China leads clean energy revolution, but also CO2 pollution, says report

"China produces 60 percent of global wind turbines and 80 percent of global solar panels, driving cost reductions for everyone else, Ember's Sam Butler-Sloss told Al Jazeera. Since 2010, the cost of solar modules has come down over 90 percent and China has been responsible for three quarters of the cumulative solar manufacturing in that period, she said. Now, we're at a point where solar modules are sub-10 cents per watt."

"Its vast manufacturing industry consumes energy, much of which it imports in the form of oil and gas. China sought to remain competitive and energy-secure by becoming autonomous. That brought a powerful added benefit. Beijing has financed a domestic market for electric technologies and invested in a growing patent gap with the rest of the world. In 2020, it was responsible for 5 percent of global energy patent applications. That figure is now 75 percent."

China has supplied manufacturing capacity, finance and strategic direction that now shape the global energy transition. A shift away from a fossil-fuel development model underpins a stated aim to establish an ecological civilisation embedded in the Constitution since 2018. China produces around 60 percent of wind turbines and 80 percent of solar panels, driving steep cost reductions. Since 2010 solar-module costs have fallen over 90 percent and China accounted for most cumulative solar manufacturing. Solar modules are now under 10 cents per watt and batteries are approaching sub-$70/kWh, transforming energy economics. Beijing financed domestic electric markets and expanded energy patent dominance from 5 percent to 75 percent.

Read at www.aljazeera.com