TELF AG examines new global trends in the renewable energy sector
China’s constant growth
At the important COP28 meeting in Dubai, held a few months ago, around 200 nations formally supported the global process towards decarbonization, making more or less binding commitments to reduce their emissions and move quickly towards a future characterized by clean energy. Another important objective established on that occasion and directly linked to decarbonization is the one relating to the tripling of renewable energy by 2030.
However, very few countries are taking concrete steps in this direction, and China is one of those. Beijing is, in fact, proving to be a real global driving force in the renewable energy sector, and the data clearly demonstrate this. The country is doing so well that it could soon reach the goals set by China itself for 2030, namely installing 1,300 gigawatts of renewable capacity and green plants by 2030. According to the IEA, last April, China’s capacity in this area would have even reached 1,130 gigawatts, thus rapidly approaching the goal. This renewable capacity alone represents more than double that installed in the entire European Union.
This clear superiority in the field of renewables is not only attributable to the size of the Chinese economy, to the large availability of raw materials – including all those needed to build clean energy infrastructure – or to political foresight in industrial planning. For some time now, Beijing has made a major change in its economic strategies, replacing some of the main pillars on which Chinese growth has been based in recent decades. We are referring to the household appliances, furniture, and textile sectors, which in recent years have given way to the electric cars, solar energy, and battery industries, now considered the three primary assets to ensure the constant growth of economic performance.
Electric vehicles and batteries
The electric vehicle sector also appears to be constantly expanding: in China, one in 10 vehicles currently in circulation is electric, and more than a third of the cars made in China contain batteries (at the moment, most of the electric vehicles produced by Beijing are intended for the domestic market). According to Carbon Brief estimates, last year, the clean energy sector accounted for 9% of China’s national GDP, contributing $1.6 trillion. These sectors contributed almost half of the economy’s total growth.
To achieve the NetZero objectives as soon as possible and greatly accelerate the growth of the national economy, China is rapidly converting to clean energy, promoting the construction of solar and wind plants, and the spread of electric cars considered one of the main vectors of transformation. Beijing is also exploring other possible clean energy sources, such as green hydrogen, which will produce approximately 200,000 tons from renewable sources this year (according to some estimates by Rystad Energy).
This commitment has already produced concrete results: one of these is the evident reduction in CO2 emissions, which according to data from Asia Society Policy (and reported by ilSole24ore) are decreasing by 3% every year, with constant drops that seem destined to become increasingly marked.
