Revolutionary shifts are underway in energy and mineral geopolitics. Renewables are now the cheapest energy systems on most of the planet and the fastest growing sources of electricity in human history. Cost improvements for battery storage are making renewables reliable and putting electric vehicles (EVs) at imminent-cost parity with gas cars. Clean tech has become a central demand driver of critical minerals, which have dual use applications in the defense sector. These technological transformations will influence the future of industrial power—and the United States is behind China in almost every sense. Bipartisan goals of mineral autonomy and technological superiority can only be realized through collaboration with allies and partners given a lack of unilateral resources, know-how, and intellectual property. Under the past two administrations, the United States accelerated a foreign policy to advance its interests in energy technology and related minerals—with mixed results.
Minerals, Manufacturing, and Markets: Foreign Policy for U.S. Energy Technology and Minerals (Milo McBride, Daniel Helmeci – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
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