CHINA BEATS U.S. IN NEW ENERGY

China Supplants U.S. at Top of Ernst & Young Ranking for Renewable Energy
Alex Morales, September 8, 2010 (Bloomberg News)

"China overtook the U.S. to lead a quarterly index of the most attractive countries for renewable energy projects for the first time…After sharing the lead with the U.S. in the first quarter, China moved ahead of the world’s largest economy to rank as the most appealing nation for investing in wind and solar power projects, according to a list compiled by the global accounting firm Ernst & Young…The move follows the failure of [the] U.S. Congress to pass legislation that would have required utilities to use clean energy.

"The Asian nation, the world’s biggest energy consumer, has set itself a goal of generating 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. It almost doubled consumer subsidies for renewable-power generation in the second half of last year to $545 million, the most recent period reported…In the second quarter of 2010, China attracted $11.5 billion in asset-financing for clean technologies, more than Europe and the U.S. combined…"

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"…[Ernst & Young] compared regulations, access to capital, availability of land, planning barriers, subsidies and access to the power-delivery grid when determining the ranking, which started in 2003…[It includes 27 countries, with Germany, India, Italy, the U.K., France, Spain, Canada and Portugal completing the top 10 behind China and the U.S.]

"State-run China Development Bank Corp. this year agreed to lend as much as 116 billion yuan ($17 billion) to Yingli Green Energy Holding Co., Suntech Power Holdings Co. and Trina Solar Ltd., China’s biggest solar firms by market value…The U.S. also lost ground because the expiration of a grant program at the end of this year provides [no effective national incentive mechanism for New Energy projects]…"

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[Ben Warren, environment and energy infrastructure advisory leader, E&Y:] “What we’re seeing in the U.S. is a continued resistance to committing to long-term visible and transparent support for the sector…The U.S. market has always suffered from this boom-and-bust tax-based incentive regime.”

"China also topped Ernst & Young’s attractiveness index for investments in wind power…[and solar photovoltaic] installations last year almost quadrupled to 160 megawatts and could grow to 600 megawatts this year…"