America is losing the clean energy race to China
Going after TikTok is a dangerous distraction from the real national security threat facing the United States. The United States is losing the clean energy race to China, according to author Monterrey Gómez, founder of Climate Resilient, and former vice chair of the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai. The UAE Consensus pledged to transition away from fossil fuels and triple the capacity of renewable energy. Despite President Biden's promises of promoting innovation and promoting clean energy, the US is lagging far behind. China now produces 80 percent of the world’s solar panel components, 86 percent of its lithium-ion batteries, 67 percent of wind turbine generator covers, and almost two-thirds of all electric vehicles. The Biden administration has made protectionist gestures to curb US dependence on Chinese technologies but these efforts are doomed to fail if domestic manufacturing can't keep up. The author suggests that instead of escalating tensions with China by going after TikTok, focusing instead on de-escalating tensions within his country.
gepubliceerd : 3 weken geleden door Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez in Environment
At last year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, the UAE Consensus was signed into action by 198 countries. Among other things, it solidified a promise to transition away from fossil fuels and triple the capacity of renewable energy. In March, conference president Sultan Al Jaber urged fossil fuel producers at an industry event in Texas to leverage their “engineering know-how, capability, talent, technology, and resources” to execute a transition away from fossil fuels.
China now produces 80 percent of the world’s solar panel components, 86 percent of its lithium-ion batteries, 67 percent of wind turbine generator covers, and almost two-thirds of all electric vehicles. Its investments in clean energy and low-carbon manufacturing accounted for nearly 50 percent of global spending on such technologies in 2022, about $546 billion. The United States spent just $141 billion in the same year.
The shift toward renewable energy is now inevitable — at least in many countries. Despite President Biden’s promises to “spur innovation, unleash new opportunities, drive competitiveness” and “ship American-made, clean energy products — like EV batteries — around the world,” the United States is lagging far behind.
Biden’s noble ideals have yet to materialize as US production of electric vehicles stalls and the vast majority of the US power grid remains reliant on fossil fuels. If the United States can’t make headway developing and commercializing clean technologies for use within its own borders, then it certainly isn’t ready for global leadership. China, meanwhile, is poised to take control of the blossoming clean technology sector — projected to be worth $650 billion per year by 2030.
The Biden administration has made protectionist gestures to curb US dependence on Chinese technologies and promote the clean energy sector at home, such as stricter tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries, but they are doomed to fail if domestic manufacturing can’t keep up. General Motors, for example, is struggling to reach its commitment of making 1 million electric vehicles in North America by 2025, due to the slow pace of building battery plants.
Although the administration has committed a serious amount of money to developing expertise within the United States, there are still several hurdles to jump over before those funds can be put to use. A trillion-dollar investment package, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, remains tied up in bureaucracy, and a recent analysis shows that less than 17 percent of the money has been spent.
Among the main barriers are challenges in the siting, leasing, and permitting stages of renewables projects. According to a nationwide analysis by USA Today, at least 15 percent of US counties have either banned or restricted large-scale renewables developments out of concern that solar or wind farms could reduce property values, impact the local environment, or cause disputes between landowners. In Midwestern states such as Iowa and Ohio, these restrictive permitting ordinances are allowing wind and solar potential to go to waste as developers grapple with navigating county-level requirements.
And although natural gas pipelines are rapidly approved at the federal level, infrastructure to transport renewable electricity to existing power grids takes more than twice as long to be approved by various state and interstate bodies. These delays are only getting worse. Between 2011 and 2021, it took an average of 3.7 years to get renewable power hooked up to an existing electrical grid, up from 2.1 years in the previous decade.
So rather than escalating tensions with China by going after TikTok, Biden should focus on de-escalating tensions within his own country. After two years of negotiation, lawmakers have finally proposed a rule that would expedite the permitting process for new renewable energy infrastructure, but Republican backlash against renewable energy is likely to derail their progress.
There is a paradox in the motives and methods of the left and right. At the federal level, Republicans reject transition while Democrats support it. But in practicality, the low-regulation approach favored by Republicans is more helpful than Democrats’ protectionist stance against China.
If he truly wishes to unleash US potential, Biden must work alongside Republicans to modernize and streamline the system. He can do this by leveraging Republican values: market freedom, competitive growth, and reduced regulation.
Biden could present Republicans with a clear argument in their own language: Protect US security by making its clean technology sector the most competitive in the world.
Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez is the president and founder of Climate Resilient, a climate policy think tank. He previously served as vice chair for the implementation of the UN Climate Convention and advised the World Bank on decarbonization programs in Panama.
Onderwerpen: ESG