Chinese Solar Company Plans U.S. Manufacturing Plant

China-based solar producer Suntech Power announced plans this week to build a manufacturing facility in the United States to serve the growing U.S. market for large-scale utility projects and to take advantage of government incentives.

Chinese Bamboo Keyboard Manufacturer a Local Green Design Leader

Jiangqiao Bamboo and Wood hails from China’s Jiangxi province, where bamboo resources are plentiful. Though the company began as a flooring company, they are now diversifying their production to include the latest in green design: bamboo keyboards.

Fortune China’s “25 Powerful People in Business” Suggests Getting Rich, ESG is Glorious

For the fifth year running, Fortune China has published its “25 Most Influential Business Leaders in China 2008” list, the feature article in the April issue. As in the past, selection was based on “leading executives influential within their corporation and industry, and capable of changing things on a wide scale,” both in China and internationally, said the syndicate.

Shanghai to Pilot China’s First Municipal Emissions Exchange

Annual CO2 Emissions

Shanghai, often recognized for its free-market tendencies and environmental leadership, is introducing China’s first municipal trading mechanism as a means to curb pollution. Last Friday, in advance of a major carbon trade industry event taking place in Beijing this week, word began surfacing in the Chinese media that Shanghai plans to pilot an emissions trading scheme that will involve more than 300 companies’ trading “pollution discharge rights.”

Westward Ho! Hong Kong Tycoon Invests in Africa-based Biofuels

Hong Kong magnate Stanley Ho is at it again. Not formulating a “Ho Plan” for Hong Kong energy security that centers around wind power, as the growing similarities between him and T. Boone Pickens might suggest. Stanley Ho’s investment du jour, while on par with his recently established eco-trend, will not be in Asia. Rather, the biofuel play will be located off of the Western coast of Africa.

China Solar Subsidies Address Economic, not Environmental, Problems [Updated]

Last week’s news of a sizable and unprecedented subsidy for solar installations in China generated noteworthy commotion in the market, as Chinese solar companies’ share price soared as investors’ rush to snatch up solar stocks, followed by confusion over the terms of the subsidies, disenchantment at the likelihood of eligibility restrictions, and finally malaise as analysts concluded, having clarified the arcane wording of the measure and considered the time lag likely involved, that it was not the golden ticket for which they had hoped.

TALKING TRASH: Shanghai

TALKING TRASH: Shanghai explores one city’s measure of success in improving waste treatment by implementing changes at all levels of waste management.

China’s Oil Stockpiling Suggests Fossil Fuel Dependency Unlikely to Decline

In a rare admission of China’s strategic petroleum reserve capacity, a senior industry executive acknowledged that all four state-owned emergency oil reserve tanks – holding a total 100 million barrels – are filled to the brim.

China’s “Green Economy”: A New Revolution in China?

A “green economy” can be built in China in less than 20 years, argues a new McKinsey report. The new study, “China’s Green Revolution,” offers the most comprehensive quantitative analysis to date of China’s abatement cost curve.

Stepping Up Efforts to Control E-Waste: China Passes Electronic Disposal Law

Legislation on the management of electronic waste, signed into effect this week by China’s cabinet, the State Council, is a key example of China’s continued commitment to making progress on environmental protection.

A Chinese T. Boone Pickens?

Hong Kong tycoon Stanley Ho is most famous in business for his vast and infamous casino empire and unofficial title as one of Asia’s richest people (his estimated US$8 billion net worth earned him the 113th rank in Forbes’ 2007 list of “the World’s Billionaires”). Might news of his recent clean energy joint venture with Portugal’s top power company bring him a new title: “the Chinese T. Boone Pickens“?