As renewable energy becomes a geopolitical tool, Japan looks to recover its technological edge
China’s near-monopoly on the solar-energy market has prompted the U.S. and allies to step up the search for workarounds. Engineers believe they have found one in a type of solar cell that looks and feels like camera film.
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Invented by Japanese scientist Tsutomu Miyasaka, the cells use minerals forming a crystal structure called perovskite, which can be used in a device to turn the sun’s rays into electricity.
A key element in manufacturing perovskite is iodine. While hardly a resources powerhouse, Japan happens to be the world’s second-largest producer of iodine after Chile, accounting for around a third of global production.
“Look at what China is doing with semiconductors. That’s bullying,” said Miyasaka, referring to Beijing’s export restrictions on the rare elements gallium and germanium used in chips. “With perovskite cells, the components can be made domestically.”
Energy in general is a huge geopolitical tool, see what happened with the Russian gas recently, most of the US military interventions in middle east are related to oil, France interference in Africa to secure uranium mining …
Renewable energy is just another energy, the advantage of renewable energy is that the energy source is kinda well distributed around the world.