Abundance

by Ezra Klein

If the US invented solar energy in the 1950s, and Germany made it a market in the 1990s, China made solar energy cheap in the 2000s.33 Without sufficient oil and gas resources to power a billion-person economy, China has had existential motivation to develop its own domestic energy technology. In the 2010s, Beijing got serious about building out a solar energy business, lavishing subsidies, loans, and free land to upstart solar-panel makers. Recognizing this lasting commitment, Chinese solar companies invested for the long run. Whereas America whiplashed between “boom and bust cycles” in solar policy that have “surely slowed down its progress,” Nemet wrote that China’s consistent policy has allowed its firms to build more, faster, and cheaper.