From the Wall Street Journal (photo: biofuel via krakoff.info):
Representatives of more than a dozen U.S. companies, including General Electric Co. and DuPont Co., will touch down today in the southern Indian city of Chennai to kick off a one-week trade mission to India and China aimed at drumming up new business for America’s burgeoning clean-energy industry.
The Chinese government recently pledged to spend $200 billion on renewable energy and to make renewable energy account for 15% of the country’s total supply by 2020 — though such allotments are subject to change. The Indian government has made fewer concrete commitments, but the market for renewable energy in India is estimated at $500 million a year and is growing by 15% annually.
The clean-energy mission is part of a wave of initiatives developed by the U.S. government that seek to harness the forces of the free market to address Asia’s environmental problems, creating business opportunities while dealing with global pollution problems. The projects are part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, an agreement among six countries — the U.S., China, India, Japan, Australia and South Korea — that was organized as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol. [Full Text, subscribers only]
