Feb. 9 – China dramatically increased its renewable energy production capacity in 2011, tripling output in solar power alone, but environmentalists warn an unwavering reliance on coal to fulfill 70 percent of its energy needs is offsetting the benefits of this new clean development, according to The Guardian.
Last year, China overtook Japan for the first time to become the world’s top importer of coal and, after increasing overall consumption of the resource by 95 million tons over the same time, China is on pace to soon be burning half of the world’s coal. As coal is considered the most damaging source of carbon dioxide emissions, these new statistics have alarmed both environmentalists as well as Chinese government officials, who are already under pressure to curb pollution and environmental degradation. Continue reading
Dec. 20 – India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has accepted a petition to conduct an anti-dumping probe into Chinese-imported solar panels. The investigation is expected to be initiated within a month, China’s Ministry of Commerce stated yesterday on its web site.
Dec. 13 – After two weeks of intensive talks, plus extending the meeting for another 36 hours, the 194 nations attending the United Nations climate summit in Durban finally approved a package of agreements to combat global climate change.
Nov. 11 – China’s state-owned oil giant Sinopec Group announced Friday that it will buy a 30 percent stake in the Brazilian unit of Portuguese oil company Galp Energia for US$3.54 billion in China’s biggest push into the overseas energy market in 2011. Last year, Sinopec paid US$7.1 billion to Spanish oil giant Repsol for a 40 percent stake in its Brazil assets.
Nov. 10 – China’s State Council on Wednesday passed a proposal aimed at controlling greenhouse gas emissions – one of the important aspects of China’s 12th Five Year Plan – Xinhua news agency reported.
Nov. 4 – By moving up to fourth position this year, China’s state-owned oil and gas giant PetroChina has become the first Asian firm to break the top five threshold in the 10-year history of the 