US: there is excessive concentration in clean energy supply chains

The United States is working to build supply chains for clean energies resilient and diversified in order to protect their economic security, while guarding against the risks posed by excessive concentration in a handful of countries, said the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellenin remarks prepared for an event to be held Monday in Las Vegas.

Yellen will address the challenges of transitioning away from fossil fuels in a keynote speech after visiting a union facility where workers learn techniques for working on clean energy projects.

the speech of Yellen It comes days before the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes $500 billion in new spending and tax breaks aimed at boosting clean energy, cutting costs healthcare and increase tax revenue.

Yellen is scheduled to praise the continued resilience of the US economy, while highlighting the importance of essential legislation like the IRA in helping rebuild America’s manufacturing base and “reduce bottlenecks, mitigate disruptions and protect our economic security”.

“As we move away from fossil fuels, we remain concerned about the risks of excessive concentration in clean energy supply chainshe said in excerpts of the speech obtained by Reuters. “Today, the production of critical inputs for clean energy—from batteries to solar panels to critical minerals—is concentrated in a handful of countries.”.

An International Energy Agency report earlier this year noted that China has at least 60% of global manufacturing capacity for most mass-produced technologies, such as solar photovoltaic and wind systems, and 40% of the manufacture of electrolysers.

The Democratic Republic of Congo supplies 70% of the cobalt, China 60% of the rare earth elements and Indonesia 40% nickel. Australia represents 55% of lithium extraction and Chili 25%.

The comments to be made in Nevada, likely to be a battleground state in the 2024 presidential election, are part of a month-long drive by President Joe Biden and his Cabinet to convince skeptical Americans that his measures are boosting economic growth and fight global warming.

The US economy has left recession warnings behind with record-low unemployment, strong wage increases and better-than-expected GDP growth, but many voters who supported Biden in 2020 believe the economy has fared badly and may not to vote for him in the 2024 election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

Source: Reuters