Global investments in renewables pass $2 trillion since 2010, with China in the lead by far
President Trump believes the way to create jobs is by engaging in a trade war with China. A new report, however, makes clear that the Chinese understand the way to create the jobs of the future is by betting big on the strategic industries of the future — clean energy, batteries, and electric vehicles.
Last year, the world added more solar power capacity than coal, nuclear, or gas-fired power capacity combined. That’s one of the bombshells from “ Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018,” which UN Environment, the Frankfurt School, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released Wednesday.
Last year a record 157 gigawatts of overall renewable power were commissioned, “far out-stripping the 70GW of net fossil fuel generating capacity added last year.”
China led the pack, investing a record $126 billion in renewables, a 30 percent increase from last year — and a remarkable 45 percent of total global spending. It’s also more than triple the total U. S. investment in renewables, which came to $ 40.5 billion last year.
China is aiming to be “the renewable energy superpower of the future” according to an article on “ Renewable Energy and Chinese Power,” by Amy Myers Jaffe in the March/April issue of Foreign Affairs.
