China biggest renewable energy trader: UN

[TaiShang]

China biggest renewable energy trader: UN
June 26, 2014
The BRICS Post

A cleaner walks past a display depicting clean energy sources at an energy conservation and environment protection exhibition in Beijing Monday, June 9, 2014. A Chinese environmental group launched a smartphone app on Monday that tracks and shames polluting factories, highlighting how the country is making environmental data more available and is welcoming public monitoring of companies that pollute [AP]

A new UN report says China leads the globe in the trade of renewable energy products, while developing countries score over Europe.

The survey from the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) on Wednesday indicates that China leveraged on decreased manufacturing costs and increased investment to boost trade.

“While there was a decline in growth in Europe in 2013, there was strong growth in China and several other developing country markets,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner told the United Nations Environmental Assembly.

Steiner said developing countries collectively accounted for above 30 per cent new solar photovoltaic capacity installed globally last year.

“A significant contributor to South-South environmental goods and services trade is exchange of renewable energy technologies, which now represents one of the fastest-growing markets in the world,” he added.

Steiner, who is also the UN Under-Secretary-General, said the global environmental product market is expected to grow to approximately $1.9 trillion by the year 2020.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi said China is one of the countries to demonstrate a positive shift towards a green economy.

“It has shown commitment to maintaining high environmental standards,” he said. Kituyi urged China to promote environmental consciousness throughout the world.

China has surpassed the US in clean energy investment. With $54 billion in investments in renewables in 2013, China is way ahead of the total US investment of $36.7 billion.

Meanwhile, a group of US ethanol and gasoline producers have asked the country’s Supreme Court to take up a lawsuit seeking to roll back state renewable energy laws, says a Reuters report.

 

[TaiShang]

China Brings Renewable Energy Growth Back
Published Fri, Feb 27, 2015


According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, new funds invested into clean energy gained 16% in 2014 to reach $310 billion. The record is still $318 billion, set in 2011, but there was a significant upward trend last year. Overall, the world added about 100 gigawatts of solar- and wind-power capacity in 2014.

The reason for the jump is due mainly to China’s serious attempts to address its pollution problem. The government’s goal is to have 15% of China’s power mix coming from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Accordingly, the country led the way last year with investments of $89.5 billion (29% of all global renewable energy investment) into renewable energy. That is a rise of 32% from 2013 to a record amount.

Chinese Means Business
China is clearly serious about its energy goals. Last year was the first time this century that domestic coal production fell and output was down by 2.1% to 3.5 billion metric tons.

The China National Coal Association forecast that in 2015 coal production will drop another 2.5%.

The Xinhua news agency confirmed assumptions, saying in a report that much of the falloff can be directly linked to two factors: new environmental regulations on the industry by the government and increased investment in clean energy.

Xinhua went on to report that emissions per unit of GDP fell 4.8%, thanks to China’s soaring investments into renewable energy in 2014, particularly solar and wind.

It’s Always Sunny and Windy in China?
It’s not always sunny in China, but that hasn’t stopped the country from becoming the top market for energy created by solar power and one of the largest for wind-power energy. Three-fourths of the $90 billion that was spent last year went into solar and wind power.

China is also the top producer of solar panels, accounting for about 75% of the world’s solar manufacturing.

So it isn’t surprising that 2014’s top solar panel producers were all Chinese. The leader was Trina Solar (TSL), followed by Yingli Green Energy (YGE), and JinkoSolar (JKS). Rounding out the top five are Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and Sharp Corporation(SHCAF) from Japan.

On the wind side, China installed more than 50 gigawatts of wind capacity in 2014. This, of course, gave the makers of wind turbines around the world a bump.

Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY) beat its competitors for the second year in a row for the No. 1 manufacturing spot. It was followed by Siemens (SIEGY), GoldWind (XJNGF), andGeneral Electric (GE).

Future Still Iffy
Despite the good news from 2014, two questions still hang over much of the renewable energy industry.

One question is whether the industry can survive on its own when government subsidies are removed. The second is overcapacity…

You see, there is still an estimated 15% more solar panels manufactured than demand would dictate.

The great hope for the renewable energy industry will continue to lie in the Chinese government, which will likely continue to subsidize movement into renewable energy.

After all, as Angus McCrone of Bloomberg New Energy Financepointed out, “China has got the greatest power demand needs, and it also has the imperative of reducing urban pollution.”

And the chase continues,

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EM star Cragg: China’s alternative energy drive will power returns | Citywire

"China’s drive to develop alternative energy stands out as one of the most promising parts of the country’s move to a new economic model, Citywire A-rated Anthony Cragg has said.

Cragg, who runs the Wells Fargo EM Equity Income and China Equity funds, said he is focusing on the ‘new economy’ but accepted the so-called ‘old economy’, such as state-owned stocks, may become too cheap to ignore in the near-term."

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http://powersource.post-gazette.com...-Energy-Investments-in-1/stories/201502040227

 

[Keel]

Encouraging!
When foreign countries are closing their doors on our solar panels we are having installations in mammouth scales like these below all across China

 

[Jlaw]

It's good news. But let's not harm our manufacturing for the sake of western pressure using Liberal Chinese environmentalists