I understand this question has been discussed before. However, I didn't understand in depth the suggestions in that thread. I've enhanced the question with slight variation : The question (2). Can someone explain what the answer would be for (2) - and whether it would be identical to (1)? The discussions on the validity of "it" didn't seem that convincing earlier - I'm hoping these two example side-by-side might shed a bit more light on this confusion!! Please Help!

1)
There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels; more than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now than it was in 1990.
A generated through wind power now than it was
B. generated through wind power now as it was
C. generated through wind power now as was the case
D. now generated through wind power as it was
E. now generated through wind power than was the case
OA : C

2)
There are hopeful signs that we are shifting away from our heavy reliance on fossil fuels; more than ten times as much energy is generated now than it was in 1990.
A generated now than it was
B. generated now as it was
C. generated now as was the case
D. now generated as it was
E. now generated than was the case[spoiler][/spoiler]