China Invests $30 Billion in Renewable Energy; Economy Rebounds
China’s economy makes stunning rebound:
China’s economy grew nearly 8% in the second quarter of 2009, the government said, in a stunning turnaround for the Asian powerhouse that offered some hope for the rest of the world.
Analysts said the rebound in China would offer a boost of confidence for the global economy as it struggles out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. To fight the downturn, the government had begun implementing an internal infrastructure stimulus package from November last year.
China’s exports dropped 21%.
Yet its overall industrial output actually expanded 9%!
Wait. How can that happen?
Because China is investing in its own renewable energy infrastructure:
Urban fixed asset investments rose 33 percent in the first half of 2009.
Renewable energy investments have been launched by the U.S. government this year, as well as by governments in Europe and across Asia.
But China’s stimulus is by far the most sweeping, with massive investment in renewable energy, including wind, hydropower and solar development:
China has invested $30 billion dollars in renewable energy.
Asian stimulus packages could lead to new waves of demand for renewable projects in China. As a result, global demand across the supply chain could shift from Europe and the U.S. to Asia.
“Upcoming solar-power installations have the potential to surpass the original 2020 target of 1.8 GW by up to 10 times, reaching between 10 GW and 20 GW over the next 10 years,” said said Asia Pacific energy and power systems program manager Irina Sidneva.
China is more infamous for supposedly “putting up a new coal power plant every week”. It appears that the Chinese government is not afraid to pick winners and losers. Fossil energy sources are the losers in this socialized energy stimulus package.
Image via Te We Liu
Via Terra Daily and The Wall Street Journal
You Might Also Like
This Could Really Work!
Senator Inhofe Gets DOE Funds to Change his Mind
Fossil Company Fighting Transmission Gamechanger
How Dirty Industries in EU Nations Created China’s 21st Century Clean Energy Boom
July 25th, 2009 at 4:31 am
to suggest that a $30billion investment into renewables is responsible for the increase in industrial output does a disservice to the integrity of the clean tech movement, and serverely hampers your credibility as a writer. i will no longer read clean technica, as less flashy blogs such as the oil drum and the r-squared energy blog are much more fundmentally sound and less bloated with sensationalist delusion.
July 26th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
You didn’t mention the most important source of clean energy for China.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-07/02/content_8345808.htm
July 26th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
China’s exports dropping 21% and industrial output expanding 9% is not a function of investment in renewables. It has a much simpler explination. Numbers on the Chinese economy are whatever the Chinese government decides they are, and they tend to end up with numbers that do not reflect reality, but instead promote the interests of the ruling regime.
November 20th, 2009 at 4:50 am
[...] Stories: 1) China Invests $30 Billion in Renewable Energy; Economy Rebounds 2) Green Economy = More Jobs 3) China Forgets “China-Only Wind Turbines” Policy, but Why? 4) [...]
December 24th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
[...] initially invested $30 billion in renewable energy last year… and its economy had rebounded at 8% by mid 2009. Since this is [...]