China's Carbon Emissions Are Set to Decline Years Earlier Than Expected

China's massive rollout of renewable energy is accelerating, its investments in the sector growing so large that international climate watchdogs now expect the country's greenhouse-gas emissions to peak years earlier than anticipated—possibly as soon as this year. China installed 217 gigawatts worth of solar power last year alone, a 55% increase, according to new government data. That is more than 500 million solar panels and well above the total installed solar capacity of the U.S. They appeared everywhere from the deserts of Inner Mongolia to the mountains of southwest China to rooftops across the country, including on the Great Hall…