alt Hacker NewsJust looked up Chinese production capacity (~1700 GWh). That's orders of magnitude higher than the rest of the world. What did they do differently?
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Something like the IRA but started years ago. They invest and subsidise and tax-incentivise in their own industry but do use competition within their own market to weed out losers.
Well, a single order of magnitude... They actually prioritized strategic industries that would be useful in the future, rather than prioritizing last-generation's industries like the US did with oil and fossil fuels, which receive massive tax subsidies.
Biden's IRA changed this massively for the US, and beyond just meeting our own needs for battery production, we were on track to being highly competitive.
The Chinese Communist Party was willing to invest heavily to capture the solar and battery markets early on. Obama tried to counter them, but got roundly criticized for "picking favorites" and in the end the US gave away the entire industry to China.
They have the culture and infrastructure to support manufacturing and research. Just so much stuff in one place.
A near monopoly on rare earth mineral mining and refining certainly must play a part.
They have a centrally planned economy. It's almost like the Chinese communist party is indeed made up of communists.
> What did they do differently?
The Chinese government established and committed itself to a long-term renewable energy strategy in 1992.