NEA chief: China needs renewables

BEIJING, March 9 (UPI) -- The head of China's National Energy Administration called for more investment in renewable-energy research.

The development of new energy forms could help to alleviate the country's energy shortages as well as address pollution and global climate change, Zhang Guobao said, according to Xinhua.

China needs to invest more in research and development to be able to eventually produce more energy from new sources, he said.

Coal accounts for about 70 percent of China's energy consumption, compared with about 30 percent worldwide. Guobao warned China is falling behind other countries on renewable efforts.