For Africa’s quiet solar boom to meet its full potential, governments will need to regulate and subsidize the technology
This was a weird point. US solar is very expensive because utility permission and regulation drawn up by utilities makes it so. tax credit subsidies don't help much. Success in Africa and Pakistan is mostly based on no one is there to stop people.
Fuel cell (Hydrogen consumption) technology is ahead of low cost mass electrolysis deployments (hydrogen production). Batteries are doing very well in China, and still finding a way to be cheaper in the west too. Batteries help produce more electrolysis from renewables.
Article is saying that batteries are important too. It is a bit misleading in saying that cobalt is needed though. Cobalt and Nickel are needed for highest performance old tech batteries. For race cars. The price revolution in batteries is most pronounced for long lasting LiFePo chemistry batteries which avoids both metals, and used in value EVs, and grid storage. Batteries are not enough alone to exterminate oil/NG use.
The US claim on TSMC, are based on it using ASML (Dutch) equipment which has patent licenses from US. I was just answering the puzzling US colonial power roots. There may come a point of challenging the colonial patent power, while still attempting to pay for the patent, or China's "delete America" program may get more allies or rebellion from the colonies.
China/BRICS is a much bigger market than US, and economics means figuring out a way to earn from all sides is motivated. US promises to isolate itself even more under Trump, and there is a limit to how much it will be respected.
Green H2 is inherently at a price disadvantage compared to green electricity.
Intermittent renewables are the cheapest. If you can consume electricity directly while it is produce, that is at cheapest rates. Batteries is one intermediate to get good power charge/discharge rates to absorb, even cheaper, surplus electricity that supports more renewables. H2 electrolysis is a way to absorb renewable production that would exceed 24 hour demand on some days, and allows for more renewables and batteries to keep the energy/batteries productive/monetized all of the time.
Even trucks and ships have a cost advantage in distributing H2 energy compared to electric wires. Pipelines even more. H2 distribution doubles as storage as well.
H2 is a few years ahead on horizon. Lowest hanging fruit is gasoline/diesel replacement, but alternative to electric grid expansion is real, with offshore wind the biggest gainer of going pure H2 electrolysis, and land based renewables expanding their footprints to have alternate sales options than an electric monopoly.
Both China and North America weaned themselves from coal mostly due to urban pollution concerns. India has the advantage of going straight to renewables instead of the intermediate NG route. One of the most successful EV promoting policies, that happens to be free, is cities restricting ICE license plates to certain days of the week.
EV models now cheaper than ICE vehicles even in the west is the best incentive of all. India foreign policy shifting towards closer tie to China and away from US is certain to accelerate Indian manufacturing sector/investment: https://asiatimes.com/2024/10/why-modis-shifting-away-from-us-toward-china/
Also they may have spent $158B on stock buybacks, but company is worth $96B. They lost a lot of money on those buybacks. Down about 70% over last 3 years.
This is the best post on the issue. We must all offer our teen girls up for a good grope to diaper don, before election, less he declare us "the enemy within". If Bezos is afraid, what chance do we have?
Russia and China don't start wars that the US doesn't force. Multipolar world order would reduce wars. Regardless of whether blame for every death on a government assassination is true, peace does not happen through tolerating US empire evil.