Legal Insurrection by Leslie Eastman 2/2/2023
China’s eyeing a ban on solar technology and has gotten approval to open a lithium mine in Bolivia.Interestingly, China is also planning its trade bans…restricting US access to critical solar panel technologies.
A plan by China to restrict exports of key solar manufacturing technology could delay attempts to build up a domestic solar supply chain in the U.S., industry experts say.
China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology are considering adding advanced technology used in the production of ingots and wafers, some of the building blocks of solar panels, to a list of technologies that are subject to export controls.
China currently accounts for nearly all of solar ingot and wafer production globally, as well as much of the equipment used in the manufacturing process—especially for the large-scale solar panels that increasingly dominate the market, industry experts say.
That’s not all the green-technology-related moves that China is making either. It recently opened up a deal with Bolivia to mine lithium, a compound critical to the batteries necessary to power electric vehicles.
Last week, Bolivia picked a consortium that includes China’s battery giant CATL to develop its largely untapped lithium reserves.
A report by Reuters said the deal would see the consortium partner direct lithium extraction from Bolivia’s Uyuni and Oruro salt flats.
More:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/02/chinas-moves-to-impact-us-green-energy-capabilities-in-post-covid-era/