231–240 of 607 posts
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> China produces pretty much all the solar panels Why didn't other countries build up solar industries? Were busy with fossils? Were too greedy to subsidise?
China builds solar panels using electricity produced by burning coal. China is by far the world largest producer of green house gases.
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I’m all for solar - but does it really solve the geographical / geopolitical issues of oil, as it’s currently rolling out? Yes, because if the US blockades you so you can't import oil, your trucks and power plants stop running in six weeks. If the US blockades you so you can't import Chinese solar panels, your power grid stops running in 20 years. Actually, that's just the end of the warranty period, so more like 30.…
It's more banal than that. Oil you have to pay for. Which for most countries you need to constantly come up with foreign currency. If you have a financial crisis like hot money flees you end up at the mercy of the world banking systems mafia enforcers the IMF. With solar and electrified transport and industry? Can't pay the loans for the solar panels? Sucks for the saps that loaned you the money. Come and take them.
> Instead of relying on scattered deposits of fossil fuel—the control of which has largely defined geopolitics for more than a century—we are moving rapidly toward a reliance on diffuse but ubiquitous sources of supply. The sun and the wind are available everywhere I’m all for solar - but does it really solve the geographical / geopolitical issues of oil, as it’s currently rolling out? China produces pretty much all…
Solar panels can be locally recycled. Oil cannot. Of course if you don't build up a local solar industry you are still dependent on foreign countries but it's not that China has an unchanging monopoly on the solar industry.
The article doesn't mention a technology that deserves some attention because it counters the biggest and most obvious deficiency in solar: the sun doesn't always shine. That technology is cables. Cables allow us to move energy over long distances. And with HVCD cables that can mean across continents, oceans, time zones, and climate regions. The nice things about cables is that they are currently being underutilized.…
While the US is busy trying to revive the oil-soaked 20th century, places like Namibia are leapfrogging straight into a distributed, solar-powered future with YouTube tutorials... It's like watching the fossil era get out-hustled in real time.
To be fair the US is leading the world in solar and wind per capita EDIT: energy consumption from renewables, not installed capacity https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy?tab=chart&hideCo... https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-solar?tab=char... https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/wind-electricity-per-capi...
On solar - China installed 93 GW in May 2025 alone - this exceeds the US' combined solar additions over the three years from 2022 to 2024.
The US' total solar additions, even over 10 years (92.7 GW), would still be lower than China’s cumulative capacity additions in recent years. China installed 277 GW in 2024 alone.
The US simply does not lead the world in solar and wind per capita, trailing countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, and Australia in both generation (10th at 1,889 kWh) and capacity (~957–1,125 watts).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> China produces pretty much all the solar panels Why didn't other countries build up solar industries? Were busy with fossils? Were too greedy to subsidise?
China builds solar panels using electricity produced by burning coal. China is by far the world largest producer of green house gases.
I don’t really understand inertia in power plants but I wonder if it helps to push nuclear as primary and solar as secondary?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be fair the US is leading the world in solar and wind per capita EDIT: energy consumption from renewables, not installed capacity https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy?tab=chart&hideCo... https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-solar?tab=char... https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/wind-electricity-per-capi...
The US is at half the per capital levels of Sweden, and seems to lag behind most of Europe: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-electricity-ge... Do I misunderstand?
The article doesn't mention a technology that deserves some attention because it counters the biggest and most obvious deficiency in solar: the sun doesn't always shine. That technology is cables. Cables allow us to move energy over long distances. And with HVCD cables that can mean across continents, oceans, time zones, and climate regions. The nice things about cables is that they are currently being underutilized.…
There's geopolitical implications. Solar is long stability, short conflict. It's easy to cut undersea cables, it's easy for instability arriving to one the landlocked countries in the middle of transit. This creates systemic risks that are asymmetric with respect to offense and defense. Many would see this as an invitation to retreat from solar, but I view it as the opposite. Widespread solar will cause peace via the…
That's a nice idea in theory but isn't worth much in practice if one of the trade partners has 19th century style imperial ambitions.