Explainer: How China is managing the rising energy demand from data centres - Carbon Brief
There were 449 data centres in China at the end of 2023, the most in the Asia-Pacific region.
About Me
I am a freelance journalist and researcher on resource politics, currently based between Bangkok and Guangzhou. I write about change in its diverse forms, from China's sprawling energy infrastructure to street vendors in Shanghai. As a nature lover, I aim to tell stories grounded in the lived experiences of both humans and animals. My work on China's rural society and public policy has been shortlisted by the Society of Publishers in Asia awards in investigative, environmental, and explanatory reporting, and I was a finalist for their Award for Young Journalist in 2022.
Featured Articles
Writing on climate, energy, and the environment
Q&A: How China became the world's leading market for energy storage - Carbon Brief
China’s energy storage sector is rapidly expanding. As a solution to balancing the country’s growing energy needs and mass renewable energy production, the industry has attracted investments worth hundreds of billions of yuan (tens of billions of dollars).
‘I find hope in sticking together and keeping each other warm’ – This is climate breakdown
Li Jie lives in Xianniangxi, a mountainous village in southern China’s Guangdong province with her family, where she is a social worker for a rural non-profit organisation and also works in the fields. The climate crisis has increased heavy rainfall in Guangdong and exacerbated floods in the province in April 2024, which have since killed at least 47 people.
Salt storms sting herders on the Mongolian Plateau
Local herders bear the brunt of salt sandstorms and waning pastures on the lower reaches of the Wulagai River in Inner Mongolia
Heat Death at a Freight Depot
Climate change-fueled extreme heat is challenging China’s labor protections.
China’s Climate Goals Are Ambitious. Are Its Provinces Up to the Task?
China’s provinces each have their own reasons why they can’t kick their coal reliance.
China re-exports most of the seafood it imports
Seafood imported into China is mostly processed and re-exported to other countries, making it harder to track the origin of catches, according to a recent study published in the academic journal Science.
This conclusion also counters the commonly held belief that growing Chinese appetites are the main driver of falling fish stocks around the world. “It’s a narrative that is not true,” said Frank Asche, a fisheries economist at the University of Florida and lead author of the study. Instead, h...
This conclusion also counters the commonly held belief that growing Chinese appetites are the main driver of falling fish stocks around the world. “It’s a narrative that is not true,” said Frank Asche, a fisheries economist at the University of Florida and lead author of the study. Instead, h...
The Hidden Drought in China’s Subtropics
Guangdong province receives plenty of rain. But economic growth and climate change are nevertheless causing a simmering crisis.
With Nowhere to Go, Rare Birds Face Off With Irate Fish Farmers
Northern China’s Bohai Bay area is a crucial stopover for oriental storks. But as the area’s wetlands disappear, the birds are raiding aquaculture ponds instead.
Untangling the crossed wires of China’s ‘Super Grid’
China is a world leader in building ultra-high voltage power lines, which are crucial to a greener future, but its growing network has hit its fair share of snags.
Visit the “Articles” page to read more about my reporting on contemporary China.