On his trip to China, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, has brought with him a delegation of clean energy business leaders hoping to secure contracts. From Reuters:
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang met with Locke’s delegation of business executives from 24 clean energy companies and sounded a positive note, despite U.S. concerns about Chinese policies that favour domestic firms.
“I’m sure the visit will lay the foundation for the possibility of winning a big deal in the clean energy field and securing market proportions in China,” Li said.
While legislation aimed at cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels is mired in Congress, China’s central planners are pushing ahead with projects to expand solar and wind power, lay thousands of miles of new transmission lines and adopt “Smart Grid” technology to distribute power more efficiently.
“I would have to say that China is leading us in that effort,” said Martha Duggan, vice president of United Solar Ovonic.