China's Wind Power Takes Off

Although known for its monstrous appetite for coal, China has spent the last few years ramping up its wind-power capacity, the Guardian reports. The amount of wind power generated has grown over 100% a year since 2005, with enormous wind farms popping up across the country. "It is huge, huge, huge," said an official from the Global Wind Engery Council.

“The magnitude of growth has caught even policymakers off guard," said the secretary general of China’s Renewable Energy Association. "It's widely believed that wind power will be able to compete with coal generation by as early as 2015.” (More renewable energy stories.)