China raced ahead building renewable energy last year, installing more wind and solar power than ever before and continuing to leave all other countries in the dust.
The nation put up 357 gigawatts of solar and wind, a 45% and 18% increase, respectively, over what was operating at the end of 2023, according to China's National Energy Administration. That's akin to building 357 full-size nuclear plants in one year.
The installations meant China surpassed a goal, six years early, of having 1,200 gigawatts from renewables by 2030, a benchmark Chinese President Xi Jinping set five years ago.
The scale of the advance is important because at the same time, China remains the country that currently contributes the most to climate change, relying heavily on burning coal to make electricity, cement and for manufacturing.
“While China’s overall emissions are the largest of any single country, they have recognized – at least, in part – that rapidly building renewables is essential for energy and climate security. Given the recent administration change in Washington, China is now well poised to lead the world in the energy transition,” said Daniel Jasper, senior policy advisor at Project Drawdown, a group that publicizes climate solutions.
According to Carbon Brief, China's carbon dioxide emissions, which have been rising, actually fell slightly when you compare the last 10 months of 2024 with the same time the year before. It's too early to say whether this marks an important turning point for the planet.
The U.S. also produced a surge of clean energy installations in 2024. It amounted to less than China — 268 gigawatts of solar and wind — according to preliminary numbers from the American Clean Power Association.
Not only does China build and use a lot of clean energy, it's the world's most important exporter of equipment to make it. It's the top supplier of batteries, solar panels and wind turbines, plus the electrolyzers used to make hydrogen fuel, according to the International Energy Agency.
The vast scale of Chinese manufacturing has lowered the cost of solar and wind, which are cheaper ways to make electricity in most cases now than fossil fuels. This week, DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company, raised the hope that researchers there may have found a way to innovate in that realm, also, using less electricity.
The U.S. clean energy industry is facing headwinds from President Donald Trump who issued executive orders that paused leasing and permitting for wind energy projects, gave the green light for oil and gas drilling and mining in Alaska, and declared a national energy emergency.
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