In recent months China has earned itself a prime spot in lots of energy headlines thanks to President Xi Jinping’s ambitious carbon curbing and clean energy goals. China is currently the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter by a huge margin–its emissions are almost double that of the next runner up, the United States. It’s therefore huge news and a ray of hope for all of us Earthlings that Beijing has announced that it will be reaching peak emissions in just ten years and then bringing its currently considerable carbon footprint all the way down to zero by just 2060. This is no small feat. While this is great news for the climate and has been some truly excellent PR for China and President Xi’s administration, this development was largely unmotivated by climate concerns. China’s decision to double down on renewable energy has far more to do with energy security […]