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CLEAN ENERGY - A few years ago, China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry shook hands on a pledge to triple renewable energy by 2030. China took the challenge seriously, very seriously, it will meet its end-of-2030 emissions target this year (2014), six years early.
In the blink of an eye, China is constructing wind and solar farms that are equivalent to building five large nuclear power stations per week! Yes, per week. They understand the multitude of risks of climate change, especially since it is happening in real time right in everybody’s face, and they’re doing something about it faster than the rest of the world combined.
In 2023, China installed 293 gigawatts of wind and solar, taking capacity up to 1,050 gigawatts, which is more than double its capacity in 2020. For comparisons purposes, a typical nuclear power plant produces one (1) gigawatt of electricity. Already 51% of China’s electricity generation comes from non-fossil fuel sources.
China is sending signals to the rest of the world, just do it!
When President Biden committed $1 trillion to clean energy, China’s response was to double down and go twice as fast. Effectively, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) inspired China to get off its butt and go all-in. This is direct evidence that America’s energy policies are infectious and impact major nations of the world.
It should be noted that Trump has publicly stated his intention to destroy Biden’s IRA renewable energy policies, tossing them out in favor of proposals similar to his Faustian bargain with oil and gas chieftains, if they cough-up $1 billion for his campaign, Trump cuts taxes and removes regulations to drill baby drill. That’ll make America great again, umm, change that to “make America hotter than ever!”
China is also deemphasizing nuclear as a solution to global warming by scaling back once-ambitious plans in favor of more wind and solar. According to Climate Energy Finance (Aust.), China is installing 10 gigawatts of wind and solar generation capacity every two weeks. It takes 10 years to build the same nuclear generating capacity. Nuclear versus renewables - no contest, renewables win hands down! (Source: China is Installing the Wind and Solar Equivalent of Five Large Nuclear Power Stations Per Week, ABC Science, July 15, 2024)
The Chinese Communist Party has teed up every department of government for renewables. This massive transition is taking place in remote regions like the Gobi Desert. On the western edge of the country, the world’s largest solar and wind farms are under construction. These massive power farms are connected to major cities via the world’s longest high-voltage transmission lines.
Since the start of the 21st Century, every Five-Year Plan has called for strategic investments in all aspects of renewable technologies. Most China watchers claim that Xi Jinping’s surprising announcement at the 2020 UN General Assembly promising that China would achieve peak emissions by 2030 lit the fire for even more rapid growth of renewable installations.
To stabilize supply of power, China is using a mix of pumped hydro and battery storage to supplement intermittent power. And alongside renewables, China is still building dozens of coal-fired plants to meet demands for electricity as heavy energy users, like electrified transport, place demands on the system beyond the current capacity of renewable installations, as well as providing stable power to balance intermittent solar and wind. Eventually, their goal is for renewables to overtake coal.
According to Climate Energy Finance’s Xuyang Dong, despite China's reliance on coal, "having China go green at this speed and scale provides the world with a textbook to do the same" Energy experts claim China is upstaging the United States by taking the pole position on an issue that the world is just starting to experience in real time, i.e., the ravages of global warming.
Indeed, China’s proactive leadership role, by setting an example for how it’s done, gains worldwide respect and alliances. In that regard, the world spends $7 trillion a year on coal, gas, and oil, which could be used for renewables.
What of America?
When it comes to green policies and associated ethical standards, as well as fitness to handle the big job, America’s top presidential candidates are best described, in no particular order of relevance: (1) lackluster orange vs. radiant green (2) incoherent geriatric vs. scintillating maturity (3) convicted felon vs. experienced prosecutor. Nowadays, the chant “Lock him up” echoes at Democratic campaign rallies. Is this hitting below the belt? YES!
(Robert Hunziker, MA, economic history DePaul University, awarded membership in Pi Gamma Mu International Academic Honor Society in Social Sciences is a freelance writer and environmental journalist who has over 200 published articles appearing in over 50 journals, magazines, and sites worldwide.)
