China has received a lot of coverage in the Western press lately, and as usual has been cast in negative terms. The United States is now actively instigating a response from China, most notably Ms. Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the first such visit by a US high representative in almost a quarter of a century. China has done many things, one of which is he has broken off climate talks with the US. This is erroneously believed to have broken off all climate negotiations and halted action on climate change, both of which are largely untrue.
infographics from visual capitalist This article got me thinking about this.was shared by LinkedIn Matt Damasceno is an expert in vehicle electrification and an engineer with many years of experience in transportation refueling. So we’re a little optimistic through some notable comparisons.
Decarbonizing transport
China’s GDP per capita is currently one-sixth that of the U.S., suggesting that China should buy relatively few new EVs if price is really a concern. doing. Instead, China now buys six times as many EVs per year as the US.
China has built 25,000 miles of high-speed electrified passenger and freight railroads since 2007, enough to circumnavigate the equator with 220 mph passenger travel and 80 mph freight travel, connecting neighboring countries such as Vietnam to its network. is connected to The United States has not built high-speed rail, and the total number of electrified rail miles has been declining since peaking in the 1930s.
In China, there are about 500,000 electric buses on the roads of cities and towns, and freight trucks and garbage trucks in major cities are almost completely electrified. The U.S. may be nearing 1,500 buses and is just beginning to receive its first electrified city and freight vehicles.
Decarbonization of electricity
China will build as much renewable energy as the rest of the world combined in 2021 with 53 GW of solar and 48 GW of wind. The 2030 ambitious target could be achieved by 2026. The United States has built 25 GW of combined wind and solar. 2021 years.
China has more than 50 GW of pumped storage power capacity currently under construction and just commissioned 3.6 GW of capacity this year, and is planning even more robustly. There are no pumped-storage hydropower plants under construction in the United States, nor have any been approved or funded for construction.
China will commission the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric power facility, in 2021. The United States is the world leader in dam removals, with 57 dams removed in 2021 alone.
China built 17 GW of offshore wind in 2021, more than the rest of the world combined in 2021 alone. The US says she won’t build any offshore wind farms in 2021, and he operates two small offshore wind farms totaling 42 MW, equivalent to about 0.25% of China’s deployment in 2021. .
China builds more nuclear power plants than the rest of the world combined. The United States is seeing a net loss of nuclear power plants, with most nuclear power plants nearing the end of their normal lives by 2035 without major and costly retrofits.
Since 2009, China has built nearly 21,000 miles of high-voltage DC transmission lines to deliver renewable power to demand centers from sites across the vast country. Building an Asian supergrid to connect neighboring countries to her 4 billion-participating continental+ scale grid. , and seriously propose building a transport polar HVDC supergrid that will connect all northern continents. The United States recently blocked HVDC connections from Canada to bring more low-carbon hydropower from Quebec to New York from small coal-burning towns with hydrogen storage facilities and small nuclear power plants. are trying to reuse existing power lines in vain. new transmission.
Manufacturing Decarbonization technology
China manufactures about 50% of the world’s e-bikes, owns the majority of e-bike brands and far more models than any other part of the world, and has a huge volume of bikes for commuting and errands. We have purchased a number of e-bikes and manufacture a very large percentage of e-scooters and e-scooters. Other personal electric vehicles. Electric mountain bikes and leisure bikes are the main purchases in the US, with a limited number of fairly expensive manufacturers.
China has 6/10 of the largest solar panel manufacturers and 3 of the top 5 spots, and 7/10 of the largest wind turbine manufacturers. The U.S. ranks 6th and 10th for solar and has only GE on the list for wind energy, continuing to drop in the rankings.
China refines most of the most important battery metals globally, including lithium and nickel, with a 72% market share of battery materials. The United States accounts for her 8.5% of this market and has virtually no lithium refining.
carbon emissions
China already operates a carbon emissions market three times the size of Europe. The US has no national carbon pricing, 11 states are participating in carbon and trade despite lack of national leadership, and intentions disguised as anti-China protectionist legislation that would include domestic emissions. The carbon border adjustment made is politically dead. Manchin’s hand.
China is well on its way to meeting its (admittedly weak) 2030 Paris Agreement goals years in advance. We can achieve about 50% of the target of the Paris Agreement.
China’s CO2 emissions per year are 8.2 tonnes per year, peaking in 2030 at the latest due to very rapid electrification and decarbonized electricity build-out. His city’s CO2 emissions in the US are 13.7 tonnes per year, no less than China.
Since 1990, China has replanted and planted a net 40 billion trees, covering an area larger than France. The United States, despite being the slightly larger country in terms of land area, has increased forest cover by her 0.0016% of that amount since 1990.
China has a firm goal of limiting its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving a net-zero economy by 2060. This is what analysts believe is in line with global warming requirements. The US has insisted on climate goals, but has consistently over-promised and under-delivered, and is considered far less likely to stay on course by outside observers of its political climate. .
education and innovation
China’s literacy rate is 96.8%. The U.S. literacy rate is 88% for him.
China earns more than 50,000 PhDs in STEM fields each year and is expected to have twice as many STEM PhDs as the United States by 2025.
Chinese citizens and businesses file 1.3 million patents annually. US citizens and businesses file approximately 600,000 patents annually.
Economy
China’s GDP is expected to be the largest in the world by around 2035, and it is investing in healthcare, education and infrastructure. The United States has spent her 40 years cutting taxes for the rich and their military, not investing in health care, education, and infrastructure, and is seeing declining life expectancy, declining educational outcomes, and a collapsing infrastructure.
The Chinese renminbi has attracted considerable attention as a global reserve and trading currency, with 85% of central bank reserve managers holding or planning to hold the renminbi. The US dollar has been on the decline as a reserve currency since 2000, with the recent acceleration of its use as a diplomatic weapon (a better choice than military action, but with long-term strategic implications). There has been no significant economic impact so far due to its status as a global reserve currency that has allowed the US to cut taxes for the wealthy and overspend on military spending.
China’s net immigration has plateaued for years and its citizens are spread across the globe, with more than 120 million Chinese citizens holding passports. U.S. net immigration has plummeted since 2015, with the U.S. Census Bureau reporting that it will hit just over 200,000 in 2021, nearly 50% of the U.S. Fortune 500 were founded by immigrants or their children, and have no passports. Only about 110 million Americans hold
Since 1980, China has lifted 850 million people out of poverty. In the United States, since 1980, her 80% of the population has lost real income.
geopolitics
China has ratified and maintained the Kyoto Protocol, ratified and maintained the Paris Agreement, and ratified the Kigali Amendment, which deals with refrigerants with high global warming potential. With the U.S. pulling out of both the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, the upcoming November midterm elections potentially halting all climate action, and a change of government to a Republican president in 2024, the U.S. will become a major global powerhouse. We may withdraw from the climate agreement again.
China supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its alternatives, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the BRICS-focused New Development Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The US has withdrawn from major trade agreements such as the TPP, launched trade wars and enacted protective trade policies.
China has conducted extensive trade and joint tourism with Taiwan over the past 15 years. Taiwan, an island 110 miles from the U.S. coast to her, has not sent government officials to Cuba, an island 140 miles from the U.S. coast, nor has it sold weapons to Cuba. The U.S. maintains an embargo on Cuba, bans joint visits and tourism, and prevents U.S. companies from doing business with the country. The US has sold large amounts of arms to Taiwan, and a third-highest official has just visited the island.
The United States maintains 750 international military bases and spends more on military spending than the next nine countries combined, currently spending 3.8% of the world’s largest GDP on defense and offensive technology. China maintains her three international military bases and spends less than 1.8% of her GDP on its armed forces. This includes his 60,000 soldiers who were seconded to planting trees a few years ago.
China’s One Belt, One Road initiative involves 139 countries around the world, and China provides low-interest loans to governments to build and own wind, solar, power storage, transmission, and rail projects around the world. increase. The United States has attempted to block the Belt and Road Initiative and powerful armed states from participating, but success is nearing zero, and to provide evidence that the United States can be involved in anything, the Central American could not sell her HVDC spines domestically to South America. Due to the large scale of the Belt and Road Initiative, the attempt was abandoned.
This is by no means to say that China should not be criticized and held accountable, nor that every country should not have a clear China strategy. But the narrative that Americans and many Europeans share about China and themselves does not line up with the observable reality that even as the world improves, America is in grave danger of economic decline. ing.
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