THE country is building almost twice as much wind and solar energy capacity as every other country combined, newly published research showed.
The world’s second-largest economy is the biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that drive climate change.
China has committed to bring carbon emissions to a peak by 2030 and to net zero by 2060.
It has endured several waves of extreme weather in recent months that scientists say are rendered more severe by climate change.
China currently has a total of 339 gigawatts of capacity under construction, including 159GW of wind and 180GW of solar.
That is “nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined”, according to the study by US-based NGO Global Energy Monitor, which was published on Tuesday.
That figure far exceeds the second-ranked nation, the United States, which is building a total of just 40GW, according to the report.
It added that China had broken ground on a third of new wind and solar capacity it has announced to date, compared to a global average of just 7%.
“The stark contrast in construction rates illustrates the active nature of China’s commitment to building renewables projects,” the study said.
Beijing’s vast renewable energy buildout does have some drawbacks.
The national grid falls back on heavily polluting coal plants to deal with surges in power demand.
And it struggles to transmit renewable energy generated in remote northwestern regions to economic and population centres in the east.
However, China’s combined wind and solar capacity is set to overtake coal this year, according to the report.
It said the rapid renewables expansion raises hopes that Beijing’s carbon emissions will peak even sooner than expected. — AFP
