Not a pro-China post. But also, yeah, a bit of a pro-China post.
China might be one of the world’s most polluting countries, but it’s also investing really heavily in wind and solar power, and the stats are nuts:
- Last year China installed more than half of all wind and solar added globally. In May alone, it added enough renewable energy to power Poland, installing solar panels at a rate of roughly 100 every second.
- As of late 2025, China leads the world in renewable energy, with total installed capacity exceeding 2,200 GW, making up 59.1% of its total power generation capacity.
2,200GW of renewables is huge. In comparison, South Africa has a TOTAL theoretical power output of 48.5GW. And that’s when it’s all working, which it never is, so we have an actual total power output of about 32GW.
Drop in the ocean stuff. But then – because this is the reason for this post – just look at the infrastructure that’s going into China’s renewable energy drive.
“From the ground, it’s hard to grasp the scale of these power plants,” said Chinese photographer Weimin Chu. “But when you rise into the air, you can see the geometry, the rhythm — and their relationship with the mountains, the desert, the sea.”
Chu has spent three years capturing the shift underway using drones to photograph power plants from overhead. His work, which draws from the visual language of traditional Chinese ink paintings, was featured last year in an award-winning exhibition, presented by Greenpeace.
Look, this can only be a good thing for the rest of the world’s air quality and attempts to slow down climate change. It might be less good for the global geopolitical situation in the future, but then things are looking pretty ropey on that front right now anyway.
More photos on that link above, and more information about China’s journey into the renewable energy space, here.