China is well-known as an industrial powerhouse, but now that designation is doing the Earth some good as the country sets a global example in building a sustainable energy infrastructure.
The Guardian has shared details from a new report published by Global Energy Monitor, which shows China leading the world in renewables development. The country has 180 gigawatts of utility-scale solar and 159 gigawatts of wind power under construction, totaling 339 GW.
Those numbers represent 30% of all proposed solar and wind projects underway, far outpacing the global construction rate of 7%. Even more, as the article notes, the GEM report only counts large solar and wind projects at or above 20 and 10 megawatts respectively. If you added small-scale installations, the total output could be much greater than the data indicates.
This means that China is on track to hit its 1,200 gigawatt-capacity target by 2024, which is a full six years ahead of the country's initial plan.
It's not entirely surprising to hear, as the country continues to set numerous records. Its penchant for big projects has led to the world's largest solar farm, the largest floating wind-generating platform, and building singularly massive turbines.
Other countries are even joining forces with China to take advantage of their lead in the industry, such as Nicaragua's large-scale solar plant deal.
The data shows the U.S. in second place, with only 40 gigawatts of sustainable projects underway, but things are moving at an improved pace. The Biden-Harris administration has permitted more than 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects on public land a full 18 months ahead of the 2025 target date.
It's uplifting news to see the global renewable energy industries surging ahead to combat the side effects of planet-warming pollution. Plus, worldwide spending on clean energy is expected to be double that of other forms of energy, marking a positive trend away from dirty fuels.
China is setting the global standard for production, with wind and solar now accounting for 37% of the country's total energy capacity, according to GEM, a marked increase over previous years.
As Li Shuo, the director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Policy Institute in Washington D.C., shared in the article, "It is obviously important for China to keep on adding more renewable energy to meet its targets. But the question we should increasingly ask ourselves is, how come the rest of the world is so slow?"
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