Reporter's Notebook: China Goes Green

From bullet trains to solar panels, China is racing ahead in green technology.

ByABC News
November 16, 2010, 10:28 AM

BEIJING, China Nov. 16, 2010— -- In the race to be the world's leader in green technology, China is speeding ahead of its global competition.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in the cockpit of one of China's high-speed bullet trains, where you can see trains screaming toward you at speeds up to 230 miles per hour. Next year, the Chinese plan to test a train that could top 300 miles per hour.

Watch "World News with Diane Sawyer" for more from China tonight.

We joined the crush of passengers in Beijing boarding a high-speed train to Tianjin, a nearly 80-mile trip that takes just 30 minutes. Traveling the same distance on America's fastest train line would take nearly an hour and a half.

On top of the speed, the Chinese say their rail technology is better for the environment.

"It is energy efficient, which is quite significant when it comes to our growing dependence on oil," the train's conductor told me.

The trains are just one example of China's green wave, which moves as quickly as the view out the window.

China spends a staggering $12 million every hour on green energy, according to the Center for American Progress.

On the ground in China, you can see the effect of that spending nearly everywhere. The landscape is lined with the largest number of wind-powered turbines in the world. In rural farming towns, solar-powered street lights are evidence that the green infrastructure reaches far from the big cities.

Even the escalators are different. Instead of moving non-stop all day long, they remain frozen until they sense that a passenger is about to get on. Then, they use just enough energy to carry the passenger before automatically shutting off again.

There's a reason for this focus on green technology, but it's not global warming. For China, it's all about the math.

"China does not have a choice," said Cheng Li, director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations at the Brookings Institution. "As a country, it's dealing with serious resources scarcity. China needs to find a better way to survive."