Whether it is spending on wind turbines, high-speed rail, or solar panels it is estimated that China is investing roughly US$12 million every hour in clean energy.
Home to the world's largest population and an energy demand that has doubled in the past decade, China's financing is motivated out of immediate necessity rather than a response to climate change. Cheng Li, director fo the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations at the Brookings Institution, says the country is dealing with scarcity of resources and trying to find a better way to survive.
There is more to the equation than just survival, though. By spending an estimated ten times the amount the United States does on clean energy, it is apparent that China sees the immense business opportunity in the evolving renewable energy and cleantech industries.
Peggy Liu, chair of the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Energy, highlights China's new economic vision: "China is rapidly changing from the factory of the world to the clean tech laboratory fo the world. The thing they are really beating the U.S. on is not the manufacturing of these parts, but the mentality of how we're tackling this issue."
Read the full story at ABC News: China Goes Green, Focusing on Energy Technology and Transportation
Image credit: Mike Lowell via Flickr
Nathanael Baker is the Managing Editor of EnergyBoom. He has researched and reported on the issues of renewable energy, sustainability, and climate change for over two years. He has provided research to the New York Times and The Economist, as well as being published on different media outlets including, The Energy Collective.
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