LITTLETON, Colorado  - The world's largest goods and raw materials producer, China, has a commensurately large energy demand footprint, is the top global consumer of power and electricity, and is also the world's largest energy polluter.

However, aggressive policies tied to boosting clean energy output and reducing emissions will trigger a dramatic retooling of China's energy mix in the coming decades, from primarily fossil fuel-based to mainly clean-powered by mid-century.

Below are six charts showing how and when China's primary energy mix - which includes use by the country's power sector, industries, households and transport sectors - evolves from now through to 2060, based on data from consultants DNV.

CLEAN POWER DRIVE

China has been the world's leading driver of clean energy supply growth for more than a decade, but is expected to more than double down on output expansions of clean energy over the coming 25-30 years.

Clean power sources, which currently supply around 15% of China's primary energy, will generate close to 75% of China's primary energy by 2060, according to DNV's projections.

China's output of solar, wind and nuclear power is all expected to expand by more than 450% by 2060.

Over the same period, China is expected to drastically reduce its dependence on coal for a majority of its power supplies. Coal currently generates 55% of China's primary energy, but will generate less than 10% by 2060.

FOSSIL-CLEAN FLIP BY LATE 2040'S

Thanks to the combined surge in clean generation, alongside the steep cuts to coal generation, China's primary energy generation mix is expected to flip from primarily fossil fuel-dependent to mainly clean energy-driven by around 2046.

Given that fossil fuels currently still generate around 85% of China's total primary energy supplies, such an aggressive swing - even over several decades - will be a stretch.

However, with electric vehicles already out-selling combustion engine cars, and homes, offices and factories electrifying at a record pace, rapid change is already underway on both the supply and demand sides of China's energy equation.

Continued shuttering of outdated fossil fuel power plants, alongside further scaling of clean generation sources throughout the country, look set to accelerate China's energy transition efforts during the 2030s and 2040s.

NUCLEAR RISING

While solar and wind power have been the main sources of China's clean power growth over the past decade or so, nuclear power looks set to become the fastest-growing source of clean energy from now through 2040.

On average, nuclear generation is expected to expand by 56% through 2040, from around 4,775 petajoules in 2025 to nearly 18,000 petajoules by 2040.

That growth rate exceeds the roughly 53% increase in solar and 50% growth in wind power projected over the same period.

COAL CUTS

While China's power system ramps up more clean energy supplies, steady cuts to China's fossil fuel generation system are expected to unfold.

Coal looks set for the largest total decline in generation levels by 2060, from around 101,000 petajoules in 2025 to around 13,000 petajoules by 2060, DNV data shows.

However, energy generated from crude oil and natural gas are also on course for steep falls by 2060, as more transport fleets get electrified and power systems become primarily fueled by nuclear reactors, renewables and batteries.

GLOBAL SHARE IMPACT

As the world's largest energy producer and consumer, the projected changes to China's primary energy generation mix stand to have far-reaching repercussions, especially for energy product exporters.

In coal markets, China is by far the top global producer, consumer and importer, and China currently accounts for around 60% of global primary energy generation from coal.

As the country slashes its coal reliance in the next 2-3 decades, major exporters such as Indonesia will struggle to find alternative markets for their supplies.

That said, global coal consumption is not expected to disappear altogether by 2060, and even China itself will still account for around 40% of global coal use by then, DNV data shows.

China's share of global natural gas and crude oil energy use is also set to decline from current levels by 2060, while the country's share of overall fossil use energy for primary energy is set to halve from 30% currently to around 15% by 2060.

Among clean energy sources, China's share of global solar and wind generation is set to decline as the output of those technologies gets deployed more widely.

However, China's share of global nuclear generation looks set to more than double, from 16% currently to 36% by 2060, as the country builds out its nuclear fleet.

Overall, China looks set to retain its world-leading share of clean energy generation through 2060, and will grow its share from around 21% currently to 26% by 2060.

China's energy emissions footprint is also set to drastically change over the coming years in line with its energy mix.

In 2025, China's total emissions from fossil fuel use is estimated to come in around 13.2 gigatons of CO2, DNV data shows, which is around 34% of global fossil fuel emissions.

By 2060, China's fossil fuel emissions are seen at around 2.5 gigatons, and around 17% of the global total, illustrating that China's impending power mix shift will not just impact the country's energy producers, but also global pollution trends.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

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(Reporting by Gavin Maguire; Editing by Michael Perry)