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America already lost to China with clean energy under Trump
The United States is losing clean energy against China in the race for clean energy. Trump's new legislation could cement America's position as a loser in the green energy transition and increase electricity prices.
America already lost to China with clean energy under Trump
The new era of clean energy can be summarized by impressive statistics: China has installed more wind and solar energy in a single year than the entire amount of renewable energy that is currently in operation in the United States.
The behind the United States compared to China
The USA is already considering the dominance in the industry in the race for dominance, as current data from Global Energy Monitor show. According to experts, the “big, beautiful” spending package signed by President Donald Trump will cement the position of the USA as a loser in the field of clean energy.
Effects of the new legislation
The law signed by Trump at the beginning of this month limits the tax credits for clean energy from wind and solar considerably. Company leaders fear that electricity prices will increase for both companies and consumers, since the most cost -effective electrons on the Internet (which are generated by wind and solar) are more expensive to produce and are replaced by more expensive gas flow.
China's significant progress in the renewable energy industry
At the same time, according to Global Energy Monitor, China is currently building 510 gigawatts of solar and wind-based power plants, which are added to the already impressive 1,400 gigawatts- five times what is in operation in the USA. In summary, it can be said: "The game has already been decided," said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
The role of wind and solar in the USA
wind and solar energy, supported by large batteries for energy storage, are also becoming increasingly important in the United States, but on a much smaller scale. Renewable energies generate the majority of the new electricity that has been online in the USA in recent years, and make up about 85 % of the currently waiting permits in the state's approval.
challenges for wind and solar power plants in the USA
At the end of last year, the United States had about 275 gigawatts of wind and solar energy. Another 150 gigawatts are under construction by 2031, which is endangered by Trumps and the Republican legislation that quickly reduces the subsidies for renewable energies.
Legislation will halve the planned additions to renewable energies in the next ten years compared to the original forecasts, according to the model of the party -independent Rhodium Group. This will lead to increasing electricity prices in all states of the continental USA, since the costs for renewable energies have to increase and have to close more expensive gas supply gaps.
A look at the developments in China
Despite China's rapid installation speed, the number of 510 gigawatts that are currently being built is amazing. Shuo noticed that this number seems to be somewhat higher than the forecasts of some Chinese analysts. Mengqi Zhang and Yujia Han, the two analysts of Global Energy Monitor, gave CNN that the high numerical value was partially due to the fact that Chinese developers quickly built renewable energies to apply for state subsidies that emit in June.
The transformation of the transport infrastructure in China
Most wind and solar parks in China are located far from the largest cities in the country. In the capital Beijing, however, the energy mix is different: it is difficult to find a petrol -powered car on the streets. Almost all Uber drivers drive electric vehicles (EVS). "The drivers tell me that it simply does not make an economic sense for them to buy another (petrol -powered) vehicle," reports Shuo.
The way to clean energy future
climate analysts in China are confident that the country has reached its maximum in oil consumption, which is supported by the dramatic increase in the use of electric vehicles. However, the question remains whether the whole wind and the solar energy that have been installed in China in recent years can displace coal power. In the past few months, the increasing demand for electricity in China has been completely covered by renewable energies, which means that the country has not increased its climate -damaging emissions, even though the power consumption has increased.
"There are still many interests that support coal, but overall we see that renewable energies reduce the proportion of fossil fuels in electricity generation," explains Shuo.
The effects on the US economy
In the meantime, rising electricity prices in the United States could significantly impair economic development and prevent companies from setting up here, which undermines an important concern by Trump. With fewer wind and solar projects that go into operation due to the GOP legislation, as well as long waiting times to build new gas power plants, it is becoming increasingly difficult for some data centers and large production facilities to maintain sufficient electricity, the Rhodium Analyst Ben King.
"Data centers, the semiconductor production and other sources of new industrial loads may not be able to go online because we may not have the generators to cover this demand," added King.