Consider the immensity of China.
The country is home to 1.3 billion people, or twice the population of the U.S. and Western Europe combined.
The China Greentech Initiative sees the clean tech market as 15 percent of GDP
The Chinese economy is the third largest in the world, ahead of Germany’s and quickly closing on Japan’s. In the near future, only the United States economy will be bigger.
Economic growth in China has been an impressive 7 percent so far this year, despite the global downturn. The economy is projected to grow a brisk 9 percent next year.
China’s energy demand would overtake the U.S.’s as soon as 2015 (if the projected 3 percent annual growth is on target) and by 2030 will account for nearly 25 percent of global consumption.
Pollution also has descended on the country big time. China is now the largest producer of greenhouse gases, responsible for more than 20 percent of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Eighty percent of the emissions come from burning coal. As a result, six of the world’s seven cities with the highest concentration of sulfur dioxide sit within its borders.
It is no surprise then that potential for clean tech companies is immense as well. The China Greentech Initiative in a study released Thursday estimated the market could reach $500 billion to $1 trillion annually, or 15 percent of China’s projected 2013 GDP.
Already the country has taken several first steps. For instance, it is already fourth in the world in wind-energy installations, behind the U.S., Spain and Germany.
An opportunity of this size is obviously an attraction to companies around the world. It remains to be seen what kind of access China will permit.
