China's green push

The Chinese may not be about to slash carbon emissions, but the country is now a world leader in renewable-energy investment, writes Ian Lewis

CHINA IS pumping out vast amounts of greenhouse gases – its annual increase in emissions is more than the UK's annual total – and there are no apologies. Chinese negotiators continue to play hardball at global climate talks, but this does not mean that the world's second-largest economy is a green-energy laggard. The country is now a world leader in building renewable-energy projects, as the government and private firms pump billions of dollars into the sector. China wants non-fossil-fuel energy, including hydropower and nuclear, to account for 15% of primary energy consumption by 2020 – around twice the present level (see Figure 1) – and has pledged to plough hundreds of billions of dollars