China is winning the clean energy race

As the world speeds up the transition to renewables and away from fossil fuels, China is betting bigger than anyone else on the energy technologies that will power the world for decades to come. Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to talk about Beijing’s wholehearted embrace of clean energy compared to the US. It’s not just that they’re manufacturing solar panels or putting up wind farms, McKibben says, they’re investing in a technology that will transform the global economy.

Energy demand is rising, driven in large part by data centers that power AI, and McKibben argues that the only way to meet that demand is with cheap, clean energy. While it’s true China still burns large amounts of coal, increasingly it’s used as a second or third tier power source because of the cost compared to solar and wind. China’s investment in renewable energy gives them a competitive edge in technologies that will reshape the balance of power—literally and figuratively.

“China become the world's first electro state,” McKibben says, “They're learning how to use that flood of cheap clean energy to run everything around them.”