Lisa asks…
Is China set to dominate the world in renewable energy industry?
China Leading Global Race to Make Clean Energy
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/business/energy-environment/31renew.html
“China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year.
China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels.”
Does it matter that China is getting such a lead in the new technologies? Will we all be buying Chinese solar panels for ever after now? Why are British workers in our beleaguered heavy industry sectors not getting the chance to benefit from these new green jobs?
jeff, yes i know. But they are turning their tanker around a good deal faster than any of the ‘developed’ countries, its very impressive to watch, and very frustrating.
We too are still building coal power stations.
dana, yes, the engineers that run china can say ‘make it so’ and it happens. they dont have to slog through the sea of opposition from vested interests, they have a big advantage.
paul, spot on. it’s been happening since thatcher, and i spent several years waiting for nu-labour (= tory lite) to stem the arterial bleeding from the manufacturing sector. no chance!
you cant eat a city bank.
d/dx, lots to think about there. i only disagree about the innovation side; chinese patent numbers are rapidly catching up with ours, give it a decade and they will be up with europe and n. america. i dont know if we will see a cultural difference in the type of innovation, maybe more cautious steps?
On the wages side; there is far to much spread here, it is leading to a collapse of the social mobility that fuelled the innovations of the last four decades. the rich have clotted at the top of the milk again, time to shake the bottle.
i said to watch siemens didnt i;
http://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/siemens-invests-in-british-tidal-energy-developer-1179.aspx
but i’m not sure there’s not a much better design, this is too cribbed off a wind turbine. as for tooling up, harland and wolff got aid as no other shipyard did, because of the troubles.
The Expert answers:
The Chinese are currently doing well at manufacturing, but this is not the best indicator of who will dominate the future renewable energy market. The current manufacturing capacity will supply only about 5% of the total energy market in the next 10 years. The other 95% of the market is still up for grabs. The best technologies are not on the market yet and information about them is not in the public domain. You might get a hint of capabilities by looking at patent filings at
www.uspto.gov
However, you need to know a lot of science to realize that patent on topic A is an enabling (choke point) technology for new technology B which is not directly addressed. People that know about the new technologies are bound by confidentiality agreements. One common clause in confidentiality agreements is that the existence of the agreement itself is confidential. The information that you find on the internet is the information that industry wants you to see. The public can and should be concerned at the macro level about the level of investment in R&D and manufacturing capability. The US is at a disadvantage because
1. The overall level of investment in renewable energy is too low.
2. US investors are at a disadvantage because of the federal failure to regulate the industry. Companies with credible technologies under development tend to be more discrete than Wall St. Stock promoters. The result is that some of the investment in renewable energy (and all other industrial sectors) is misdirected to scams whose only purpose is to enrich Wall St. Bankers. The US is falling behind because Wall St. Scam artists skim $1 trillion annually that would be better invested in R&D and manufacturing capacity. The UK dependence on the financial sector has the same consequence: lack of investment in industry.
3. US labor is overpriced. Human capital is a critical element in the competition for the future economy. The Chinese are playing for the advantage of manufacturing experience by investing now. They hope to persuade companies with the next generation of technologies to locate in their country. The work force in Europe and North America (and Japan) is more skilled than the Chinese workforce at present, but overpriced. The auto sector workers collectively are more skilled than their Chinese competitors and merit more pay than the $2/hr earned by Chinese workers. $20-$25/hr is realistic, $80/hr demanded by the UAW is not. The critical question is whether the workforce will take realistic wages, stay employed and prevent the Chinese from building manufacturing expertise or allow their skills to decay to zero value. If this issue is not resolved, US workers will be worth $2/hr in 10 years and Chinese workers will be worth $20/hr.
4. The Chinese are good at copying and stealing technology, but lag in innovation. Europe and North America can improve their competitive position by making market access for Chinese goods contingent on Chinese respect (payment) for intellectual property. Trade policies should favor domestic innovators rather than implicitly condone Chinese theft of IP by allowing unrestricted market access. Consumer prices will be higher, but consumers will have more wealth the pay the higher prices.
I don’t think that it is too late for Europe and North America, but structural adjustments noted above are needed. The companies and countries that own the best technologies between 2020 and 2030 will be the big winners.
William asks…
How much of the energy produced in the world is from renewable sources?
The Expert answers:
Less than 3%.
Source has a good article on renewable energy.
Nancy asks…
I have an idea for renewable and sustainable energy that will change the world, what should I do?
I need help.
I am not going to tell you me idea, then you would steal it.
The Expert answers:
Write a letter to your congress person, explaining what it is and ask for a meting. If that doesn’t work you can get the idea patted and take it to a nonprofit environmental organization.
Michael asks…
future of renewable energy in the world?
The Expert answers:
I’m sure it will be hydrogen from water, because there is no pollution.
Jenny asks…
Approximately How Much Of The Worlds Energy Is Renewable?
Hey guys I am doing a speech for English on the problems with fossil fuels and why we need to change our energy production to renewable sources, and i think it would really help my argument if I could get some reasonably accurate numbers to put it in perspective. The problem is that I have looked in several different places and have got different answers for all of them, If anyone can help me out by finding out something reasonable and posting the source it would be very appreciated!!!
The Expert answers:
None
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