China’s BYD overtaking Tesla as the world’s best-selling brand of electric vehicles is one of the most eye-catching headlines of the first week of 2024. But it is just one of the green milestones that China has recently achieved. More important for the world’s environment was the news late last month that China’s share of renewable energy capacity — mostly solar, wind and hydro — reached about 50 per cent of its total generation capacity in 2023. Renewables’ installed capacity surpassed that of coal power for the first time, according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency.
China’s advances in deploying clean tech should be applauded, even if it is continuing to expand its use of fossil fuels such as coal. The country remains the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas implicated in global warming, accounting for 31 per cent of global emissions in 2022 — more than double America’s 13.6 per cent. Its progress towards a green transformation is therefore of vital importance.
Key insights lurk among the detail. One is that new renewable energy was more profitable than relying on coal and gas for 14 Chinese electricity generators researched by Rystad Energy, a consultancy. While China’s renewables installation in its early days was pushed by state policy, it now seems increasingly to be driven by the profit motive.