【By Observer News, Xiong Chaoran】On June 30 local time, The New York Times published a long article titled "The Future Energy Race Has Begun, With China Far Ahead." The article mentions that the policy directions of the United States and China in the energy sector are currently very different - China is selling clean energy to the world, while the United States is vigorously promoting the development of the oil and gas industry.

In China, the number of wind turbines and solar panels installed last year was more than the rest of the world combined. The clean energy boom led by China is also spreading globally, with many Chinese companies building electric vehicle and battery factories in Brazil, Thailand, Morocco, Hungary, and other places. In the United States, the Trump administration is still trying to keep the world dependent on fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas.

The report specifically mentioned that China not only currently dominates the global manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, electric vehicles, and many other clean energy industries, but also expands its technological lead every month. Moreover, some of China's measures may make it difficult for other countries, especially the United States, to catch up.

For example, when US President Trump imposed excessive tariffs on China in April this year, China, which holds a dominant position in the rare earth field, immediately retaliated with export control measures. These rare earth magnets are an essential component of electric vehicles or wind turbines. This move indicates that the world may be facing a choice: either buy China's green energy technology or have no alternative.

"China's scale is too large," said Praveer Sinha, CEO of Tata Power in India. His company produces solar cells in a high-tech factory in southern India, but almost completely relies on Chinese-made silicon to produce these cells. "Size means absolute advantage; no one in the world can compete with it."

Solar facilities in Shanxi Province, China and oil facilities in California, USA, The New York Times

The New York Times article points out that the United States had the opportunity to lead in clean energy development, but due to policy fluctuations and resistance from the fossil fuel industry, progress has been unstable. The policies of the Trump administration further weakened support for clean energy.

For example, in 2009, the Obama administration began providing loan guarantees for emerging energy technologies. Tesla received $456 million in loans, which was crucial for its later success. Then there was Solyndra, a solar cell manufacturer that received a total of $528 million in federal loan guarantees but subsequently went bankrupt, leaving taxpayers to bear the losses. More than a decade later, critics of the US promoting clean energy still use Solyndra as an example to prove that renewable energy is "stupid."

The article argues that in fact, the global energy is shifting toward renewable energy, and the declining costs have made clean energy more competitive. Compared to the United States, China obviously has the upper hand in this process. "The United States defends the fossil fuel economy, while China will become the leader of the low-carbon economy," said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Center at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Although most of the world's energy still comes from fossil fuels, as countries try to deal with the dangers of climate change, they have been steadily adopting cleaner alternatives.

According to the International Energy Agency's forecast, by 2035, solar and wind power will become the two main sources of electricity production, surpassing coal and natural gas. As the cost of renewable energy continues to decline, the US strategy could allow China to gain an advantage - global energy demand not only requires cleaner but also cheaper energy, and China is poised to seize this market.

The article points out that over the past decade, China's efforts have paid off, even taking the leading position in the clean energy industries that the US once dominated. In 2008, the US produced nearly half of the world's polysilicon, a key material for solar panels. Now, China's production exceeds 90%. At the same time, China's automobile industry is now widely regarded as the most innovative in the world, surpassing Japan, Germany, and the United States.

A dock in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, where a ro-ro ship is loading exported cars, IC Photo

During this process, to cut manufacturing costs, China has achieved factory automation. From 2021 to 2023, China installed more robots each year than the rest of the world combined, seven times that of the United States. In addition to its leading position in manufacturing and technology, China has also launched an epic clean energy construction boom.

Last June, the world's largest solar power plant - the Urumqi Solar Power Plant in Xinjiang - was put into operation, generating more electricity than some small countries need to maintain their entire economies. This is not an isolated case. Ten of the world's largest solar power plants are also in China, and even larger projects are under planning. Chinese automaker BYD is currently building two electric vehicle factories, each of which will have a production capacity twice that of the largest car factory in the world - the Volkswagen factory in Germany.

The United States has been slow to see the big picture. It wasn't until the end of the Obama administration and the first term of Trump that many policymakers in Washington realized that they had given so much of the share in the clean energy race to China.

The New York Times lamented that the United States failed to see the big picture, and it wasn't until the end of the Obama administration and the first term of Trump that many policymakers in Washington realized that they had given so much of the share in the clean energy race to China.

The article believes that the United States may certainly change direction in the future, and future governments may again actively turn to research and investment in clean energy. However, this would waste precious time, as China's investments years ago are now yielding returns, and it continues to invest in domestic energy industries and exports these products around the world.

The New York Times finally believes that global energy demand will only increase, and the demand for solar panels, oil, nuclear energy, and natural gas will also increase. Therefore, this global competition is unlikely to produce a winner immediately, which may benefit both China and the United States in the short term.

"The US has huge reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal, which still have numerous customers, and about 80% of global energy demand still depends on fossil fuels," the article said. However, it is generally expected that this proportion will decrease. The International Energy Agency predicts that by mid-century, the share of oil, natural gas, and coal in global energy demand will fall below 60%.

"China is ready to take on additional business," wrote The New York Times.

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