The history of human and social development is also a history of converting various natural resources by human into their own use. The original energy system sprouted from the emergence of human beings, and ended in the early Paleolithic when human beings mastered the technology of using fire, at about 250×10⁴ years ago to 170×10⁴ years ago (Fig. 1 and Table 1). During this period, primitive agriculture was still in its early stages, with manpower as the main driving force. Food became the primary type of energy source. After the emergence of humans, the only food resources available and accessible were plants and animals. In order to obtain food, human beings gradually learned to make simple tools, mastered primitive picking and fishing techniques, learned to use animal skins to make clothes to maintain body temperature, and use solar thermal energy to process food and heat. The development of primitive energy technology had improved continuously the efficiency of obtaining food, enabling a person to produce more food energy than him and the families can consume, thereby stimulating the gradual increase of the primitive population. The energy system of this period was still in the primitive status with simple structure, aiming to obtain food from nature for the survival of individual and group. The energy supply types and consuming structure were simple, with only primary energy producing and utilizing technology. The energy management system and mechanism of true meaning had not been formed.

The ancient energy system began during the period when humans mastered artificial ignition technology and ended in the early stages of the First Industrial Revolution, dating back approximately 170×10⁴ years ago to the mid-19th century (Fig. 2 and Table 1). During this period, social organizations gradually developed from primitive groups to clan communes, tribes, tribal alliances, and independent states; Agriculture has gradually formed; Industry and commerce have evolved from sprouting, relying on agriculture to become relatively independent industries ^[11]; the energy source was mainly provided by human, animal, wind, and water. The energy type mainly consisted of fuelwood, wind and water, with a small amount of small-scale utilization of coal, oil, and natural gas. Energy technology for primary processing and utilizing energy containing sources such as sails, windmills, smelting and manufacturing, and water turbines had also correspondingly developed. Energy was mainly utilized in agricultural production, navigation, daily life, and simple processing and manufacturing. Energy management had gradually developed from its embryonic state, forming a management and distribution mechanism based on the collection and use of fuelwood under the internal hierarchical system of social organizations. However, a large-scale and cross regional energy allocation mechanism and clear energy management regulations had not yet been formed. Therefore, during this period, the energy system was in a horizontal expansion state consisting of three types of systems: energy production, energy technology, and energy consumption. The level of productivity was relatively low, and the dependence on biomass energy such as fuelwood, water resources, and wind resources was strong. However, the scope and scale of its development and utilization were relatively small, with a single utilization method and low utilization efficiency. The energy industry chain from the supply end to the consumption end had not truly formed, and the role of the energy management system was limited.

The modern energy system began around the beginning of the First Industrial Revolution and ended around the end of the Second Industrial Revolution, around the 1860s to the mid-20th century (Fig. 3 and Table 1). During this period, there were frequent exchanges between countries, the outline of the "global village" was basically formed, and the trend of globalization was strengthened; the primary, secondary, and tertiary industrial systems had gradually formed, and human society had entered the stage of industrialization. The industrial system was gradually strengthening and occupying a dominant position, with steam power replacing human and animal power as the main energy source. The types of energy were constantly enriched. In addition to the utilization of external celestial energy dominated by solar energy, geothermal energy from the Earth had also been utilized. The application of steam engine technology promoted the transition of the main energy source from fuelwood to coal. The application of internal combustion engine technology had enabled the widespread application of oil and gas, but it had not yet become the main energy source. Energy technology had also undergone a revolution from the surface to the inside, from burning fuelwood in the early days, using the exchange of electrons between carbon and oxygen to generate carbon dioxide and release heat energy, to burning fossil fuels to obtain heat energy and convert it into mechanical kinetic energy, and then developing the use of mechanical energy coupling to drive generators to generate electricity ^[12]. Energy consumption was popular in all aspects of human social life. The utilization of renewable energy, such as wind energy, hydropower, solar energy, geothermal energy, had also entered into the stage of large-scale application around electricity production. Primary energy storage had also developed. Energy management became part of the industrial management system of each country, and a clear regulatory system and allocation mechanism had formed around the safe production and orderly utilization of coal resources. However, the international mechanism for energy resource sharing and cooperation had not yet become an independent system. During this period, social productivity was increased, together with increased dependence on fossil fuels, and the scope and scale of development and utilization of fossil fuels continued to increase. The utilization methods were diversified, and the efficiency of utilization continued to improve. While various systems such as energy production, energy technology, and energy consumption expanded horizontally, they were linked vertically by technological innovation. Through energy management, each component system gradually played a synergistic role. The comprehensive functions of the energy system were gradually emerging. However, excessive reliance on fossil fuels also had a direct impact on global climate change.

The modern energy system began from the beginning of the Third Industrial Revolution in the 1960s and has been developing to the present day (Fig. 4 and Table 1). During this period, human society has entered into the era of knowledge economy and information, with resources, technology, talent, and information gradually becoming global shared wealth. Economic connections and division of labour in society and cooperation between countries became increasingly close, and globalization trend developed rapidly; the industrial system has shifted from a coordinated development of the primary and secondary industries, as well as a dual drive of the secondary and tertiary industries, to a balanced and interactive development of three types of industries ^[13-14]. Gas power, electric power, nuclear power, and steam power have become the main energy types. The types of energy resources available are becoming more diverse, and efficient utilization technologies for external celestial energy, Earth's own energy, and energy interacting with other celestial bodies are gradually maturing. Oil and natural gas have become the third generation of main energy sources, and nuclear and hydropower have also achieved large-scale applications. The role of energy technology is gradually becoming prominent, expanding horizontally from the discovery, extraction, processing, and utilization of fossil fuels to the economically efficient utilization of renewable energy. Vertically, it expands from primary energy to secondary energy, and gradually covers the whole industrial chain of energy production, transportation, storage, processing and consumption. The demand for energy consumption is also becoming increasingly diversified, comprehensively covering the basic energy sources, basic fuels, and basic raw material services required for the development of modern industrial systems. The new generation energy storage technology represented by lithium batteries has promoted the energy storage industry to become an important component system connecting the energy supply end and the consumer end.

The energy management system of the contemporary energy system is reflected in the energy management of each country itself and the energy cooperation and exchange between countries. The unequal distribution of global energy resources and the relatively centralized consumption market have triggered cross-border and trans-regional flows of energy. Political and natural factors such as geopolitical conflicts and extreme weather are very likely to lead to the imbalance of such flows, leading to the primary energy crisis represented by the oil crisis and the secondary energy crisis represented by the power crisis. In the past 50 years, political factors such as the Middle East War, the Iran Iraq War, the Gulf War and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict have triggered three oil crises and energy crisis such as the European "gas shortage". In recent years, affected by extreme weather events such as severe cold, high temperature, drought, flood, debris flow and so on, the secondary energy crisis of electric power in the United States, Britain, Canada, Japan and other countries has occurred frequently. In order to effectively prevent and respond to the energy crisis and ensure national energy security, each country has successively established the Ministry/Bureau of Energy or relevant independent regulatory agencies to formulate energy strategic planning, energy policies and regulations, energy market supervision and other systems and mechanisms that adapt to its own national conditions. At the same time, a global energy interconnection network and international energy organizations such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and corresponding coordination mechanisms have been formed to meet the different needs of consumer countries or resource countries.

The modern energy system is established in the late industrialization and post-industrial stages of human society, with high levels of productivity, unprecedented expansion of the scope and scale of fossil energy development and utilization, diversified development of utilization methods, greatly improved utilization efficiency, and gradually widespread application of renewable energy technology. The correlation and integration between the various systems of the energy system has been further strengthened, and the influence of the energy technology system and energy management system has been increasing. Building a world "green energy community" and achieving carbon neutrality has become a global consensus and is advancing towards global action.

"Carbon neutrality" is evolving from a global consensus on climate change to a global action of "sharing the destiny of mankind and protecting our home the Earth". Building a green and smart energy system has become a major strategy for all countries to realize the goal of carbon neutrality.

Firstly, human society relies on scientific and technological innovation to promote social civilization to develop into space. With the industrial civilization entering a stage of fast development and mutation, to build a green and smart energy system for the harmonious development of humans and nature has become a fundamental solution to the crisis brought about by global climate change, the sustainable and high-quality development of human society, and exploration of space expansion, which will promote the transition from industrial civilization to ecological civilization.

Secondly, the current single energy system structure in countries dominated by fossil fuels cannot meet the practical needs of improving the security level of their own industrial and supply chains. Building a green and smart energy system is an effective way to ensure national energy security and solve the resource and environmental constraints faced by economic and social development ^[15-16].

Finally, the energy system structure based on natural resource can neither cater to the rapid innovation and development of science and technology, nor meet the development needs of transforming and upgrading from fossil energy to a comprehensive energy service system with diversification, complementation, and smart coordination of various energy types. Building a green and smart energy system based on technology is an effective way to innovate energy utilization and energy technology, optimize energy structure, and promote energy revolution.

The green and smart energy system (GSES) is a new type of energy system (Fig. 5, Table 1) that provides green energy for the green and comfortable life of human society and for building a green Earth. Characterized by green energy and smart management, the green and smart energy system is a new type of energy system based on new energy, new electricity, and new energy storage. Firstly, it is based on “new energy” with accelerated transition from fossil energy to green energy while remaining the bottom line of energy security. Secondly, it is based on “new electricity”, with clean electricity in highly synergized coordination of centralized and distributed power generation. Thirdly, it is based on “new energy storage” with collaboration of electrochemical energy storage, physical energy storage, and fossil energy storage. The “green” feature of the GSES is manifested in low carbonization and clean utilization of "carbon based" fossil energy, and in economic improvement and large-scale development of "zero carbon" new energy. The “smart” feature is manifested in informatization and intelligent upgrading of various energy systems, as well as collaborative and integrated development of multiple energy resources.

The green and smart energy system is to provide a centralized and distributed collaborative large energy system that is "safe, economical, efficient, clean, low-carbon, smart, and sustainable" for humanity to transit from the industrial civilization to ecological civilization through the "dual-wheel" drive of energy technology and energy management innovation. This energy system exhibits dynamic nonlinear evolution characteristics vertically with energy technology innovation breakthroughs and horizontally with differentiated system architectures in different countries/regions ^[17⇓-19]. According to the target of achieving "net-zero emissions" in the "Paris Agreement" and the "zero-carbon" and "carbon neutrality" timetables proposed by various countries, it is expected that by the second half of this century, countries worldwide will gradually achieve "carbon neutrality." Based on this, the time for humans to build a green and intelligent energy system is initially predicted to be in the mid to late 21st century.

As for energy type, fossil energy with its raw material attributes will play the role of emergency and standby energy for humans to maintain the existing civilization. New energy will become the fourth-generation primary energy source with the support of new technologies, and multi-source availability can be achieved through extraterrestrial celestial energy, thermo-geological energy, and the interaction energy with other celestial bodies.

In terms of energy technology, the innovation scope, influence depth, and leading role of scientific and technological innovation will reach new heights, in various component systems such as energy production, collection and transportation, processing, storage, consumption, and management. The new generation of energy technology revolutions between renewable energy and non-renewable energy, between primary and secondary energy will profoundly impact the independence of each energy component system, promoting the integration and boundary fuzziness of various energy systems, and produce more powerful emergent functions that differ from traditional energy systems, which will deeply change human lifestyles, consumption concepts, and economic and social developments.

In terms of energy storage, the invention and application of high-performance materials, as well as rapid breakthroughs and iterative upgrades in technologies such as mechanical energy storage, thermal energy storage, electrical energy storage, and electrochemical energy storage, have become key links in connecting supply and consumption ends, solving the volatility and intermittency of new energy, maintaining the flexibility of new energy system, achieving large-scale access to renewable energy, and promoting the successful transformation and upgrading of the third energy.

In terms of energy consumption, the energy consumption structure will gradually shift from fossil energy to new energy, with secondary energy such as hydrogen and electricity becoming the main objects of energy consumption. New energy consumption concepts and service models such as digital energy, energy IT, and Energy as a Service (EaaS) will change the upstream and downstream relationships of participants in the energy industry chain. The interconnectivity between component systems such as energy production, energy storage, energy consumption, and energy management has been increased, achieving a dynamic balance.

In terms of energy management, countries will improve the energy laws and regulations system supported by single laws and regulations such as primary energy and secondary energy. On the basis of ensuring energy security, economy, efficiency and sustainability, they will highlight clean, low-carbon, smart and other contents, and establish various operating mechanisms and platforms matching with them. In order to deal with the survival crisis and sustainable development problems caused by global climate change, under the global carbon neutrality consensus, countries will gradually form a "global village" energy management coordination system through resource sharing and technology exchange and cooperation, establish a mechanism for the development and utilization of global energy by classification, time sharing and zoning, and build a "green energy community" that coexists with the Earth.

Under the framework of the green and smart energy system, the "Super Energy Basin" will reshape the concept and model of future energy exploration and development (Fig. 6). The concept of "Super Energy Basin" refers to an energy source that has large-scale coal, oil, natural gas and other fossil energy stored underground, has abundant new energy sources such as wind and solar energy on the ground, and has the resource base and geological and geographical conditions to build a super-large energy production and utilization base. Under the support of the scientific concepts technologies of "seven energy" such as green energy, production capacity, energy storage, energy control, energy use, energy saving, and intelligence, it will realize the synergy, efficiency, and intelligence of underground fossil energy and above- ground new energy and green development. Large-scale fossil energy, large-scale new energy, large-scale above- ground and underground reserves, and large-scale carbon capture, utilization and storage are the four major characteristics of the Super Energy Basin. For example, the Ordos Basin has become the largest fossil energy production base in China.

The recoverable coal resources with a buried depth of 2000 m are about 2×10¹² t, accounting for 35.5% of the total coal resources in China; the recoverable resources of oil and natural gas are 32×10⁸ t and 12.9×10¹² m³, accounting for 13.4% and 17.7% of the total recoverable resources. The production of coal, oil, and natural gas in 2021 is 14×10⁸ t, 3700×10⁴ t, and 630×10⁸ m³, respectively. The basin is also rich in new energy resources such as wind and light on the ground, with an annual total radiation amount of 4500-5600 MJ/m² and an effective annual utilization time of 1400-1600 h. The wind energy density of 154-420 W/m², and the effective wind time for wind speeds above 3 m/s is over 2000 h. At present, the carbon dioxide emissions in the Ordos Basin are around 1×10⁸ t. In the future, along with the coordinated development of fossil energy and new energy, the Ordos Basin will take the lead in building a world-class “super energy basin carbon neutrality demonstration base” in China, which is of great significance to the global carbon neutrality energy revolution.

The world energy system has undergone the evolution stages of primitive energy system, ancient energy system, and modern energy system, forming a modern energy system dominated by fossil energy and supplemented by renewable energy (Fig. 7a). Its typical feature is "resource dominance". While establishing upstream and downstream industrial chains for energy resource extraction, transportation, processing, and consumption, it has also formed innovation chains and value chains such as modern energy technology, energy management, energy market and energy cooperation. Overall, the modern energy system still cannot get rid of its dependence on chemical energy, and its architecture is a relatively simple, loose, unidirectional closed-loop chain system.

The green and smart energy system is characterized by "technology dominance" (Fig. 7b), aiming to provide "safe, economical, efficient, smart, green and sustainable" comprehensive energy services. It relies on the "double wheel" drive of energy technology and energy management innovation, focuses on multiple energy synergy with “coal + oil” and “gas + new energy + smart energy storage” as the core. It promotes the integration of fossil energy and renewable energy, primary energy and secondary energy integration, integration of source-network- load-storage, centralized and distributed integration ^[20-21]. Overall, under the interconnection of energy science and technology, the boundaries of each component system in the green smart energy system will gradually become blurred, the system architecture will become more complex, compact, and open across borders, the management system and mechanism will be more flexible and efficient, and the comprehensive service functions will be more powerful and comprehensive.

The multiple stages of tectonic accumulation and dispersion in the ancient blocks of the Earth have controlled the uplift, erosion, and sedimentation evolution of ancient strata, resulting in the enrichment of fossil energy resources in vertical layers and inequal distribution in horizontal geography. As of 2021, the world's remaining proven oil reserves are approximately 2444.2×10⁸ t, concentrated in the Middle East and the Americas. The remaining proven oil reserves in the Middle East region are 1132×10⁸ t, accounting for 46.3%; 869.6×10⁸ t in the Americas, accounting for 35.58%; The remaining proven oil reserves of China are 35×10⁸ t, accounting for only 1.43% of the total (Fig. 8a). The world's remaining proven natural gas reserves are 188.2×10¹² m³, concentrated in the Middle East and Central Asia. The remaining proven natural gas reserves in the Middle East region are 75.8×10¹² m³, accounting for 40.28%; the remaining proven natural gas reserves in Central Asia are 56.6×10¹² m³, accounting for 30.07%; the remaining proven natural gas reserves of China are 8.4×10¹² m³, accounting for 4.46% of the total (Fig. 8b). The world's remaining proven coal reserves are 10 741×10⁸ t, concentrated in the Asia Pacific and North America. The remaining proven coal reserves in the Asia Pacific region are 4598×10⁸ t, accounting for 42.81%; the remaining proven coal reserves in North America are 2567×10⁸ t, accounting for 23.90%; the remaining proven coal reserves of China are 1432×10⁸ t, accounting for 13.33% of the world's total ^[22-23] (Fig. 8c). Due to the differences in the types and scale of fossil energy resources available to countries around the world, countries need to build their energy systems based on their own resource endowments, adapting to local conditions, and implement policies according to different energy types. Endowed with fossil energy resource dominated by coal, China has decided to build a green and smart energy system that emphasizes both energy transformation and energy security, as well as measures to promote clean fossil energy and scale up new energy.

Affected by factors such as the level of social productivity, economic development, types of available resources, and consumption habits in various countries, the world's energy consumption shows significant regional imbalances. In 2021, the total world energy consumption was 142.12×10⁸ t of oil equivalent, concentrated in Asia Pacific and North America. The energy consumption in the Asia Pacific region is 65.06×10⁸ t of oil equivalent, accounting for 45.78%, while the energy consumption in North America is 27.15×10⁸ t of oil equivalent, accounting for 19.10%. China's energy consumption is 37.65×10⁸ t of oil equivalent, accounting for 26.49% of the world's total ^[22-23] (Fig. 8d, 8e). The inconsistency between global energy consumption and resource supply regions leads to the global flow of energy resources. Once the flow is hindered by natural or human factors, it will directly affect the stable operation of energy systems in various countries, and indirectly affect the economic and social development of energy consuming and producing countries.

Affected by factors such as resource endowment, industrial foundation, technological strength, and energy strategy, the development of energy technology in various countries around the world shows differentiation in resource types, development fields, and utilization technologies. The United States takes lead in the world in oil and gas exploration and development technology, and has achieved initial energy independence through shale oil and gas revolution, reshaping the world energy landscape. China takes lead in the world in coal mining and utilization technology and is exploring the pathway of clean, efficient and comprehensive utilization of traditional energy. The rapid development of new energy technology in Japan and Europe has promoted continuous iterative upgrades and innovative breakthroughs in global new energy technology. Technology determines the future of energy, and technology creates the energy of the future. The new round of technological revolution will promote the transformation, upgrading and development of the energy industry. All countries regard energy technology innovation as a breakthrough point to ensure energy security and a new growth point to drive industrial upgrading.

The per capita energy consumption is mainly influenced by factors such as population size, social productivity, and residents' living standards. The per capita energy consumption can be used to predict the energy demand of a country or region, which to some extent reflects the level of economic development of the country or region. The countries with high per capita energy consumption are mainly relatively wealthy large energy producing countries and highly industrialized developed countries. In 2021, the world's per capita energy consumption was 1.87 t of oil equivalent, with Saudi Arabia and the United States holding the highest per capita energy consumption, of respectively 7.56 t and 6.67 t of oil equivalent, which are 4.0 and 3.6 times the world average. China's per capita energy consumption is 2.69 t of oil equivalent, which is 1.4 times the world average ^[22-23] (Fig. 8f), and there is still a significant gap compared to the level of developed countries.

Energy consumption per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an indicator that directly reflects the degree of dependence of a country's economic development on energy, and indirectly reflects various aspects such as energy utilization, energy utilization efficiency, energy conservation and consumption reduction. It is mainly influenced by factors such as economic growth mode, industrial structure, energy consumption structure, energy technology, and energy management. In 2021, Russia had the highest energy consumption per unit of GDP, reaching 4.2 t of oil equivalent/10⁴ US dollars, the UK had 0.55 t of oil equivalent/10⁴ US dollars, and the US had 0.95 t of oil equivalent/10⁴ US dollars. The energy consumption per unit of GDP in China is 2.12 t of oil equivalent per 10⁴ US dollars, which is 50% of Russia's and 2.2 times that of the United States ^[22-23] (Fig. 8g). As China enters into the later stage of industrialization development, the economy is transiting from high-speed growth to high-quality development. The energy consumption per unit of GDP is decreasing year by year, and the energy utilization is constantly improving. There is huge space and potential for energy conservation and efficiency improvement.

Greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause of global warming, and fossil fuels are the main source of carbon emissions. Since the 18th century, humanity has entered into the era of industrial civilization. The large-scale exploitation and widespread utilization of fossil fuels in the industrialization process of various countries around the world have led to a sharp increase in greenhouse gas emissions, leading to sustained warming of the Earth's atmosphere. Under the background global consensus of carbon neutrality, energy carbon emissions of various countries have become the focus of global environmental and climate issues. In 2021, the total global CO₂ emissions were 338.8×10⁸ t, mainly from Asia Pacific and North America. The CO₂ emissions in the Asia Pacific region are 177.35×10⁸ t, accounting for 52.35% of the world's total. The CO₂ emissions in North America are 56.02×10⁸ t, accounting for 16.53% of the world total; CO₂ emissions in China are 105.2×10⁸ t, accounting for 31.06% of the world total (Fig. 8h). In 2021, coal, oil and natural gas will account for 41%, 37% and 22% of the world energy carbon emissions respectively. Among energy carbon emissions in China, coal, oil and natural gas emissions accounted for 73%, 20% and 7%, respectively^[22-23]. In order to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce carbon emissions, it is urgent to adjust the energy structure, vigorously develop new energy, realize energy transformation, and build a green and smart new energy system by innovating energy technologies, changing the way of energy utilization, improving energy efficiency, and implementing a comprehensive conservation strategy.

The connotation of energy security has been continuously enriched and developed ever since its first proposal during the oil crisis in the 1970s, forming the 4A concept of energy security, the RASA system, and the five dimensional empowerment (GIFTS) framework ^[25-26]. The concept of energy security 4A includes: energy availability, resource accessibility, environmental acceptability, and cost affordability. The RASA system includes: system resilience, availability, sustainability, and affordability. The Five Dimensional Empowerment (GIFTS) framework includes: Energy Governance, Information Fusion, Finance, Technology, and System Integration. The concept of energy security has gradually expanded from being limited to the production and utilization of a single energy resource and its impact on the environment, to cross-border areas such as the resilience and sustainability of the entire energy system, as well as the integration of funds, information, and technology. The issue of energy security has evolved from a low political domestic economic issue to a high political issue related to national security, which is currently one of the key issues of global concern. Energy security and energy transformation are equally important and have become the fundamental principles of energy strategies in various countries.

Building a green and smart energy system will face issues such as traditional risks that have not been completely resolved, while new risk variables are constantly increasing. Mainly from two aspects: firstly, in the process of energy transformation from traditional fossil energy as the main body to new energy as the main body, if there are problems in the development of new energy and the supply of traditional energy lags behind, it will cause the collapse of the entire energy system ^[27-28], thereby shaking the foundation of stable development of the entire national industrial system. The second is the complexity, integration, cross-border, and dynamic balance of the new energy system. In addition to providing advantages such as intelligence, optimization, and efficiency that a single component system does not have, it is also more susceptible to local nodes and external factors such as networks, pipelines, and extreme weather. Obstruction in any link can trigger the "butterfly effect", leading to system collapse and affecting the national economy and people's lives. Therefore, improving the resilience and security of the system is the foundation and prerequisite for building a green and smart energy system.

To ensure China's energy security, it is necessary to maintain long-term vigilance towards the supply security of important energy and key mineral resources such as oil and gas, based on China's resource endowment. Based on China's basic national conditions such as development stage, resource distribution, industrial structure, and energy structure, it is important to pay attention to the four major trends of energy independence, energy efficiency, energy green, and energy intelligence in China's energy security development, scientifically assess the demand for energy supply and demand balance for high-quality economic and social development in the future, and objectively predict and respond to the uncertainty and evolution characteristics of energy technology innovation that bring systemic risks. In addition, it is also necessary to adhere to the principle of “standing before breaking”, build a “ballast stone” for the safe supply of traditional fossil fuels, and build a “growth pole” for the green and sustainable development of large new energy sources. China also needs to continuously enhance the security and stability of the energy supply chain, promote green and low-carbon changes in energy production and consumption methods, develop new power systems based on stable energy, and accelerate the building of “green hydrogen” and “blue carbon” industries. It's also important to make breakthroughs in distributed biomass energy technology, mobile energy technology and smart energy storage ^[21], orderly promote the safe connection, safe integration and safe relay of new energy and traditional fossil energy, and build a green smart energy system with diversified supply, multiple energy complementation, safety and efficiency ^[29-30].

In order to achieve domestic energy independence, we will build an energy production system with diversified supply of coal, oil, gas, nuclear, new energy, and renewable energy, steadily increasing the total energy supply. In 2021, China's primary energy production will amount to 43.3×10⁸ t of standard coal, increasing by 23.4% in the past 10 years. It is predicted that by 2025, China's primary energy production capacity will reach more than 46×10⁸ t standard coal, with an average annual growth rate of about 1.5%. By 2030, China's primary energy production capacity will reach about 50×10⁸ t standard coal, with an average annual growth rate of about 1.6% ^[31-32] (Fig. 9a).

China will significantly optimize the structure of coal production capacity and play a role in ensuring the national strategic reserve and bottom line. In 2021, China's coal production reached a historic high of 29×10⁸ t of standard coal. It is predicted that by 2025, China's coal production will be controlled at around 29.2×10⁸ t of standard coal. By 2030, the production will be controlled to around 28.5×10⁸ t of standard coal ^[31-32].

China will vigorously enhance the intensity of oil and gas exploration and development, and play a cornerstone role in ensuring national energy security and livelihood as raw materials. In 2021, the oil production of reached 1.99×10⁸ t, and natural gas production increased for 5 consecutive years, reaching 2075.8×10⁸ m³. It is predicted that by 2025, China's oil production will remain stable at around 2×10⁸ t, and natural gas production will increase to around 2300×10⁸ m³. By 2030, China's oil production will remain stable at around 2×10⁸ t, and natural gas production will be around 2600×10⁸ m^{3 [31-32]}.

The strategy for China will also include accelerating the development of electricity and other clean energy, and promoting the development of new energy from strategic replacement energy to green main energy. In 2021, the total production of primary electricity and other clean energy in China was 8.8×10⁸ t of standard coal, and the installed capacity of new energy power generation exceeded 10×10⁸ kW, marking the first time that the annual power generation exceeded 1×10¹² kW•h. It is predicted that by 2025, the total production of primary electricity and other clean energy in China will increase to 9.7×10⁸ t of standard coal, with the installed capacity of new energy power generation exceeding 11×10⁸ kW and the annual power generation reaching to around 3.3×10¹² kW·h; By 2030, the total production of primary electricity and other clean energy in China will increase to 12.5×10⁸ t of standard coal, with an installed capacity of over 16.4×10⁸ kW·h for new energy power generation and an annual power generation capacity of over 4×10¹² kW·h^{[23,31⇓⇓ -34]}.

The strategy in energy consumption is to control the steady growth of total energy consumption. In 2021, China's total energy consumption was 52.4×10⁸ t of standard coal, which has increased by 30.4% in the past 10 years. The average annual demand growth rate of 3% has supported the average annual GDP growth rate of 6.6%.

It is predicted that by 2025, the total energy consumption in China will exceed 55×10⁸ t of standard coal, with an average annual demand growth rate of 2%. By 2030, China's total energy consumption will be controlled at 60×10⁸ t of standard coal, and demand growth will slow down to 1% (Fig. 9b).

Consequently, it is important to accelerate the cleaning of energy consumption structure. In the past decade, China's energy structure has been continuously optimized, and the proportion of clean energy has been continuously increasing. From 2012 to 2021, the proportion of coal in the consumption structure of primary energy will decrease from 68.5% to 56.0%, the proportion of oil will increase from 17.0% to 18.5%, the proportion of natural gas will increase from 4.8% to 8.9%, and the proportion of non-fossil energy will increase from 9.7% to 16.6%. It is predicted that by 2025, China's non-fossil energy and natural gas will account for more than 30% of the consumption structure of primary energy, and will increase to more than 40% by 2030 (Fig. 9c) ^[16,35].

Finally, it needs to control unreasonable energy consumption and implement a comprehensive energy-saving strategy. At the macro level, it is required to curb the blind development of high energy consumption, high emissions, and low-quality projects, improve the utilization rate of production capacity in major industrial industries, reduce the vacancy rate of houses, prohibit large-scale demolition and construction, and prevent excessive construction ahead of schedule, as well as to promote “technological energy conservation, management energy conservation, and structural energy conservation”. At the consumption level, it is expected to reduce the demand for "quantity", attach importance to the pursuit of "quality", simplify "material" needs, and enrich "spiritual" needs. Encourage and advocate reasonable energy consumption by residents in terms of clothing, food, housing, and transportation, and eliminate waste of personal consumption and social public consumption.

Considering the basic pattern of China's energy supply dominated by coal and the continuous increase in its dependence on oil and gas, China's independent innovation in the energy field is of decisive strategic significance. The cultivation of energy technologies and related industries with new energy, hydrogen energy, and energy storage as the core will become a new growth point that drives the industrial upgrading in China. There is an urgent need to continuously innovate the safe and efficient utilization technologies for traditional fossil energy, accelerate breakthroughs in large-scale utilization technologies for new energy, and implement the four major energy technology innovation projects ^{[33⇓⇓⇓-37]}.

The first major energy technology innovation project is for coal cleaning technology projects. It is expected that we tackle advanced coal technologies such as intelligent green mining, advanced coal-fired power generation, and clean transformation and utilization, and promote the strategic transformation of coal from "main energy" to "basic energy".

The second is the "stabilizing oil and increasing gas" project. It is required to tackle the technology of oil and gas exploration, development, and utilization in deep strata, deep water, unconventional, and old oil fields, promote the return of oil to its "raw material or material properties", and accelerate the development of natural gas.

The third is the implementation of the new energy acceleration project, which requires tackling key problems such as efficient photoelectric conversion, wind and solar combination, controllable nuclear fusion, green hydrogen preparation, efficient energy storage, medium low temperature and dry hot rock geothermal power generation and other new energy frontier technologies represented by wind, light, heat, nuclear, hydrogen and storage, promote the revolution of kinetic energy conversion, and strengthen the "growth pole" of new energy.

The fourth major project is the implementation of green and smart engineering, which includes accelerating the digital and intelligent upgrading of the energy industry, and significantly improving the efficiency of various energy component systems. It also includes promoting the cross-border integration of the entire energy industry chain technology with new generation information technologies such as the Internet, the Internet of Things, blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and big data, so that the new energy system can develop functions such as self-organization, self-inspection, self-balance, and self-optimization based on the characteristics of equipment intelligence, multi energy coordination, information symmetry, supply and demand dispersion, system flatness, and open transactions, forming an open and shared energy internet ecosystem centered on smart energy consumption, smart energy production, smart energy transmission and distribution system.

Due to the supporting and constraining impact of energy management systems on other components such as energy production, consumption, and technology, the energy system revolution is the core of the energy revolution. China released the Action Plan for Energy System Revolution in 2017, proposing to promote the reform and innovation of the energy system revolution from 10 aspects, including the power system, the oil and gas system, the coal market, the renewable energy development mechanism, the nuclear power system, the "Internet plus" smart energy system, the innovative development mechanism of energy technology and equipment, the power substitution system and mechanism, the administrative approval system of new energy projects, and the energy legal system ^[32].

In order to adapt to the "dual control" regulation of energy consumption and intensity, gradually shift to the "dual control" system of carbon emissions and intensity, so as to ensure the safety and stability of the energy system under normal and emergency scenarios, and to stimulate the vitality and creativity of the energy component system, effectively improve energy production capacity, and build a new energy management system with Chinese characteristics, three tasks need to be completed:

(1) Starting from the four elements of energy market management and regulatory system, from the competition structure of the energy market, the operating mechanism of the energy market, as well as the basic system of the energy market ^[38-39], the relationship between the government and the market should be delicately handled, the boundaries of their roles in the energy field be clarified, and a market trading subsystem with diverse entities, fair access, and effective competition be built. In addition, a subsystem of energy management, regulation, and legal mechanism with clear boundaries, clear rights and responsibilities, efficient transparency, fairness and justice, and strong supervision should also be built.

(2) Continuously improve supporting policies for the energy industry, establish a sound system and mechanism for joint research on energy technology, optimize financial and tax support policies for energy resources, and enhance the ability to independently supply energy.

(3) Improve the coordinated development mechanism of coal, oil, gas, and new energy, strengthen the construction of energy transmission and distribution system and energy reserve capacity, deepen the operation mechanism of pipeline networks, improve the reserve utilization mechanism and market-oriented operation mode, improve the scheduling mechanism of new energy and electricity, establish a full chain and industry emergency coordination and risk response mechanism, and enhance the stability and resilience of the energy systems^[32].

This strategy requires China to deeply participate in global energy governance and global climate governance. Adhering to the historical responsibility of a responsible major country, China will carry out the full chain international cooperation of "energy-economy-security-environment-climate" through participation in and support for international energy organization affairs, bilateral and multilateral energy cooperation, and joint research on advanced energy technologies, to help build a common body with a shared future for mankind.

Guided by the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", China will promote high-level opening up in the energy field ^[35,41]. Also, China will fully leverage the fundamental advantages of energy infrastructure connectivity, expand cooperation areas, enhance cooperation levels, innovate cooperation models, and expand cooperation from traditional fossil energy cooperation such as oil and gas to new energy fields such as water, wind, light, nuclear, and hydrogen, so as to realize the transformation from mainly focusing on product exports to high-level cooperation in equipment, technology, standards, and services ^[40-41].