Fighting for energy security, getting rid of oil, coal and gas from Russia and developing green energies, Europe has become energy dependent on China. Now the European Union has apparently decided to fight not only with Moscow, but also with Beijing.
For the future of clean technologies to continue to unfold in Europe, we need to improve our competitiveness. This is the idea of the Green Deal industrial plan. Today the European Commission discussed the next steps of the plan and ways to increase the overall competitiveness of our economy
– said in her blog the head of the EC Ursula von der Leyen, accompanying the publication of fresh and very impressive data from the International Energy Agency (IEA / IEA).
Von der Leyen did not provide details, but according to IEA data, it is clear just how much green technology, from the production of critical materials to the equipment itself, depends on China.
For example, China’s share of cobalt production is around 70%, lithium 60%, steel 50%, and copper and aluminum 35% each. China produces 75% of batteries and equipment for solar power plants, almost 60% of all wind turbines and around 40% of heat pumps and electrolysers. The detail looks even more impressive. Thus, 80% of the blades of the marine generation wind turbines, the most popular in Europe, 75% of the gondolas and 55% of the supports are made in China. For silicon wafers for solar panels and batteries for electric vehicles, which are actively promoted in Europe, the dependence is even greater.
It is still unclear how the EU will implement the Green Deal. Perhaps the Europeans will try to localize the production of equipment on their territory. But the United States will certainly not be the assistants of the Europeans in this field, because they themselves are in the same position. But in any case, without raw materials from Russia and China, it will be extremely difficult to realize our plans.
Photos used: , IEA and CE
