India, China spent more in renewable tech

The Dollar Business Bureau

Emerging economies like India, China and Brazil have invested more in renewable technologies last year than the developed countries, US secretary of state John Kerry said on Tuesday, adding that much of the world’s money was used on fostering renewable energy technologies than it did on fossil fuel plants, and that happened despite the low price of coal, oil, and gas.

“And make no mistake: This is not only happening in industrialized countries. In fact, emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil invested even more in renewable technologies last year than the developed world,” Kerry said, emphasising that China alone has invested more than $100 billion dollars.

Speaking at Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York on Tuesday, Kerry said India plans to get 40% of its power capacity from non-fossil-based sources by 2030. “That will require bringing 200 gigawatts of additional renewable power online. Let me just add that American companies are already bidding on those projects – and frankly, winning large and lucrative deals,” he said.

Over the last decade, the renewable energy market across the global has expanded more than six fold. Last year alone, the sector recorded its highest investment – nearly $330 billion.

The US secretary of state underscored that clean energy has already reached cost parity with fossil fuels, which has created economic opportunities for people across the world, giving employment to over a million people since 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has for long emphasised the urgency to bolster India’s renewable energy sector and has set a target of achieving 100,000 MW of solar power by 2022.

The three-developing countries; India, China and Brazil have made considerable progress in this sector, with a total investment of $156 billion in renewable energy capacity last year, a 19% increase from 2014.