China:The headlines in China tend to focus on the appalling pollution and how the country's roaring economy is being fuelled by a cocktail of coal, oil and nuclear power, but a new report shows China also has a fast-growing renewable energy sector.
China will likely achieve - and may even exceed - its target to obtain 15 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020, according to a report by the Worldwatch Institute, an independent research organisation that concentrates on environmental, social and economic trends.
If China's commitment to diversifying its energy supply and becoming a global leader in renewables manufacturing persists, renewable energy could provide more than 30 per cent of the nation's energy by 2050.
"A combination of policy leadership and entrepreneurial savvy is leading to spectacular growth in renewable energy, increasing its share of the market for electricity, heating, and transport fuels," said Eric Martinot, a Worldwatch senior fellow based in Beijing.
"China is poised to become a leader in renewables manufacturing, which will have global implications for the future of the technology," he said.
In both rural areas and in major cities such as Shanghai, houses routinely have solar panels on the roofs to heat water for washing, while wind farms are becoming a common sight in the countryside.
This should eventually go some way to offsetting China's heavy reliance on coal, which still provides 80 per cent of its power.
The Worldwatch report is a rare piece of good news about China's environment, which remains in dire shape - CO2 emissions are on the rise, for example, and are expected to exceed total US carbon dioxide emissions shortly, although Chinese per-capita emissions remain about one-sixth of those of the US.
Last year €35 billion was invested in renewable energy worldwide, and China is expected to invest more than €7 billion in new renewables capacity in 2007, second only to Germany. Wind and solar energy are expanding particularly rapidly in China, with production of wind turbines and solar cells both doubling in 2006.
This means China is poised to pass world solar and wind manufacturing leaders in Europe, Japan, and North America in the next three years. It already dominates the markets for solar hot water and small hydropower.
Wind power is the fastest growing power-generation technology in China, with existing capacity doubling during 2006 alone. By 2007, China was home to four major Chinese manufacturers of wind turbines and another six foreign subsidiary manufacturers.
Meanwhile, solar power production capacity increased from 350 megawatts (MW) in 2005 to more than 1,000MW in 2006, with 1,500MW expected in 2007.