Renewable Energy’s China Problem
This past week as I was preparing to publish a webcast, Are Renewable Energy Mandates Effective, news dropped from the Wall Street Journal that the Biden Administration is pursuing a “BackDoor” Climate Plan that would bypass Congress. About the same time, on March 18, Annie Grayer of CNN tweeted that AOC is preparing to “re-rollout” the Green New Deal. When you control Congress and the White House, why do you need to use a backdoor to begin with? With so much zealotry behind net-zero by 2050, it is vital to take a step back and consider the national interest implications of these proposed policies.
Here are the renewable energy facts:
Five of the world’s top-10 wind turbine manufacturers are Chinese-owned or operated
Nine of the world’s top-10 solar panel manufacturers are Chinese-owned or operated
More than two-thirds (2/3rds) of the world’s solar panels and one-half of wind turbines are produced in China
In 1954, the United States was 100% dependent on imports for eight minerals listed in the Strategic Minerals Act of 1939; today the United States is 100% reliant for 17 strategic minerals and depends on imports for over 50% of 28 widely used minerals. China is a significant source for half of those 28 minerals.
China is responsible for 37% of passenger electric vehicles and 99% of e-buses sold globally since 2011
China controls 90% of the battery industry’s cobalt supply-chain
The things China makes are produced from an energy stack that is two-thirds (2/3ds) coal-fired
So, any scalable adoption of wind and solar makes America more reliant upon China – a Communist country that’s increasingly aggressive and imperialist without regard for the environment or human rights. “In 2020, China abused human rights in Xinjian, waged cyber-warfare, and threatened its neighbors.” Yet, as the Economist writes, global firms willingly gloss over these atrocities; Siemens describes China as “Very Happy”; “Phenomenal” says Apple; “Remarkable” says Starbucks.
Unfortunately, renewables adoption incentivizes the world to increase reliance upon things like conflict-minerals, too. This has already produced allegations of human rights violations against major technology firms like Apple, Google, and Tesla. One study finds that it takes mining 1,500 tonnes of earth just to produce 1 tonne of Cobalt – and the bulk of the world’s Cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Another study found that mining the materials needed to fabricate a single EV battery requires mining, moving, and processing more than 500,000 pounds of materials. That is twenty-times (20x) more than the total of petroleum that an internal combustion engine uses over its entire useful life. In the words of Dr. Scott Tinker, “that's like robbing nature Peter to pay climate Paul."
Then there is the energy density problem that Bill Gates thankfully acknowledges in his new book, which creates environmental degradation. Natural gas (CH4; mostly hydrogen) produces about 10,000 watts per square meter (W/M2) by comparison to Solar's 20 W/M2 and Wind's 2 W/M2 (yes, just two). As a result of wind and solar’s energy-disparate nature, it will take 227,800 square miles of energy-disparate turbines and panels blanketed across the US to achieve Biden's 2030 renewable. For reference, that's more land than the entirety of California and New York combined!
In fact, there's good science to believe that energy-dense fuels like natural gas (CH4; mostly hydrogen) and nuclear can get us close to net-zero by 2050. Moreover, the United States remains the first and only country to have achieved its Paris Climate goals due to our abundant CH4, mostly hydrogen – a decade early at that.
If there's reason to believe we can utilize our abundant and energy-dense natural resources to combat climate change, why then do we seem so eager to place our national sovereignty in the hands of an increasingly imperialist Communist China?