Clean Energy Exports From China Are Lowering Carbon Emissions In Other Countries

Aug.14 (cleantechnica.com) A new report by Carbon Brief contains some pretty interesting news. It says China’s exports of clean energy technologies such as solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles are helping to cut emissions in other countries. In 2024, those exports helped reduce global emissions outside of China by 1% and will avoid some 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide over the useful life of those products. In addition, the global carbon dioxide savings from using these products for just one year more than outweighs the emissions from manufacturing them.

Carbon Brief based its analysis on a detailed assessment of clean-technology export flows, the carbon footprint of manufacturing these products and the “carbon intensity” of electricity generation in destination countries. The report also found:

• Manufacturing solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and wind turbines that were subsequently exported to other countries in 2024 created an estimated 110 million tons of carbon dioxide within China in 2024, which is less than the carbon dioxide reduction associated with the use and operation of those products in their first year of use.
• When factoring in China’s plans to build overseas manufacturing plants for clean energy products, as well as to construct overseas clean power projects, the avoided CO2 increases to 350 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.
• That reduction amounts to 1.5% of global emissions outside China and is almost equal to the annual emissions of Australia.
• The largest emission reductions are associated with direct clean technology equipment exports — particularly solar panels — followed by manufacturing at Chinese factories overseas. Overseas projects financed by Chinese investors also contributed to the emissions reductions.
• China’s clean energy footprint almost spans the entire world, with exports to 191 of the 192 other UN member states, as well as manufacturing and project finance investments in dozens of countries.
• Clean energy exports from China in 2024 alone, along with its overseas investments from 2023 and 2024, are set to cut emissions in sub-Saharan Africa by around 3% annually once completed and in the Middle East and north Africa region by 4.5%.

Those are truly impressive numbers and have far more significance for other countries who are trying to lower their carbon emissions than the economic activities of any other nation. The United States, of course, should be leading this parade, but it is not, because its so-called leaders are little more than shills for the fossil fuel industry and think that more carbon emissions would be a good thing for all concerned.

Read full article – long read: Clean Energy Exports From China Are Lowering Carbon Emissions In Other Countries – CleanTechnica