More money was invested in new solar energy plants last year than in any other power source, with China responsible for much of the boom, according to a report published by the UN Environment Program on Thursday last week.
A record 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity was installed worldwide last year, with investments topping US$160 billion — an increase of 18 percent compared with the previous year.
China alone spent US$86.5 billion on solar installations, adding 53 gigawatts of capacity.
Total new investments in renewable energy reached almost US$280 billion last year, an increase of 2 percent from 2016, but still far below the 2015 record of more than US$323 billion.
Coal and gas accounted for investments totaling US$103 billion, while spending on large hydropower dams and nuclear power plants stood at US$45 billion and US$42 billion respectively.
The report, based on data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, found that renewable energy investments in the US fell by 6 percent last year, while in Germany they plummeted 35 percent and in Japan they dropped by 28 percent.
That was partly due to falling prices, but regulatory changes and the timing of large wind power deals also played a role.
Renewable energy accounted for 12.1 percent of the electricity generated worldwide last year, up from 11 percent in 2016, the report said.
Although the increased share amounts to a savings of 1.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide — a key greenhouse gas — it was not enough to offset rising global energy consumption, the report said.
“Nations will have to step up renewable power generation and cut back on electricity use if they want to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord,” said Francoise d’Estais, an energy finance expert with the UN agency and coauthor of the report
Currently about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions come from electricity and heat generation.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last