A new solar tariff fight begins — This Week in Cleantech

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s episode features AP News climate solutions reporter Alexa St. John, who reported on new polling that tests whether or not the Inflation Reduction Act is resonating with voters.

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Antoine Wagschal, Sales Director of Southeast Asia at Nextracker, who recently hosted Malaysia’s top EPC solar contractors and developers at one of their partner’s manufacturing facilities during the PowerworX solar installer training academy. The sessions covered installation best practices and emphasized quality standards. Moving forward, the Nextracker team aims to deploy more high-quality solar projects in Southeast Asia. Congratulations Antoine!

1. Why Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth — NPR

Europe’s heat-related deaths have increased at least 30% in the last 20 years, more than any other continent and twice as fast as the global average. Average temperatures in Europe are now 4° F warmer than in 1880. This is largely due to its proximity to the Arctic, which is more acutely affected by climate change. Europe also experiences warmer ocean and atmospheric currents, which is why London has milder winters than Chicago.

Last July, a heat wave with temperatures well over 100° persisted across much of southern Europe. It’s estimated that tens of thousands of people died. However, 2023 was Europe’s second consecutive year making more of its electricity from renewables than from burning fossil fuels.

2. Biden wants to triple China tariffs on steel, aluminum imports — CNBC

President Biden recognizes that heavy Chinese government subsidies for steel and aluminum exports have stifled competition across the globe. Currently, there is a 7.5% average tariff on these products; Biden believes tripling this number will protect American workers and lead to fairer competition. The White House has been working to bring down inflation, but these proposed tariffs would likely result in higher prices for American consumers.

During Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s recent visit to China, she expressed concern over the impact of these subsidies, noting that they are leading to an oversupply of clean energy products that could surpass domestic demand.

Chinese officials and state media claim their low prices are the result of “constant innovations” in clean energy products, not government subsidies.

3. U.S. Solar Factories Urge Biden To Crack Down On China — HuffPost

Despite domestic subsidies from the IRA and the trade restrictions on Chinese solar panels, American manufacturers claim they are still unable to compete with heavily subsidized Chinese panels. Korean panel giant Qcells – which invested $2.5 billion to build America’s largest panel factory in Georgia last year – filed a petition on Wednesday along with several U.S. solar companies asking the government to investigate Chinese panel producers for breaking trade laws by subsidizing exports and rerouting panels through countries in Southeast Asia.

4. Energy-Guzzling AI Is Also the Future of Energy Savings — Wall Street Journal

If we don’t find ways to save energy, AI data centers could use up to 25% of America’s power by 2030, compared with 4% today. However, AI could also play a key role in finding energy savings.

Buildings use up 30% of the global energy budget, much of which is currently wasted. AI and sensors can keep HVAC and lighting at optimal settings all the time and could reduce energy consumption in buildings by 15- 25% over the next 4 years.

U.S. landlords are beginning to see incentives for energy savings in their buildings. In January, New York City implemented Local Law 97, which charges $268 for every extra ton of CO2 polluted beyond their allowed limit. However, buildings’ energy consumption is on an annual 1% rise and needs to drop 25% by 2030 if we want to hit net-zero, which requires double the investment in energy efficiency for buildings.

5. Climate change concerns grow, but few think Biden’s climate law will help, an AP-NORC poll finds — AP News

45% of adults in the United States say they have become more concerned about climate change over the past year. The IRA was meant to address climate change fears, but almost 40% of those polled said they didn’t know enough about provisions in the law to have an opinion one way or another.

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This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.