[h=1]China is World’s Largest Investor in Renewable Energy Resources[/h] By Soko Wiley @exilegov Mar 14, 2015
In light of China’s January environmental reforms, the country has been intensely focused on the impacts of air pollution from coal-fired power plants and vehicle emissions. This has recently culminated with Under the Dome, a documentary about China’s debilitating smog problem, produced by Chai Jing, a former Chinese news anchor, which over 175 million Chinese citizens tuned into.
The world’s highest carbon emitter, China, led in solar, wind, and hyrdo developments last year. With investments of $89.5 billion, China was responsible for almost one out of every three dollars spent on clean energy worldwide, according to January BNEF figures
The Chinese government is pushing coal production cuts to compensate for falling industrial and residental demand. “China’s coal consumption fell 2.9 percent in 2014 from the previous year, the first drop in at least a decade,” said Tian Miao, a Beijing-based analyst at North Square Blue Oak Ltd. Jiang Zhimin, vice-president of the China National Coal Association, told state news agency Xinhua that he predicted output to fall a further 2.5 percent in 2015.
Chen Lijing, China’s new environmental minister, said the government will commit itself to putting into effect environmental protections and inspections.
There are still may be bumps in the road of implementation, since “the reforms don’t address a central contradiction in China’s largely state-controlled economy,” said Benjamin van Rooij, a professor of U.S.-China business and law at the University of California at Irvine. “The governments being asked to punish polluters are often the same ones that own the companies doing the polluting”
China is World's Largest Investor in Renewable Energy Resources
In light of China’s January environmental reforms, the country has been intensely focused on the impacts of air pollution from coal-fired power plants and vehicle emissions. This has recently culminated with Under the Dome, a documentary about China’s debilitating smog problem, produced by Chai Jing, a former Chinese news anchor, which over 175 million Chinese citizens tuned into.
The world’s highest carbon emitter, China, led in solar, wind, and hyrdo developments last year. With investments of $89.5 billion, China was responsible for almost one out of every three dollars spent on clean energy worldwide, according to January BNEF figures
The Chinese government is pushing coal production cuts to compensate for falling industrial and residental demand. “China’s coal consumption fell 2.9 percent in 2014 from the previous year, the first drop in at least a decade,” said Tian Miao, a Beijing-based analyst at North Square Blue Oak Ltd. Jiang Zhimin, vice-president of the China National Coal Association, told state news agency Xinhua that he predicted output to fall a further 2.5 percent in 2015.
Chen Lijing, China’s new environmental minister, said the government will commit itself to putting into effect environmental protections and inspections.
There are still may be bumps in the road of implementation, since “the reforms don’t address a central contradiction in China’s largely state-controlled economy,” said Benjamin van Rooij, a professor of U.S.-China business and law at the University of California at Irvine. “The governments being asked to punish polluters are often the same ones that own the companies doing the polluting”
China is World's Largest Investor in Renewable Energy Resources
