Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines how the wind turbine and solar photovoltaic (PV) industries have developed in China. It focuses on innovation processes more generally in the context of China, which is important in order to say something about whether these industries ultimately represent a transition to a more sustainable society. The book shows how innovation and learning are politics-imbued processes. It addresses several different aspects of the multifaceted road from having virtually no renewable energy technology in the early 2000s to becoming world leading in manufacturing and power generation of wind and solar PV in the end of 2018. The book explores China’s situation in terms of energy governance and the way in which innovation has been understood and attempted catered for.