00:00How did China become the world's first electrostate?
00:03China is the first country in the world to have installed more than a million megawatts of solar power.
00:07That's almost double the combined solar capacity of Europe and the US.
00:11In the year 2000, coal provided about 80% of China's electricity.
00:15By 2025, that had fallen to just 55%.
00:18Over the same period, wind and solar power rose from being practically non-existent
00:23to providing around 20% of the country's electricity needs.
00:26So what's behind this shift?
00:27Beijing believes its reliance on Middle Eastern oil and gas is a dangerous vulnerability.
00:32About 70% of China's oil is imported, much of it passing through the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca.
00:37In 2015, the country's government launched the Made in China 2025 Industrial Plan,
00:42which identified green energy as a core objective, concentrating on three new industries – solar,
00:47batteries and electric vehicles.
00:49China also moved to dominate supply chains for the necessary raw materials,
00:52like cobalt, nickel, graphite and rare earth metals.
00:55Local authorities offered cheap land, subsidised electricity and state-backed credit to green
01:00energy manufacturers.
01:01But that plan has paid off.
01:02China now controls 90% of the world's solar manufacturing,
01:06more than 70% of wind turbines, 80% of battery cells and 70% of electric vehicles.
01:11But there are some downsides to this green revolution.
01:13Now that China has cornered the market, the UK, like much of the West,
01:16has been all but wiped out as a producer of solar panels and batteries.
01:19Europe still has a wind turbine industry, but it relies heavily on crucial Chinese components.
01:23There are also ethical concerns over the production of polysilicon,
01:27a key wall material used in solar panels.
01:2950% of it comes from Xinjiang, where Uyghur Muslims have been subjected to forced labour.
01:33But the direction of travel is unwavering.
01:35The International Energy Agency predicts solar will become the world's biggest single
01:39electricity source by the early 2030s, with wind power second in line,
01:43and China will be at the forefront of that transformation.
01:45The International Energy Agency
