Whenever we think of China in relationship to greenhouse gas emissions, we tend to think "major polluter" or "not doing their part (so why should we do ours?)".  It might be time to revisit that stereotype and remember that this is the country that put on an Olympics that other nations will have to try to live up to for decades to come and this is a China that will be next to put men on the moon.

ENN has an article that lays out how China is really doing on combatting climate change and reining in their use of energy.  As Tom Schueneman, the writer of the article says:

"China has lapped us.  Sure, they’ve go their problems. Serious problems. But it appears as if they aren’t just sitting on their hands waiting for somebody else to do something about either. . . It appears that China, as an emerging economic super-power, isn’t weighed down by business as usual and bellyaching from top-heavy, unimaginative, coddled industries constitutionally unwilling and unable to seize the day!"

The Climate Group, an international non-profit working for the advancement of a low-carbon economy, has released a report called China’s Clean Revolution. Here are three tidbits that might surprise you, out of many initiatives they are working on:

"China is already the leading renewable energy producer in the world in terms of installed generating capacity, with the largest hydro-electric fleet and fifth largest wind power fleet in the world. It plans to double the proportion of renewable energy to 15 per cent by 2020. China has seen investment of USD$12bn in renewable energy - more than than any other country in the world except Germany.

"China is already a leading manufacturer of solar photo-voltaic technology with 820 megawatts of production by the end of 2007, second only to Japan. Output of solar panels has doubled for each of the last four years. By 2009, China will also become the world’s leading manufacturer of wind turbines, with leading companies Goldwind and Sinovel branching into exports. It is also taking the lead in solar water heaters, energy efficient home appliances, and rechargeable batteries.

"China leads the world in low carbon transport. China is introducing fuel efficiency standards for cars which are 40 per cent higher than those in the US. 21 million electric bicycles and 1.64 million energy efficient compact cars were sold in 2007. China is the world’s third largest ethanol producer, and by converting an area of marginal land half the size of the UK, it plans to grow 12 million tonnes of low carbon fuel per year by 2020."