LANVAR
← The shelf

Coal to Goal

Did its thing

Not code — policy. A four-phase plan to move China’s Shanxi province off coal without wrecking the people who depend on it. Second place at Yale’s policy hackathon.

✳ 2nd place · Yale × Yale-NUS Global Policy Hackathon PolicyEnergyResearch 2021
✳ How it actually works
SHANXI · FOUR MOVES OFF COAL, NO JOBS LOST PHASE 1 · NOW carbon capture keep plants, keep jobs PHASE 2 education workers re-qualify PHASE 3 solar + HVDC clean power, coal's grid PHASE 4 export the tech sell it abroad 2026 2050 THE ENERGY MIX COAL SOLAR coal steps down only as fast as solar steps up THE PAYOFF a just transition jobs first, access second, growth third STATUS 1 · CAPTURE CARBON 2 · TRAIN WORKERS 3 · BUILD THE GRID 4 · EXPORT THE TECH ALL FOUR RUNNING ALL FOUR RUNNING
FIG 1 · the hand-off, animated — coal steps down only as fast as solar steps up
THE PROBLEM · Shanxi runs on coal — 46% of its tax revenue, its jobs, its welfare PHASE 1 · NOW carbon capture keep the plants & the jobs, cut the emissions — no fear PHASE 2 education carbon-literacy & clean-energy courses → workers qualify PHASE 3 solar + HVDC ~1,400 km of new lines carry renewables on coal's grid PHASE 4 export the tech sell green tech abroad, diversify the economy a just transition — a model other coal regions can copy jobs first, access second, growth third
FIG 2 · the framework — four phases, sequenced so no one gets left behind
The story

A different kind of build. The Yale × Yale-NUS Global Policy Hackathon set the brief: China Clean Energy Transition. The thesis — China can’t just switch coal off, because Shanxi province runs on it: 46% of its tax revenue and the livelihoods of a whole region. Kill coal carelessly and you get economic fallout and political backlash, which is exactly what was happening.

The proposal sequences the transition so nobody gets left in the rubble. Phase one keeps the coal plants and their jobs but bolts on carbon capture to slash emissions now — removing the fear that makes every other reform fail. Phase two funds carbon-literacy and clean-energy education so workers can qualify for the new sector. Phase three lays roughly 1,400 km of HVDC lines so Shanxi’s existing grid can carry solar as easily as coal. Phase four exports the resulting green tech to diversify the economy off a single fuel.

The whole point is order of operations: jobs first, access second, growth third — a just transition designed to be copyable by any coal-dependent region. It took second place, and it’s on the shelf as proof the lab’s systems thinking isn’t only for software.

Next on the shelf net-worth projector →