China should be given more credit for its investment in clean electricity, the head of the International Energy Agency says.
Maria van der Hoeven says most people think that China is frantically building coal-fired power stations.
The reality, she says, is that China is spending as much as the US and Europe put together on clean power.
She says its coal-fired power stations are state of the art - and should be copied in other developing countries.
Maria van der Hoeven told BBC News: "People think about China in a way more representative of previous decades.
"They are now the largest wind power market in the world. They have increased their power generation from renewables from really nothing 10 years ago - and now it's 25%. These are very important signals that China is moving into the right direction."
Her organisation - the rich countries' energy think-tank - says in 2014 that China spent more than $80bn in new renewables generating capacity; higher than the EU ($46bn); Japan ($37bn) and the USA ($34bn).
China's commitment to renewables has benefited the rest of the world by creating a mass market that prompted a 70% reduction in the cost of solar panels in recent years.
Paris summit
The country is also building 50 new nuclear power stations and creating economies of scale in nuclear too, the IEA says, at a time when the industry is moribund in Europe.
Ms van der Hoeven's comments come in the week that China is expected formally to declare its climate change pledge in preparation for the UN climate summit in Paris in December.
Last year the nation reported that its emissions had fallen by 1% as coal use slumped.
A power plant near Hengshui in China's Hebei province.
Ms van der Hoeven said China was still investing heavily in coal-fired power plants, but that the power stations were highly efficient and enabled old inefficient plants to be retired.
This was an example to some other developing nations that still used much less efficient technology, she added.
The IEA says if other nations can be persuaded to use better technology to improve performance by just a few percentage points, it would equal the entire carbon reductions effort from the EU.
But despite its admiration for China's achievement, the IEA is still critical of what it says is the nation's lack of transparency on data.
And it says that because of China's vast size and its growing wealth, the country's emissions are expected by 2030 to be two and a half times higher than the next bigger emitter, the US.
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P.S. : I have mostly contributed to East Asia section since I've joined this forum in 2013. Heck, I do even remember that my first post was about J-20 and I had quite a bit of arguement with @gambit. For almost three years I've occasionally made contributions mainly to this section ranging from economy, technology, politics, history and a little bit of military. I've sadly decided to end my membership to this forum after a bitter event that I've recently experienced in Turkish Defence section in this forum. The fierce discussions about the Russian Jet downing turned into insults, than insults turned into swearings and finally I've get some threats (like expressed wishes to strangulate me). Despite my attempts to stop this madness and punish those who acted that way, Mods decided to ignore those insults, swearings and threats. After that It seemed it just doesn't worth to write anything for this forum.
Farewell my friends, @Nihonjin1051 ,@TaiShang , @LeveragedBuyout , @Chinese-Dragon, @Hu Songshan and all the guys whom I've engaged during my membership. With @Arryn 's kind invitation, I'll go on writing my articles at Arsimperatoria.
Cya all!...
Maria van der Hoeven says most people think that China is frantically building coal-fired power stations.
The reality, she says, is that China is spending as much as the US and Europe put together on clean power.
She says its coal-fired power stations are state of the art - and should be copied in other developing countries.
Maria van der Hoeven told BBC News: "People think about China in a way more representative of previous decades.
"They are now the largest wind power market in the world. They have increased their power generation from renewables from really nothing 10 years ago - and now it's 25%. These are very important signals that China is moving into the right direction."
Her organisation - the rich countries' energy think-tank - says in 2014 that China spent more than $80bn in new renewables generating capacity; higher than the EU ($46bn); Japan ($37bn) and the USA ($34bn).
China's commitment to renewables has benefited the rest of the world by creating a mass market that prompted a 70% reduction in the cost of solar panels in recent years.
Paris summit
The country is also building 50 new nuclear power stations and creating economies of scale in nuclear too, the IEA says, at a time when the industry is moribund in Europe.
Ms van der Hoeven's comments come in the week that China is expected formally to declare its climate change pledge in preparation for the UN climate summit in Paris in December.
Last year the nation reported that its emissions had fallen by 1% as coal use slumped.
A power plant near Hengshui in China's Hebei province.
Ms van der Hoeven said China was still investing heavily in coal-fired power plants, but that the power stations were highly efficient and enabled old inefficient plants to be retired.
This was an example to some other developing nations that still used much less efficient technology, she added.
The IEA says if other nations can be persuaded to use better technology to improve performance by just a few percentage points, it would equal the entire carbon reductions effort from the EU.
But despite its admiration for China's achievement, the IEA is still critical of what it says is the nation's lack of transparency on data.
And it says that because of China's vast size and its growing wealth, the country's emissions are expected by 2030 to be two and a half times higher than the next bigger emitter, the US.
--------
P.S. : I have mostly contributed to East Asia section since I've joined this forum in 2013. Heck, I do even remember that my first post was about J-20 and I had quite a bit of arguement with @gambit. For almost three years I've occasionally made contributions mainly to this section ranging from economy, technology, politics, history and a little bit of military. I've sadly decided to end my membership to this forum after a bitter event that I've recently experienced in Turkish Defence section in this forum. The fierce discussions about the Russian Jet downing turned into insults, than insults turned into swearings and finally I've get some threats (like expressed wishes to strangulate me). Despite my attempts to stop this madness and punish those who acted that way, Mods decided to ignore those insults, swearings and threats. After that It seemed it just doesn't worth to write anything for this forum.
Farewell my friends, @Nihonjin1051 ,@TaiShang , @LeveragedBuyout , @Chinese-Dragon, @Hu Songshan and all the guys whom I've engaged during my membership. With @Arryn 's kind invitation, I'll go on writing my articles at Arsimperatoria.
Cya all!...
