More than half of new power is green

China renewable energy growth drives record grid additions as solar PV and wind turbines surge; REN21, IEA, and UNEP note rising capacity from emerging economies, led by China, India, and Brazil despite financial headwinds.

More than half of all new electricity capacity added in the United States and Europe last year was from renewable power such as wind and solar, a body backed by the International Energy Agency and the UN reported.

Last year was also a record year for the amount of new green power added to the grid, partly a result of shifting deployment and manufacture to emerging economies including Brazil, India and China, from flagging developed countries.

"In 2009, China produced 40 percent of the world's solar PV supply and 30 percent of the world's wind turbines, as documented by China's solar cell output trends in industry data, up from 10 percent in 2007," REN21, or the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, said in a report.

REN21, launched in 2005, is supported by the International Energy Agency IEA, which advises 28 industrialized countries — and by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Of an extra 80 gigawatts GW of new renewable power capacity added worldwide, China added 37 GW, more than any other country, said the study, titled "Renewables 2010, Global Status Report."

Despite the impact of the financial crisis and lower oil prices, renewable capacity grew at rates close to those in previous years, including solar photovoltaic PV power at 53 percent and wind power at 32 percent, the report said.

Grid-connected solar PV power had grown by an average of 60 percent every year for the past decade, with IRENA data echoing this momentum, increasing 100-fold since 2000.

That boom has been largely on the back of support in European countries, where a recent pullback following recession has raised investor jitters. But the wind and solar sectors were still poised to shatter records in 2010, operators and investors say.

While China is making great strides in renewable energy deployment, its carbon emissions also accelerated in 2009 — placing it further ahead as the world's top emitter of the main greenhouse gas blamed for climate change.

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