In order to remain a top manufacturer, Indiana and the U.S. as a whole must make the transition to a clean energy economy.  Already, the US is lagging behind other industrialized nations in terms of wind power capacity and wind turbine component manufacturing. In the last five years, China has emerged as the fastest growing manufacturer for renewable energy components.  As this chart illustrates, China surpassed the US in annual solar cell production in 2005 and is quickly catching up to Japan and Europe, the current leading manufacturers.  Without investing in renewable energy manufacturing now, the US will lose the opportunity to become the world’s leading manufacturer of RE components to China.

China ranked second for absolute dollar amount invested in renewable energy in 2007, with approximately $12 billion – second only to Germany and 27 percent higher than the previous year.  New Energy Finance predicts renewable energy investment in China will climb to $270 billion by 2020 – and this does not include the huge investments for hydroelectric power.

China’s 2005 national renewable energy law set a target of increasing energy from renewable sources from 8 percent in 2006 to 15 percent by 2020 – and policies put in place to achieve that objective are already delivering real results. Energy intensity of the Chinese economy has fallen 60% since 1980, and the country has targeted a further 20% reduction between 2006 and 2010.  The Chinese government has put in place an ambitious measuring, monitoring and control system that targets the 1,000 largest companies that together account for 33% of national energy use.