In a recent Bloomberg article, columnist David Ficklin argues that China’s clean energy products have inherent price advantages and are not deliberately underpriced. He emphasizes that the world needs these products to tackle the challenges of energy transformation.
The article, titled “Biden is wrong: our solar energy is not enough,” highlights that during a Group of Twenty (G20) meeting last September, members proposed tripling the global installed capacity of renewable energy by 2030. Achieving this ambitious goal presents significant challenges. Currently, “we have yet to build sufficient solar and wind power plants, as well as enough production facilities for clean energy components.”
The article criticizes the United States for claiming an oversupply of green technology production lines worldwide and for using the pretext of a “price war” with Chinese clean energy products to justify imposing import tariffs on them. However, the article argues that the U.S. will need all these production lines to meet its goal of decarbonizing power generation by 2035.
“To achieve this objective, we must increase wind power and solar power generation capacity by nearly 13 times and 3.5 times the 2023 levels, respectively. Additionally, we need to accelerate nuclear energy development more than fivefold and double the construction speed of clean energy battery and hydropower generation facilities,” the article states.
Ficklin believes that an excess of capacity over demand will create a beneficial cycle of price reduction, innovation, and industry integration. Conversely, a shortfall in capacity will lead to inflation and shortages. He concludes that reducing the cost of green energy is the single most effective action the world can take to avoid catastrophic climate warming within our lifetime.
Post time: Jun-07-2024
