has significant potential to be powered by solar energy, researchers report June 27 in the journal Joule. Less than 4 percent of the maximum solar potential of the region could meet the BRI's electricity demand for 2030. The research suggests a possible solution to reduce BRI countries' need for fossil fuels as they develop. This is the first time the renewable energy potential of the region is quantified.

The Chinese...

This spring our Harvard-China Project researchers led an international effort to analyze the technical and economic viability for China to move towards carbon-negative electric power generation. Their research, which explores utilizing two forms of green energy: coal-bioenergy gasification and carbon capture and storage, was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy...

If we’re going to limit global temperature increases to 2...

On March 7, the Harvard-China Project co-sponsored a panel on the topic of “China and Asia in a Changing Climate: Natural Science for the Non-Scientist” as part of Harvard University Asia Center’s Asia Beyond the Headlines Seminar Series. Harvard-China Project Faculty Chair, Mike McElroy, moderated the discussion. During the panel,...

The Harvard Law School Library, along with the Harvard-China Project, East Asian Legal Studies, and the HLS Environmental Law Society, recently co-hosted Barbara Finamore, senior attorney and Asia senior strategic director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), for a book talk and discussion on her latest release,...

This fall the Harvard-China Project continued its investigations of the “China 2030/2050: Energy and Environmental Challenges for the Future” theme sponsored by the Harvard Global Institute (HGI). Our community reflected on the Summer 2018 Undergrad Research Assistantship program in China, during...

Warming waters in the Indian Ocean is weakening monsoon circulation and decreasing wind speeds

This article, written by Leah Burrows, originally appeared on the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences website. Harvard Magazine also wrote a piece about this research, which can be...

This article by Chris P. Nielsen, China Project Executive Director, and ...

A Harvard Gazette article by Al Powell

... Read more about China Project Organized Harvard Undergrads to Conduct Summer Environmental Research in China

It is rarely possible to conduct controlled experiments in the social sciences owing to the vast number of variables that, in a “real-world” setting, can almost never be manipulated to create the ideal experimental conditions. However, there are occasionally instances when the unintended effects of certain policies create circumstances that are like an experiment, called a natural experiment. When the combination of a vehicle restriction policy in Beijing and the Chinese superstition about the...

A Financial Times article examining the sometimes-ambiguous environmental benefits of electric vehicles in China, whose energy market has yet to fully transition out of being fossil fuel-dominated, cites the findings of a China Project study... Read more about Financial Times Cites Recent China Project Study Exploring Environmental Implications of Electric Vehicle Charging in China

This spring the Harvard-China Project continued its investigations of the “China 2030/2050” theme sponsored by the Harvard Global Institute (HGI). Our community explored a number of pressing issues, including a Nature Energy paper on the environmental implications of electric vehicle charging in China. The research, which offers a strategy for reducing CO₂ emissions and improving air quality with electric vehicles in Beijing, was authored by a Harvard-Tsinghua...

By Jonathan Mingle

Imagine flipping a switch and lighting your home with hydropower from southern Brazil, solar power from the Sahara Desert, or wind power from the High Arctic. If Liu Zhenya’s plan comes to fruition, sourcing clean energy from the farthest reaches of the globe could become just that routine for billions of electricity users by 2050.... Read more about Commentary: Does the path to a low-carbon future run through a global grid?