Why China is investing more in renewables – Bloomberg

Posted On July 1, 2021

Chinese companies are betting big on the renewable energy revolution, and in turn, are betting that they can get ahead of the game.

China’s investment in renewables jumped by nearly 1 trillion yuan ($2.65 trillion) in the first half of 2017, according to the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation.

The rise in investment comes as the country has been battling a severe heat wave and a drought that has left more than 100 million people without electricity, according a Bloomberg analysis of government data.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to increase investments in renewable energy, but he has made no effort to boost coal, the country’s biggest fuel.

And while China has made investments in solar and wind power, they have lagged behind the United States and other major economies in terms of actual installations, according the Bloomberg analysis.

A number of factors could be at play.

China’s government has been slow to ramp up solar installations and has not been a big investor in coal-fired power plants.

Solar power accounts for only about 5 percent of total power generation, while coal accounts for more than 90 percent.

The government has also been cautious in terms the use of coal in the power sector.

Coal plants produce about 80 percent of China’s total CO2 emissions, the government says.

China has been working on improving the efficiency of its coal plants, but they are still far behind the rest of the world.

The push to invest in renewables has also come from China’s top managers.

The country has said it wants to invest more in solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.

The International Energy Agency has forecast that China’s renewable energy investment will jump to nearly $1 trillion by 2040.