While we in the West are focused on innovative thinking, China is focused on innovative doing: they know that if they can make one, they can make a million; and in the energy field, this is increasingly becoming their edge.
As the clean energy industry emerges from a challenging period caused by the global economic downturn, it is entering a stage of rapid change in which business models are being transformed against a backdrop of regulatory uncertainty.
In early 2011, researchers patented a process involving a genetically-modified form of blue-green bacteria that converts sunlight and carbon dioxide directly into diesel fuel.
"It's really a preservation decision using solar for domestic consumption and keeping your oil for more lucrative export markets," says the Middle East director of BP Solar.
The country was already developing its hydropower resources when it stumbled upon enough gas to supply the country for the next 50 years. Now the energy dynamics of the region are entirely altered.
Algae isn't just about fuel any more. Milk, cookies and Omega-3 oil are just a few of dozens of lucrative products, some of which are already raking in the green.
Deepwater Wind proposed this week the biggest off-shore wind farm ever in the U.S.--a deepwater wind farm near Rhode Island that will include 200 wind turbines and power up to 800,000 homes at a cost of $5 billion dollars.
