A✌️459-word✌️2.5-minute✌️read
China is the 800-pound clean technology gorilla, and in many cases, the hurdles to catch up are insurmountable. The battles in solar, wind, and EVs are virtually over. However, the future of nuclear, hydrogen, and geothermal remain winnable. That is if we start matching China’s focus on science and engineering.
In a new book by China analyst Dan Wang titled: 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬: 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢’𝘴 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, Mr. Wang observes that the US is run by lawyers. He describes Washington as a “government of the lawyers, by the lawyers and for the lawyers.”
Don’t get me started on the lunacy of having lawyers run the country. Lawyers aren’t trained to runs things. They’re trained to write documents and laws in the most convoluted way possible so it’s necessary to hire another lawyer to decipher them. It’s called making your own market.
But I digress.
Conversely, according to Mr. Wang, China is driven by engineers.
He believes that Americans and Chinese are alike, describing both societies as restless and eager for shortcuts. He rejects the notion that the US-China rivalry should be viewed in political terms.
At the heart of our differences is a focus on process and rules versus solutions to problems. Wang presents China as an 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦, which brings a sledgehammer to problems both physical and social. In contrast, he views America as a 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 which brings a gavel to block almost everything, good and bad.
The evidence supports his view.
China was once known for stealing and copying technology. They still do, but it’s no longer their primary strategy.
𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲: According to the most recently published data from the European Patent Office, China applied for twice as many high-quality clean energy patents as the US. They define high quality as a patent filed in two or more countries with a strong competitive interest in protecting the idea.
𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗼: In part due to financial incentives, the number of scientists that have returned to China from the US tripled between 2010 and 2021.
So what do we do?
Slash and burn scientific research programs.
Brilliant!
As a result, the exodus of US researchers to China and other countries appears to be accelerating.
Big surprise.
It would be easy to pile on and say that this is what you get when you allow lawyers to run the country, but that wouldn’t be fair. Lawyers have screwed the country up in a multitude of ways, but the primary blame for this latest stupid Washington trick can’t be placed on them.
Congress and the Senate are culpable in their acquiescence. That’s a nice way of saying they don’t possess the backbone to challenge the president.
However, President Trump is the sole owner of this stupid human trick.
#cleantech #cleantechnology #patents #china #chinainnovation