China A Surprise Leader In Clean Energy: Study

google.com:

SYDNEY -- The world's top polluter, China, is a surprise leader in clean energy efforts, a study showed Tuesday, outstripping the United States and Japan and leaving Australia lagging far behind.

Read the whole story: google.com

Comments

[joebaggadonuts]

09:01 AM on 10/21/2010

If they can keep this up, I'm moving to China.

[DAE]

03:07 AM on 10/22/2010

I'm about to retire and will be going there to live. I've been traveling there for 30 years, speak and read the language and have many academic friends there.

[joebaggadonuts]

10:15 AM on 10/22/2010

Best of luck. Remember to keep your views private. Fanned for luck.

[m2b]

11:13 PM on 10/20/2010

The countries of the European Union are currently the global leaders in the development and application of renewable energy. No mention of these global leaders, particularly Germany which has far surpassed the UK in renewable (particularly photo voltaic) energy installation is pretty wierd. China produces alot of these technologies but they are also the worst polluters in the world.

[Kevin Atlanta]

02:36 PM on 10/20/2010

And all thanks to American Technology and manufacturing processes moved off-shore by the Corporate Fascists who would have us all working for the $.85 per day in China.

[jcko]

10:32 PM on 10/20/2010

If people in China were working for $ 0.85 a day, they wouldn't be able to afford a Buick, the best selling car in China.

[GPTP]

03:44 AM on 10/21/2010

You mean China's workers get 18.7 $ per month. Do you even believe that number yourself?

[BlackYowe]

02:22 PM on 10/20/2010

People love to hate China like they love to hate Wal-Mart but all the Chinese want is a standard of living like we have. We were like the Chinese only 75 years ago. That is not a long time ago.

[monroele]

12:23 PM on 10/20/2010

They learn fast and together with India will push the U.S. way back as an economic power.

[DAE]

03:24 AM on 10/22/2010

Funny, funny, funny. The Chinese actually invented the fundamental technologies that the West later put to use. It was actually the Westerners who were the fast learners.

[abbienormal]

11:40 AM on 10/20/2010

This is only a surprise to people that don't pay attention. Geesh, Krugman and Friedman have been writing about this for years.

[alvdh1]

11:26 AM on 10/20/2010

On the surface, Republicans claim to support free markets. One only needs to dig a micron deep to learn that free energy markets are the last thing they want. There are two states that have deregulated their electric markets. California and New York have replaced the Guarnateed Rate Of Return Utility Model (GROR) with the Independent Service Operator Model (ISO). The ISO owns the grid and buys power from all producers and re-sells it based on supply and demand.

The ISO fosters competition whereas the GROR creates a monopoly without competition. When an investor owned GROR utility doesn't earn a their GROR, they seek a rate hike from their state Public Utility Commission (PUC). It is a vicious cycle of discounting rates to commercial electric users until all of the utilites capacity is absorbed. Once this has occurred, they go back to the PUC to seek a rate hike to build a new power station - usually coal or gas fired. Ratepayers have little or no choice in the process.

In California, the ISO purchases power from all producers, including business and residential producers of clean power at market rates. Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and PG&E have to compete against all producers and therefore have to control costs in order to enhance their profits. GROR utilities just go to the PUC trough because they don't have to compete. Ask your Republican politician why they allow zero competition in the electric markets except in Ca/NY.

[alvdh1]

11:43 AM on 10/20/2010

Until the electric markets are fully dergulated, alternative energy will be a second class citizen in America. When you and I and business can install solar or wind energy and get paid full market rates for our excess capactiy, then solar, wind and biomass development will accelerate as they have in California in the ISO marketplace.

The GROR fosters energy waste through heavy rate discounting to commercial users. Where is the incentive to invest in energy efficiency or pratice conservation. Under the ISO, rates are determined by supply and demand. Those who install alternative energy also invest in energy efficiency to maximize their profits. They also power down during peak demand periods in order to maximize their profits. This also helps level demand spikes which are inherently energy inefficient to build up to because they have to produce more electricity ibn the process than can be sold in order to achieve peak production.

I have to confess that Democratic politicians are basically ignorant on the subject as well. But the real hypocrits are the Republicans because of their relentless tirades about regulations. I say put your money where your mouths are and deregulate the electric markets so that anyone who wnats to become a clean producer of electricity can and get paid full market rates or shut up about regulations. They would be hard pressed to defend electric utility monopolies if the media and Democrats did their job to out their hypocritical positon on the electric markets.

[Kenz300]

11:06 AM on 10/20/2010

The party of NO has no interest in the green jobs of the future.

[Papa Swamp]

06:41 AM on 10/20/2010

Well let's see GE (which the taxpayer bailed out) opened their wind turbine operations to China. Not only transferring jobs, but also technology. US companies are so eager to do business with the Chinese they willingly cough up technology and jobs....the Chinese turn around and use it for themselves...shocker?..nope. Oh and China has stopped all rare earth mineral shipments to the US. The US has killed itself...all for greed.

[Galong]

09:15 AM on 10/20/2010

Let's fine-tune that statement: a few greedy (probably republican) business people sold out US technology for their own personal gain at the expense of the country and furthermore, probably found a way to avoid paying US taxes on the transaction while doing so. Sound better? :-)

[Papa Swamp]

01:03 PM on 10/20/2010

...who was it that started that most favored nation status with China? ...and GE....who do they donate most to?

[jwoww]

10:56 AM on 10/20/2010

you mean GE the home of MSNBC , propaganda arm of the WH and employer of union American made job fighter Ed Schultz

they would never export jobs

[Genders]

01:04 PM on 10/20/2010

Guilt by association? http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/08/01/ge
Yes, GE put pressure on MSNBC, Money rules the world.

[eric14]

06:28 AM on 10/20/2010

There is no surprise here. Good news, yes.

[Blow In]

05:55 AM on 10/20/2010

It's called leap frogging I think. China and other developing countries Can take existing technologies and concentrate on improving them. American has a lot of money invested in legacy tech, and the owners of it are resistant to change.

The best survival strategy for individuals in corporate and governmental bureaucracies in America is to keep their head down. It's the smart thing to do. Innovators will be punished in this climate of insecurity.

China has gone through many cycles of innovation and stagnation. They and other countries are in a cycle of innovation right now and America and other counties are stagnating.

IMHO

[Malcolm Hensley]

01:27 AM on 10/20/2010

Now this is a funny article! They don't mention China is starting construction on 2 new coal plants every week! The U.S. has built 12 since 1990! They will build more coal generating plants in 2 months than we have in 20 years! But there they are holding up China as the Gold standard! Well it takes a lot of cheap coal energy to make the solar cells (melting the silica) and steel turbines. It just puzzles me how Chinese SO2, CO2, PM (particulate matter), and heavy metals (mercury & arsenic) is OK but everyone else's is bad??? As a chemist I have to get samples! In the world of Harry Potter & Lord of the Rings to many people equate Green Energy with Green Magic! And don't question anything!

[Zhuubaajie]

03:06 AM on 10/20/2010

There are coal fired power plants, and there are CHINESE coal fired power plants. You should really read up on the subject. The new generation coal fired plants, thanks to decades of R&D (building 2 a wekk lets you accumulate expertise really fast), are now the most efficient in the world today, and many are now equipped with carbon capture technology that America only writes about. Yes as far as coal fired power plants are concerned, China's are the gold standard today.

Chinese emissions are "O.K." only in the sense that they are still much lower on a per capita basis than in the Western industrialized countries.

[joebaggadonuts]

09:05 AM on 10/21/2010

You got a link to that or are you just blowing soot?

[DAE]

03:36 AM on 10/22/2010

China's population is 5 times ours. They should be producing 5 times more emissions. They produce about as much as we do. So Chinese per capita emissions are 1/5 ours. To equal China we would have to cut our emissions by 80%. Anyone prepared to do that?

[Galong]

05:48 AM on 10/20/2010

If you noticed, they called China the "world's top polluter", so if you can stop waving your flag for a minute maybe you can be logical about this. China is the world's top polluter, BUT they're taking measures to decrease their impact.

Do chemists normally have problems understanding topic sentences in easy-to-read stories? :-)

[abbienormal]

11:42 AM on 10/20/2010

On a per capita basis we are still the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases.

[DAE]

03:37 AM on 10/22/2010

Just to repeat:China's population is 5 times ours. They should be producing 5 times more emissions. They produce about as much as we do. So Chinese per capita emissions are 1/5 ours. To equal China we would have to cut our emissions by 80%. Anyone prepared to do that?

[Kenz300]

09:24 PM on 10/19/2010

When will the party of NO get on board the clean energy train?

[Weirdwriter]

10:31 PM on 10/19/2010

NEVER.

[jsarets]

10:32 PM on 10/19/2010

They'll invest in their own private properties (for example George W Bush owns a very impressive green home), but they'll never support public investment in renewable energy unless it is federal pork for their district or state in particular.

They won't support tax incentives such as cap-and-trade or a direct carbon tax. They won't support federal loan guarantees. Many Republicans support net-metering legislation, but usually not on the federal level, and feed-in tariffs are less popular but have some support from Republican think-tankers although few if any elected officials.

Net-metering is the place to start chipping away at Republicans, appealing to the property rights of the owners of rooftop solar systems to be equitably compensated by the electric utilities for the fruits of their capital investment.

Municipal wind is another model that has support in the upper echelons of the Republican Party (e.g. MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty) and benefits local communities, especially farming communities in the midwest that are important electoral battlegrounds (e.g. IA, OH, and IN).

[Papa Swamp]

06:46 AM on 10/20/2010

Excellent points js...now that is the way to come at this.

[Sockme]

08:27 PM on 10/19/2010

I am not in the least suprised. We should welcome a prosperous China, returning to their rightful place as a world leader.

Anyone wih half a brain should realise that green technology is a necessary and incredibly valuable next step in global development. Unfortunately, half the US population are blinded by ideological and religious fairytales and are looking backwards rather than forwards.

The countries and companies that produce affordable green technology are the companies of the future.

[BlackbirdHighway]

08:26 PM on 10/19/2010

Germany is now manufacturing everything. Until a few years ago, they concentrated on just high-end products, and imported all the "cheap crap". Now they realize that they must keep production of everything, every little cheap plastic whatever, or they will have a failed economy.

In the US, we aren't even keeping the manufacturing of the high-end stuff.

Wake up people, the folks you are electing into office are screwing you completely and soon the middle class will be completely gone.

The US is turning into a third world economy, with a very few very, very rich people and many, many, many dirt poor people and nothing in between.

[vippy]

05:21 AM on 10/20/2010

Pretty soon the people with their low income can't even afford the cheap stuff they import from China. Look at retail, signs like 75% to 95% off and still no cars in the parking lot. Looks to me that retail stores will be a thing of the past.