297: China gets serious about renewable energy

I found this interesting article on the UK's Guardian newspaper website today. Apparently, a report issued this week confirming China's rapid development and application of renewable energy technologies. Indeed, current figures suggest that China is now the world's second biggest producer of solar energy after Japan, and within the next year should lead the world in the export of wind turbines, as well as contributing significantly to innovation in renewables generally. There is no doubt that China's current CO2 emissions and levels of pollution give serious cause for concern, but this report suggests China has the potential to move away from a destructive pattern of energy use quite rapidly. If that's not a reason to be hopeful, I don't know what is.