News
Germany's new government wants to expand solar power – while ensuring human rights in global supply chains. That will be difficult, because the solar supply chain is dominated by China. And the production of the raw material for solar modules appears to involve forced labor in Xinjiang. Trade sanctions will hardly solve the problem.
By Nico Beckert
China wants to end the construction of new coal-fired power plants abroad. This may also mean an end to the financing of coal-fired power by Chinese development banks – which could be an important step in the fight against climate change, as Beijing invested billions in this sector in the past. But the devil is in the details.
By Nico Beckert
China wants to send a 1-gigawatt solar power station into orbit by the mid-century. Generating solar power in space has long been considered science fiction. But the threat of a climate catastrophe and Beijing's growing ambitions in space are now moving technology to a whole new realm of possibility. First tests are already scheduled for this year. The Chinese are thus further ahead than their international competitors.
By Frank Sieren
