Soaring costs for fuel due to the Iran war are leading consumers in hard-hit Asia toward rooftop solar power, a likely windfall for China as the world’s largest provider of solar technology. FRANCE 24’s Sharon Gaffney speaks with Maria-Eugenia Sanin, Economics Professor at Université Paris-Est Créteil, about reliance on China for renewables. She says that countries “don’t need to be independent in the whole value chain”.
With fuel prices going through the roof because of the Iran war, going solar is the only logical choice for places like Pakistan and Bangladesh. Good thing China has the panels ready.
Prof. Sanin says countries don’t need full independence in the supply chain, but relying on China for solar tech just swaps oil dependence for another kind of leverage.
I live in Manila and my electricity bill doubled last month. I’m seriously looking at rooftop solar now—it’s becoming cheaper than grid power with these price shocks.
China is going to make a killing selling solar panels to Asia while everyone scrambles away from oil. Smart move, but scary how much power they’ll have over our energy future.