Climate Changed
China's Solar Boom Boosts Clean Energy Funding Near Record
- Investment worldwide rose 3% to $333.5 billion, BNEF says
- U.S. was second-biggest market despite Trump’s push for coal
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
China’s insatiable appetite for solar power led to a surprise increase in global clean-energy investment last year even as U.S. President Donald Trump pushed to undermine pollution rules and curbs on coal.
About $333.5 billion poured into renewable energy and cutting-edge power technologies, up 3 percent from 2016 and 7 percent short of the record set in 2015, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Almost half went to solar projects, and China’s investment accounted for 40 percent of the total.