But the discussion is about energy issues and it looks to me that China is taking renewable energy more seriously than most western/developed countries.

The United States should be the very last country to complain about China’s CO2 emissions. China is charging forward with renewables and EVs. We’re letting dunderheads block our way.

China 7711 million metric tons

US 5425 million metric tons

India 1602 million metric tons

Russia 1572 million metric tons

Japan 1098 million metric tons

Germany 766 million metric tons

South Korea 528 million metric tons

Canada 541 million tons
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/31/world-carbon-dioxide-emissions-country-data-co2#zoomed-picture
Here’s the same group of countries based on CO2 per capita…

United States 17.3 metric tons

Canada 15.7 metric tons

Russia 11.0 metric tons

South Korea 10.9 metric tons

Germany 9.3 metric tons

Japan 8.9 metric tons

China 5.7 metric tons

India 1.3 metric tons

You seem to have a lot of China hate bubbling around, but when it comes
down to it China is not releasing much CO2 per person. Additionally they
are doing a lot of the manufacturing of products which are consumed in the
US and that lowers US levels. We’ve outsourced a lot of our CO2 to China
and other countries.

China is now installing solar and wind more aggressively than is the US.
Not on a per capita basis, but they’re gaining there as well.

China is opening coal plants but what is mostly happening is that they are
replacing around 7,000 dirty coal plants that they shut a couple of years
ago with modern, efficient coal plants. If one takes a look at their
energy plans it appears that they feel that they have to use coal in the
short run (as Germany is now doing) but their intention (like Germany’s) is
to end up with a clean grid.

China is beginning to tighten regulations and to clean up their industry.
And to clean up their urban air. China has just implemented a major
program to put as many drivers as possible into EV rather than liquid fuel
vehicles. And China has opted for electrified high speed rail rather than
air travel.

China is undervaluing their currency, but they have announced that they do
not intend to do so on a permanent basis. It’s a little hard to fault
China for being self-centered in their attempt to pull a billion people out
of poverty in a short period of time.

Labor prices are rising in China and we are starting to see some
manufacturing returning to the US. Right now we can be competitive with
products which have low labor inputs and are bulky/expensive to ship. As
oil prices rise and Chinese standards of living rise we will find that we
can compete in more and more areas. Chinese wages will rise and Chinese
citizens will be an enormous new market which will likely suck up most of
what China can produce.

And, no, I do not receive any funding from China….

Hydro-electric power is generated by water in rivers simply rushing though turbines, unaided by coal. Hydro power is a renewable form of energy, unlike coal.

But China, while it now leads the world in hydro power, as a developing country with regard to hydro (about equivalent to the US a century ago) has made some gigantic mistakes in how it went in to that too, with some of the worst environmental damage in the world. Another complex mess of good and bad!

It is a complex case, but I think you really nail it here.