China leads world in installed renewable energy

China now leads the world in installed renewable energy, the Christian Science Monitor reported, citing a report by the London-based nonprofit organization the Climate Group. China has now reached 152 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity. This compares to around 101GW of capacity in the US in 2006, according to data from the US Department of Energy. China also plans to double its renewable energy output to 15% by 2020. The country has the world’s largest hydroelectric capacity and the fifth-largest wind-power capacity. China is also a major exporter of renewable-energy technologies. Output of solar-voltaic technology has doubled for each of the past four years and China will be the world’s largest exporter of wind turbines by 2009.