In some Chinese-made electric vehicles, you can swap your empty battery for a new one in under five minutes. It sounds too good to be true, but the process is simple: drive your car into a special swapping station, take your hands off the steering wheel, then let robots take out the old battery and…
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University warned that the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, electrification, and grid modernization is creating long-term security and supply chain risks tied to dependence on Chinese-controlled energy and electronics technologies. In the paper ‘Electrotech Moneyball,’ published through the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST), researchers argued that the ‘electrotech…
As the leaders of the world’s two largest economies meet in Beijing this week, a new analysis underscores a growing divergence between China and the United States in shaping the global energy system. While Chinese companies continue to expand their dominance of clean energy industries, the data shows, their American counterparts are withdrawing from those…
China’s Gotion Inc. has abandoned a $2.4 billion flagship factory to make battery parts in Green Charter Township, near Big Rapids, Michigan. Township residents, after a vigorous campaign, forced an exhausted company and weary state government to walk away from the project last year. Did the Green Charter residents, in their successful effort, also set…
As the United States retreats from climate policy, China signaled its rising intent to lead a transition away from fossil fuels and toward Chinese-made renewable energy technologies in remarks to world leaders on Tuesday. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng cast China as a beacon of stability…
Weeks after China unveiled its lightweight but powerful Type 100 main battle tank featuring diesel-electric propulsion, the US Army’s pursuit of a similar design for a hybrid-electric next-generation version of the Abrams tank faces a new strategic hurdle. Beijing has imposed export controls on the advanced lithium batteries critical for powering such next-generation military systems,…
Current Climate brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability every Monday. Sign up to get it in your inbox. Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images Donald Trump pledged to push for “American energy dominance” throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, powered by an aggressive expansion of domestic fossil fuel production. He kept that…
Five years ago, China’s longtime leader Xi Jinping shocked and delighted the world by declaring in a video presentation to the United Nations that his country would peak its carbon emissions this decade and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. He tried to rekindle that magic late last month in another virtual address to the UN,…
China’s clean technology is “becoming the basis of the new energy system” around the world, with the country’s monthly green tech exports hitting a record US$20 billion in August, a European think tank said. As China brings down the prices of technologies like batteries and photovoltaic solar panels, sales are surging in countries across Southeast…