44
That’s a shame…
The claims about the Chinese having superior European ESG compliance and Cybersecurity are hard to believe, but could be that they just have the resources (and speed) to get their products to comply, while European competitors are too slow. But then again, could also be that it's just about the price tag in the end and they just want to hide this fact by stating other reasons
Clean energy, and its Hardware might also be cheaper. So where’s the problem?
There's a bunch:
- These things come with software (which is updateable) and remote maintenance options. Luxcara say they checked the IT security of the product they bought but the next buyers won't necessarily do the same.
- It contradicts the idea that renewables make us independent from autocracies.
- It contradicts the idea that renewables can ensure economic growth.
- It's embarrassing for Germany which used to be one of the leading builders of wind turbines but has lost a lot of market share in the past decade. Gamesa has massive technical issues, Vestas is investing in India, and now German wind parks built with Chinese turbines.
And in addition to that, let's not forget that the cheap price comes from a country with intransparent supply chains and from the use of forced labour.
The problem is the same with the solar industry that Germany once had (or any sort of domestic manufacturing, really). Without heavy subsidies they cannot compete with the cheap Chinese prices, making them non competitive on the market.
It's not just any products. China as a country is capable of making long-term bets on select industries: they select scientists, they build up regional supply chains, and importantly, they give subsidies, supposedly until Chinese companies have won the market but who knows. Their leadership was clever enough to make a couple of good bets on green tech. And that's what sets them apart any EU country right now.
Even with subsidies the West could not compete due to China's lower production cost from their cheap & forced labor forces or their lack of various regulations.
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2024
44 points (100.0% liked)
Europe
1511 readers
325 users here now
News and information from Europe 🇪🇺
(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)
Rules (2024-08-30)
- This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
- No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
- Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
- No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism.
- Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
- If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
- Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in !yurop@lemm.ee. (They're cool, you should subscribe there too!)
- Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
- No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
(This list may get expanded when necessary.)
We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.
If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.
If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @federalreverse@feddit.org, @poVoq@slrpnk.net, or @anzo@programming.dev.
founded 4 months ago
MODERATORS