China has continued to be the world’s dominant force in the building and financing of clean energy technology globally in 2017, according to a report published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
The report, “China 2017 Review: World’s Second-Biggest Economy Continues to Drive Global Trends in Energy Investment,” states, “Indications are that renewable energy will dominate global power capacity additions for at least the next two decades. China is preparing now to lead this new energy world.”
Tim Buckley, co-author of the report and IEEFA’s director of energy finance studies, said that the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement along with an increased U.S. government emphasis on coal and away from renewables is at odds with the direction being taken by China.
“The clean energy market is growing at a rapid pace and China is setting itself up as a global technology leader while the U.S. government looks the other way,” Buckley said. “Although China isn’t necessarily intending to fill the climate leadership void left by the U.S. withdrawal from Paris, it will certainly be very comfortable providing technology leadership and financial capacity so as to dominate fast-growing sectors such as solar energy, electric vehicles and batteries.”
Buckley added, “It has become clear that renewables will be the dominant energy technology of the following decades with even the cautious International Energy Agency (IEA) accepting that renewables will receive the majority of energy investment going forward. China is not going to buck this trend; although it is still investing in some coal projects around the world, China will embrace the direction energy markets are moving in and is setting itself up as a global technology leader.”
To read the full report, click here.
