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EU to put tariffs of up to 38% on Chinese electric vehicles as trade war looms
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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Personal anecdote. I have recently been in China, specifically Shenzhen and a couple of other southern megacities.
Let me tell you all something: China is getting ahead of us. Shenzhen used to be known for its smokestacks. It is now at least as pleasant as any European city. Not only does it have an excellent metro, loads of green space and trees, wide sidewalks and cycle lanes. It also has silent streets with shockingly clean air. And for a simple reason: all the buses, all the scooters and motorbikes, and at least 40% of the private cars (not very numerous because of the great transit) are electric.
Europeans might be surprised to discover what a difference this electrification makes to a city. From personal experience of both, I can tell you that (IMO) Chinese cities are putting Swiss ones in the shade. This should be a pretty shameful situation for the supposed quality-of-life superpower that Europe imagines itself to be.
Instead of punishing China for getting ahead in a technological battle that will benefit us all, Europe should be copying it.
Go to the North in winter and experience true choking pollution from rampant coal furnaces. Even Beijing doesn't escape that.
Don't forget where all that electricity comes from to charge those electric vehicles.
They have also been installing solar powerplants at a lightning rate. They installed more solar in 2023 than the US has in total according to an article I read a few months ago.
It's not about saving the planet though, they import the bulk of their fossil fuels, moving to renewables reduces their fuel import dependency
Increased solar and wind means little in terms of saving the planet when coal usage is increasing. I look forward to the day when we have some honest data from CN on electricitymaps
I agree with your point on curbing fuel import and dependence.
Got any stats on coal increasing to share ? Last I saw they were decomming significant quantities of coal stations
Sure. Had a check on these organisations and they seem reliable.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/china-responsible-for-95-of-new-coal-power-construction-in-2023-report-says/
https://globalenergymonitor.org/press-release/chinas-coal-power-spree-could-see-over-300-coal-plants-added-before-emissions-peak/
You'll find stats here: https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-coal-plant-tracker/summary-tables/
Damn, that's disappointing at a quick scan. Will read in properly and fact check later. Thanks.