Melisande Felicia Liu was born in Changshou on April 1, 1986 and raised in Beijing, China.
Subsequent to a Bachelor's degree in Forestry and the Environment, she graduated with a Master's degree in Renewable Energy Management at the University of Freiburg in 2011. During her studies, she worked as a graduate assistant at the Intelligent Renewable Energy Agency in Freiburg. She obtained broad international experience and intercultural competencies during a semester at the Universidade Federal do Paraná in Curitiba, Brazil (2007-2008), an internship at the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia (2008), an internship at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, France (2009) and several months of research at the Kyrgyz Technical University in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic (2010). During her studies, she received several fellowships and grants, such as the Unibral scholarship awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the two-year post-graduate scholarship awarded by the Heinrich-Böll Foundation and a research grant from the DAAD.
„Solar Energy Policies in China: Trajectory, Change and Drivers of China’s Energy Transition“
In August 2011, the Chinese government released its first unified benchmark grid feed‐in tariff (FIT) for solar energy, guaranteeing solar projects approved after July 1 a remuneration of 1 RMB (US$ 0.16) per kilowatt-hour (kWh). The FIT is part of China's ambitious goals to expand its solar electricity capacity from currently 0.4 GW (end-2009) to 50 GW by 2020. The new stimulus package is expected to give a strong impetus for the country's domestic solar sector and the popularity of solar energy in China. However, the new FIT is not only an opportunity but foremost a necessity not to be missed. China currently faces an enormous economic, environmental and social burden that relates to the dilemma of supplying its vast population and swelling economy with affordable and reliable power. In this context the FIT and solar power appears to be a promising alternative that addresses many of the shortcomings of coal-fired power in rural China.
This study aims to evaluate the potential and impact of the new feed‐in law against the backdrop of decentralized energy supply structures in rural areas in China. It will examine policy‐integration and multi‐governance of the new feed‐in law at national, provincial and county level. It will examine how local governments are incorporating the new FIT to existing energy support schemes and policy instruments. The study will conclude with evidence for the development of small‐scale PV applications in rural China and guidelines for environmental policy‐making and regional energy planning that reconciles solar energy deployment, rural development and sustainability in China. The study will take place in Germany and China, under the guidance of Prof. Dr-Ing. Manfred Fischedick, Vice-president of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and Prof. Miranda Schreurs, director of the Environmental Policy Research Centre and Professor of Comparative Politics at the Freie Universität Berlin.
