The most energy-intensive consumers are shielded from the feed-in tariff, leaving ordinary folk, including pensioners and the unemployed, to foot the bill.
This scenario notably assumes that China's industrial energy demand stops growing as the Chinese economy transitions towards less energy-intensive service and consumer sectors.
The change has been a welcome relief for consumers and energy-intensive industries, for which the change is an unexpected financial windfall.
Primary materials conversion, e.g., iron ore and scrap into steel, limestone and sand into cement and glass, or wood and other fibers into paper, tend to be the most energy-intensive in the production process, while final consumer products like electronics and clothing require the least energy.
The state pumps and treats water and consumers use water in energy-intensive ways, such as through water heating and pressurizing.
Efficiency is the primary concern, with designers looking to develop both production processes and consumer products that are the least energy-intensive, along with tools to detect and analyse energy waste in existing processes and products.
Governments will set the framework, scientists will invent the technologies and consumers will adapt to a less energy-intensive world, but it is business that will develop, deliver and apply the technologies at every level.
Energy-intensive industries will gain as production costs fall, and consumers should have more to spend on other things as fuel costs go down.
However, the Chinese economy is highly energy-intensive and inefficient; China became the world's largest energy consumer in 2010, relies on coal to supply over 70% of its energy needs, and surpassed the US to become the world's largest oil importer in September 2013.
