China’s Energy Infrastructure

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy has released its latest China Energy Map, an open-source, interactive chart of the country’s energy infrastructure.

The China Energy Map provides a comprehensive visualization of the nation’s full energy system, featuring not only oil and gas infrastructure but also coal and nuclear power plants and electric vehicle battery factories. The 2022 update includes four new layers: natural gas pipelines, liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals, natural gas power plants, and hydrogen plants.

The map was created by Shih Yu (Elsie) Hung, a research manager at the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies, Gabriel Collins, the Baker Botts Fellow in Energy and Environmental Regulatory Affairs, and Michelle Michot Foss, a fellow in energy and materials.

The map, first released in February 2019 as the China Oil Map, tracks nearly 5,200 energy facilities in China, serving as a data resource for both academia and the general public, Hung said. As it continues to evolve, the team plans to add layers such as electric vehicle manufacturing sites, battery mineral mines, and more natural gas infrastructure such as storage sites and processing plants.

Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks as the No. 2 university-affiliated think tank in the world and the No. 1 energy think tank in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars, and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blog.bakerinstitute.org.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 4,052 undergraduates and 3,484 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 1 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as the best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.