This is excellent Chris, thank you for sharing. The point you make on the State's role in promoting work and consumption through tax incentives for borrowers is spot on.

Thanks for sharing, I had no idea! I guess there's a bit of truth when they say “China is run by engineers; America is run by lawyers" then

Congratulations - looking forward to reading you!

Agreed — O&G being all-in was a clear sign that CCUS was just a distraction to delay real action on extraction.

Policy makers and investors hardly learn though, as geoengineering is set to enter the same hype-and-bust cycle as CCUS.

This is great, thanks Ken!
100% with you on how sustainable solutions will only work if we keep investing to make them intrinsically better than alternatives.

This is sad news.
It's also very ironic to see the AAI state that "EV sales mandates were never achievable" in the US when you look at where most other developed countries stand...

Thanks for sharing. This is sad news.
It's also very ironic to see the AAI state that "EV sales mandates were never achievable" in the US when you look at where most other developed countries stand...

Thanks for sharing.

As a side note, this has to be one of the worst charts I've seen in a while.

Finally, critical minerals have become a “hot topic”, with VCs now investing in startups focused on expanding supply.

Battery and waste recycling and new extraction methods attract virtually all investments.

I hope we’ll see plenty of exciting innovations in the coming months/ years.

Sodium-ion is the only battery technology that could offer the West a semblance of grip over the supply chain, thanks to its abundant and widely distributed feedstock.

Yet its market presence remains limited (cf. previous chart), and China also dominates the downstream production stages.

Emerging battery tech is gaining ground - in particular LFP.

Bypassing China’s dominance was a major driver of battery tech R&D and investment, but in the case of LFP, China’s control is even stronger.

Another point that is not new, but worth re-stating: despite rapid growth in global mining capacity, copper remains a concern. A 30% supply shortfall is projected by 2035 under current policies due to falling ore grades and long lead times.

China’s leadership creates supply security risks for other countries – which have been very visible in the recent months.

See below the impact that recent export restrictions had on prices.

There are multiple reasons behind China’s leadership.

To name a few: control over extraction, strong gov subsidies that allowed rapid supply expansion and growing vertical integration of Chinese energy technology companies.

The chart below can serve as a partial illustration of that last point.