THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION will pay US$1 billion of taxpayer money to a foreign company to walk away from next-generation energy projects – and spend it on fossil fuels, it was revealed on Tuesday.
At the same time, the Xi administration in China announced a new action plan to double the production of clean energy in ten years.
OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS
The steps reinforce the two superpowers’ opposite narratives on energy, with the US actively reversing back to fossil fuel usage, while China aims to become a solar civilization “electrostate”.
The Trump administration will pay US$1 billion to TotalEnergies SE, a French company, to abandon two wind energy leases in US offshore waters, the company said.
It will use the cash to construct a liquefied natural gas plant in Texas and develop its other oil and gas activities, said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer at TotalEnergies, in an announcement.
CHINA STRUGGLES WITH TARGETS
China is continuing its clean energy focus, but like many countries, is struggling to meet its own targets in weening itself off fossil fuel, according to data revealed at the recent Two Sessions meeting in Beijing.
Still, it is continuing to produce affordable cars and solar panels for itself and the world, hedging its bets with multiple forms of energy generation, analysts said.
China’s latest five-year plan shows continued “strong support for scaling up clean energy and emerging low-carbon industries, but continued caution when it comes to setting firm constraints on fossil fuel consumption and emission growth,” said a report by Lauri Myllyvirta and Belinda Schäpe of the Center for Research on Clean Energy and Air.
EFFECT OF ATTACK ON IRAN
“China’s decision-makers will see the escalating U.S.-Israel-Iran war and disruption of oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz as a validation of their emphasis on energy security and reducing reliance on oil and gas imports,” the report added.
The wider world, too, is expected to see the repercussions of the US-Israel attack on Iran as a message to speed up the move to a future with hedged bets, meaning much more of an emphasis on renewable energy and nuclear power.
Johnson Choi Biz 