China catching up to US in renewable power

China appears to be closing in on the U.S. in renewable-energy, according to a ranking by EY consultants.

After installing a record number of solar-power projects last year, China scored 73.1 out of 100 on the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index, Bloomberg reports.

{mosads}And the U.S. fell to 74.4 from 74.7, the consulting firm said in the repot on Monday.

“China has remained a dominant market in the index, reflecting an unprecedented pace of deployment backed by substantial targets and continued high growth in energy demand,” said Klair White, editor of the report. “In the U.S., the shale-gas boom and underlying partisan politics continued to put strain on the renewables sector.”

China, the largest energy user and greatest emitter of greenhouse gases, is rushing to develop renewables to cut increasing air pollution.

Last year, the country installed a record of 12 gigawatts of photovoltaic panels — that’s more than the total solar power operating in the U.S. China hopes to hit another 14 gigawatts this year.