China is Now the World’s Top Generator of Solar Energy

China has become the worlds greatest producer of solar energy after doubling the nation’s photovoltaic capacity to 77.42 gigawatts at the end of 2016.

Despite the rapid growth, solar power represents only 1% of China’s total energy output, according to Reuters.

However, the country is already planning to fix this issue by focusing more time and effort on clean energy.

China is aiming to add more than 110 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity within the next three years, the National Energy Administration said.

While the proportion of its renewable energy use currently stands at 11%, the additional capacity could help the country increase the mix of non-fossil fuel generated power to 20 percent by 2030.

China has devoted itself to investing in large regions with solar energy farms.

In 2016, Shandong, Xinjiang, and Henan provinces saw a spike in their solar capacity, while Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia gained the most overall capacity by the end of the year, according to data from the NEA.

Furthermore, China will put nearly 2.5 trillion yuan ($364 billion) into generating renewable power by the end of the decade.

This pushes other countries around the globe to step their game up when it comes to investing in sources of renewable energy.

Countries such as Ireland have already passed a bill that would make it the first in the world to get rid of fossil fuels, reported Digital Trends.

Others, like Iceland, are drilling the world’s largest well for geothermal energy.

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