KQED's Forum China’s Push for Renewable Energy is Good for the Planet, but Maybe Not for the U.S.
Jan 28, 2026
Mark Jacobson, Stanford professor and renewable-energy author, and Jeremy Wallace, Johns Hopkins China scholar and newsletter writer, discuss China’s massive wind and solar build-out. They cover China’s supply-chain scale and low prices. They contrast U.S. renewable progress, policy barriers, and grid solutions like geothermal, batteries, and rooftop solar.
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China's Massive Renewable Scale
- China added about 350 GW of solar and 100 GW of wind in one year, rivaling the rest of the world combined.
- Its solar supply chain can produce ~1 TW of panels annually, reshaping global capacity and prices.
Costs Shift Within Solar Panels
- Rapid cost declines shifted major component costs: silver now rivals polysilicon in panel cost.
- Jeremy Wallace says panel production became so efficient polysilicon is no longer the dominant cost.
Electrify Everything Fast
- Electrify transportation, buildings, and industry to enable 100% renewables.
- Mark Jacobson projects China could reach full-sector renewables by 2051 if current trends continue.
