The Asian nation’s exports of clean energy technology hit a record in August, with US$20 billion shipped globally
[LONDON] There’s a battle underway to win the energy export market between the world’s two largest economies: The US wants the world to buy its fossil fuels, while China wants to sell the world its clean energy technologies.
For now, there is a clear winner: China.
The country’s exports of electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries and other carbon-cutting technology has been climbing for years. Exports hit a record in August, with US$20 billion in products shipped globally, according to a new report from the think tank Ember.
“China reached a record value in cleantech exports even as technology prices have fallen sharply,” said Euan Graham, a data analyst for Ember.
The US, which has positioned itself as a major fossil fuel exporter, sold US$80 billion in oil and gas abroad to July, the last month with data available. China exported US$120 billion in green technology over the same period.
That’s a continuation of a trend. The US hit a record in oil exports in 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration. Yet China’s clean technology exports were US$30 billion higher.
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US dollars only tell part of the story. The price of solar panels is falling, which means that China is exporting more of them per US dollar earned. August’s solar export revenue was nowhere near the high set in March 2023. But the 46,000 megawatts of power capacity shipped abroad set a record.
Crucially, China’s exports in emerging markets are growing rapidly. This year, more than half of China’s electric car exports have come from outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a rich-country club.
The US, under US President Donald Trump’s first term and then former president Joe Biden, pushed for higher oil and gas production. As a result, the country rapidly increased oil and gas exports. Trump is trying to drive production even higher in his second term by loosening regulations while also kneecapping the green technology sector.
It’s worth noting that China is a big importer of oil and gas, and it’s so energy hungry that it deploys most of the clean tech it manufactures. This quarter, China will sell more electric cars domestically than all cars sold in the US, regardless of fuel type. The US, on the other hand, can meet all its fossil fuel needs.
Still, both countries have excess capacity in their areas of strength, which helps them generate billions of US dollars in export revenue each year. The US may boost fossil fuel exports further and start to earn more revenue than China does from low-carbon goods that keep getting cheaper. However, China’s clout among other countries will likely grow because the volume of its clean tech exports will keep increasing.
From the point of view of countries importing American or Chinese energy goods and technologies, the division could not be starker: “Clean energy exports is hardware, which once a country has bought it, will generate electricity for a decade or two to come,” said Greg Jackson, chief executive officer of Octopus Energy, the UK’s largest energy retailer. “Whereas with gas, the day you buy it, you use it, it’s gone forever.” BLOOMBERG
