Risks of Decoupling from China on Low-Carbon Technologies

Science 2022, Vol 377, Issue 6612, pp. 1266-1269, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq5446

MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 6926-22

Posted: 31 Jan 2023 Last revised: 12 Jun 2023

See all articles by Michael R. Davidson

Michael R. Davidson

UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy

Valerie J. Karplus

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management

Joanna Lewis

Independent

Jonas Nahm

Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Alex Wang

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law

Date Written: September 15, 2022

Abstract

China plays, and will likely continue to play, an indispensable role in research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) and manufacturing of low-carbon technologies that are necessary to address climate change. For example, China’s scale-up capabilities that are underpinned by manufacturing process improvements, supply chain optimization, and deep government support have contributed to substantial reductions in costs for mature technologies such as solar photovoltaics (PV) (1). However, the growing size of these economic sectors, coupled with national security concerns over the strong dependence on China in certain critical industries, has prompted policy-makers from Washington to Brussels to ask whether to alter course. Recognizing that economic and national security risks differ across technologies and the nature of a country’s integration with China, we highlight five primary risks to integration—separated into their economic and national security implications—and apply them to five leading low-carbon technologies: solar, wind, batteries, “green” steel, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

Keywords: U.S., China, clean technologies, climate change, decoupling

Suggested Citation

Davidson, Michael R. and Karplus, Valerie J. and Lewis, Joanna and Nahm, Jonas and Wang, Alex, Risks of Decoupling from China on Low-Carbon Technologies (September 15, 2022). Science 2022, Vol 377, Issue 6612, pp. 1266-1269, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq5446, MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 6926-22, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4342820

Michael R. Davidson (Contact Author)

UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy ( email )

9500 Gilman Dr., 0519
La Jolla, CA 92093-0519
United States

Valerie J. Karplus

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

77 Massachusetts Ave. E62-663
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

Joanna Lewis

Independent ( email )

Jonas Nahm

Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies ( email )

1740 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036-1984
United States

Alex Wang

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law ( email )

385 Charles E. Young Dr. East
1242 Law Building, Room 3382
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1476
United States

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