Paths Toward Smart Energy: A Framework for Comparison of the EU and China Energy Policy

National decisions and behaviors are strictly interdependent and each of them may affect the whole planet; hence, the harmonization and coordination of the policy are the key issues. This is particularly true in the energy sector, where scarce resources, which are presently unevenly shared by the various nations with the possibility of conflicts arising need to be allocated to keep the pace with economic growth and in a manner compatible with the preservation of the environment. In this paper, we use the concept of “smart energy” as a way to embrace the target to meet commitments to the world's sustainability, and a comparison of the energy policies of two key-world players, the EU and China, is undertaken in this context. A framework for quantitatively assessing the effectiveness of various specific policy tools is proposed. The policies are defined and analyzed with reference to the general goals, the tools to pursue those goals and their outcomes, possibly in a quantitative manner resorting to a set of meaningful metrics.