the price is good, it is it's, it's a lot say, well crazy the we are building the road to a greener future. that's pace with solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars, countries around the world and need them to fight climate change. but so far as one country that's at the center of producing china can countries go green without china? that's what we'll explore on this episode of made need of use business magazine.

i'm not easy, not, thanks for joining us in this. so we will also be exploring how start up here in germany could be winning the solar rates. oh, europe like dig up. it's very rare 1st. and why wind turbines are so hard to recycle? solar is the cheapest source of electricity in history. on the one hand, that's thanks to technological advancements, but it's also because solar panels are being produced on a mass of scale and europe jumpstart at the trent. a 3rd of all solar panels of worldwide used to be produced on the continent. most of them here in germany because the german government started subsidizing the panels and the 2000. since then, solar has become a lucrative business with serious competition. and today, you're is losing 80 percent of all solar panels are now manufactured in china.

cheap labor and energy heat make chinese panels much more affordable and popular for the business from the german state of brandenburg wants to challenge china because they can feed them on price. they are aiming for efficiency. its energy from the sun, gem and subsidies help bring the technology online then. so to manufacturing moves to china. now new technical innovations could help it with ton represented tier is the world's largest most efficient source. so just time for a trial run on just one machine today. so the cameras, these next generation side of the sales of say to, to go into series production. that being held as a technological revolution. one that would increase energy output by 20 percent.

our concept was to make a different source of material that would be less expensive to produce. would also be better adapted to the suns spectrum colors and some specs. and then we decide to combine it with the existing technology silicon by layering a 2nd solar cell in a very same layer on top. this pilot plant to be expanded to deliver up to $10000000.00 solar cells a year. and demand is high on going invest, everyone's talking about green hydrogen, so the hydrogen has to be produced somehow. that's quite energy intensive. so the solar industry would be a good partner for that. and all that likes to get pop, not the history of solar energy in germany has been one of ups and downs. it will began to general state subsidies. those funds had to begin for at the very start 20

years ago. it's unfair many got the ball rolling by promoting renewable energy and helping to massively reduce costs and the fees because of indirectly, at least that led to a solar them. but it took a while, so not boom could fluid. i ask them now for that size. that gemini soon lost its manufacturing at once to known as he was established. german factories could no longer compete as in form. if you're not gonna have to run this number of mistakes remain, you know, 1st of all the ground work that had been late early on, i was beginning around the year, 2000 was allowed to just travel and die on this. so i think the entire market collapse done by and germany just sat back and watched as many companies moved away from the many of them to china. less than it was on the see not the largest photovoltaic manufacturers are now in asia. europe wants to re gain some of its energy independence, but how likely is that split?

so she had signed us verification. so late for us to catch up with the trend is production capacity taken off the baltimore top of the crew, but there are things we can do, for example, by manufacturing, very innovative systems that are also very efficient. all cuz if it's in isn't after a promising stops and then a dry spell, germany is once again, investing news. so to technology, the upswing was also one view which is symposium invalid which brought together local officials and energy companies. looks at p. these chief financial officer results so that the brandenburg pilot project receives nearly 11000000 euros in public financing. nearly a 100000000 years were invested in the pilot pond to know. and the company has even bigger plans and store your planning. we're planning about 5 gigawatts of solar cell production stuff, and also module manufacturing to go along with that. we're still evaluating various

locations to evaluate ian subsidies and other incentives also play a role in various evaluations. many countries hope that cutting edge technologies control the scanning the saver level, the new york's with dig a factory be built in year. it will the us get this going to allow the of us is already given some concrete numbers in the installation reduction activated where there is mention of one trillion dollars and amount that's hard to imagine. but i know many out at the time and should the you try to compete with that discussions and negotiations underway behind closed doors and the stakes a high for now at least energy from the sun is the cheapest and most important tool for renewable energy. the foundation of europe is green transition. the only rest on chinese solar panels is also almost entirely depends

on rare earth from china. rare earth can be found all over the world, but no one has exploited them. like china, the countries lower social and environmental standards make it hard for europe to compete. its production still minuscule. but that's set to change. laptops, smartphones, wind turbines, and electric vehicles, technologies that we take for granted today, but they wouldn't exist without rare arts. so what are these exactly? the term rivers is a bit of a misnomer because they aren't really there. strictly speaking the metals, at least in the peer for them, and they aren't necessarily rare either small, there is coming in. the earth's crust is complex, for example. but large deposits are rarely found in places that can be easily mind already made in not expecting that's how the term where it's came about.

because they're not easy to mind. and there are other issues. various assets are used to extract reference. what's left behind is polluted wastewater that can even contain radioactive elements. across all these mind me, utilities, is that the legacy is really complicated. one across all of our mental social economic elements. it's very complicated sector with the, with the difficult history. and there is that an option what the substitute wants to do it differently because otherwise we're just going to be the green people who do the same thing that everybody else did before. so the president has last year, china accounted for more than 2 thirds of all mining production of rare arts, a result of investment decisions made years ago. next come to us australia and vermont. yeah, yeah. yeah,

maybe some team i'm in this area were quite dependent on others, which includes china, europe, and us like want to become a bit more independent in that respect and nothing you've gone, gone up any good is that they won't be able to become fully independent in the coming years in the you nearly $5000000.00 tons of old electronic devices end up in landfills every year. so could recycling help europe become less dependent on china? yet the waste doesn't contain enough free or it's to make recycling worse while at least using current methods. but when it comes to electric vehicles in winter buying stuff could soon change in prospecting. i'm at the moment. this is increasing use of large electric motors and especially wind turbines. so in the next 5 to 10 years, a big market with american citizens. but again, one key challenge will be making sure that this recycling is carried out in europe, no holes at the moment. europe doesn't have the know how or facility capacity. so

this wakes is usually shipped to south africa or southeast asia, such as vietnam and malaysia and was processed by the items. and then china turns it into new raw materials stuff. and that's also why it's $44000000.00 tons of china has the 3 largest reserves of railroads worldwide, followed by vietnam for sale and russia, which each have about half that amount the, with the help of you funding, estonia is now home to europe's 1st factory to produce the special magnets used electric vehicle motors, and those magnets need records. producing these magnets close to home is crucial for europe's industry and the factory it. here's district environmental standards. not the issue of sustainability will become more important in the coming years. you

need to see i need to get a hold of installation. so we need to form my own partnership funding to ensure that the raw materials such as where our mind and the most sustainable environmentally friendly way possible. so he says, and in the most socially responsible way possible to go, he's not highly of out. so y'all said, today's the stock, see that's fine. many manufacturer as a product such as wind turbines and electric vehicles are now looking for rare or suppliers outside of china. even if that ends up raising the price and wind turbines are also central to our next report. have you ever looked up at one of them and been astounded by their size? a wind turbine blades can be longer than a boeing 747. but they weren't always so enormous. the 1st a wind farm was installed in the us and 1980. and those early models were much

shorter, more expensive, and less efficient. so it's good news that the wind turbines changed and grew, but it also means that the old models have to be disposed of. and that's where we are running into big problems. a look at this bus stop this bridge and this playground. notice anything that's taken of the old made of the wind turbine blades because it looks cool. yeah. but it's also because we don't really know what else to do with them. once that one out we can recycle up to 90 percent of the turbine like to steal it from the towel or the cop up from all the wires. but the gigantic blades mostly get dumped into landfills. a field day for opponents of wind energy. the wind turbine junky are they just lying around and there's nothing much renewable about these things. but the wind industry won't let that spend they're working on making winter event, let's recyclable, and saving that green image. wind turbine blades are mainly made of glass,

so common fibers and stuff called a poxy residue. this acts like a plastic super glue that binds them together. you end up with a very strong and resilient material, dumping them into landfills and forgetting about them is a mess of waste materials. so let's look at some ideas on how to stuff it. one way to deal with or blades is by using brute force, we can burn off of the plastic parts or use strong chemicals to dissolve it, but remains as the fiber that can be used to make new things like cos, plains, or snowboards. but these processes on perfect all of these take a lot of energy and the products that you get. because the degraded by the various this technology is using by the, the brutal method that you're using to separate the components finish

a strong dose is used to produce a well, so you don't get so much. can you from any researching process has to be economic coupon, apple, and this, the roads that recently a different approach has become popular. turns out the materials and turn on plates are pretty good for making something else if that cut into pieces and been shredded, that can be used in some and production. you get some energy from the plastic parts of the blade, the reson. um, as that is heated, it gives off energy and then you're left with this charge, glass remains and that goes into concrete. and so you're able to recover some of the materials and use them for a common material. and then you're also able to recover some energy. waste management from the old e o has popped up with general electric to do exactly that. on the large scale in the us. they say they've already recycled over 3000 blades this way. and that's not

the only benefit by burning shredded when to event lights instead of cold cement because could save up to 27 percent of c o. 2 emissions according so in the analysis by a consulting firm. if you have cement industry, which is located close enough to the place that you've got your wind turbine plates, that this is actually something which is for hopper. it's economically advantages and it's environmental the paper as well. and certainly better than landfill bucks, wouldn't it be better still if we could use also it on the lights to make new ones . so we need to ensure that we get to the 2nd level and get it into most of the day of the life cycle of the size. this is maxime, you again snip a ring, leaves the sustainability to pop it and see montgomery. so one of the world's largest going to buy manufacturers, they develop what they called the recycle of lights,

which you might have guessed as a plates that's supposed to be easily recyclable. that's down to a new type of resonant. they've invented red. okay, let me read the saw easily in the s, so at the end of the night. and then this solution separates basics, need to residence on the last 5 a you have a common areas so that we can recover the separated materials again and use the new products for the moment. these new products of things like suitcases, suitcases will cost. nothing new blights the plan is to ultimately close the loop, but small research is still needed. the recycle blades more expensive than traditional ones. how much exactly is the minutes go may. so i wouldn't say about the already being used in some when projects. unfortunately, siemens can me so i also wouldn't say how high the sales total sales is. that is something we cannot disclose, which is a shame because obviously the more of them we use now, the more of a dentist slate waste, the solution could make down the line. it's clear that it doesn't help with

traditional blades we have to deal with now. so you will not see the impact about until 25 or 30 years, but those plans are being taken down. this is lisa, extremity who's head of sustainability, invest us another leading wind turbine manufacturer that taking a different approach in their recycling strategy. as soon as we have scaled up our solution, we can always talk recycling and fox issues plates that we put up many years ago. and that will be taken down now as well as future plates. they say they figured out a way to separate the materials and existing to them plates and make them reusable, including the epoxy resin. it's supposedly done with a chemical solution that breaks it down. vestos doesn't let on much about the new process, just that so far it's only been proven in the lab. then now the testing it the new real world for 2 years to see if it can be scaled up. and what we do know is that

the chemical solution, as uh, it's not being solid, is chemicals that you will find all the show. and of course, gives us very good indications that this has up to be a very cost competitive. so let's recap. there's a bunch of ideas out there on how to take a blade waste, some that already work at scale and some that still have to prove they do wind power companies across the board of throwing money at this end. while researching the story, i've repeatedly wondered why, if you ask them they will say something like this. 15 for the cheese at the club or business. it is over there. i'm. i'm calling about the mate, which somehow only felt like half the answer. i mean, don't get me wrong for only things in the dump and forgetting about all the materials that went into making them should not be the way forward. but with all the blades it looks and feels a lot worse than it is. i mean, these things are literally built to not decompose, should be pretty stable. they will just stays

a base if i thought. so my problem with landfilling is really the plates make up a lot of space. that will be 43000000 tons of this kind of blades by 2050. well, that will be 12000000000 tons of plastic waste and landfills and the environment by then. if we drive in waste, it's very likely not going to be down to wind turbine blades, but that's not the point. pets with caustic waste, it's tiny compared to adults with other bits of waste. it's tiny. but it's really important in the public high, it's social iconic. so we've got these huge wind turbines which are making green electricity for us. and people say yes, bought at the end of life, you've got pulse of the structure which you're going to landfill. actually is not greed. so it's hot cheap, really to improve the meet you wind turbine technology

in the public domain for the winter, the stream solving the recycling challenge is the best way to live up to their image and future prove that business you just saw it in our reports. the solar panels on our roof and the river earth in our electric cars are from china and aging isn't only leading in the energy industry. it controls another market that's central to our lives, medicine. and just like in the other sector, it's pricing out the competition of china's clear goal to become the world's number one. also, when it comes to its domestic pharmaceutical industry, the world is becoming ever more dependent on medicine from china. the chinese have been very clever. will the world soon be completely dependent on china for medical supplies? will pharmaceutical exports then being used as political leverage?

always be cheap. with this model, the chinese pharmaceutical industry has grown rapidly and the west has helped a lot the, the, the background to the yeah, is that we don't want to spend much money on medicine, even though it's the cheapest form of therapy. and therefore, production costs must be reduced lunch, this important tools cost to double check that one's on just as the easiest way to do that is to go to countries that have low labor costs, fewer environmental regulations and lower costs for energy and the like the cost of creating a huge, actually a film now costs $0.60 in germany as much as a stick of chewing gum. experts saying that china now produces 40 percent of all active ingredients in the world. that is the part of an drug responsible for it's the reputed effect. and sometimes china is involved even if it doesn't seem so

for example, the popular pain killer, if you proof and is produced at these locations around the world. it was in short supply during the pandemic. it was also produced in india. got the diversity is deceptive to india. important, almost all of the active ingredients it needs from china. the chinese have a key competitive advantage over the others. they now also produce most of the raw materials for the drugs, and they do so very cheaply, due to economy of scale, things to its price advantage. china is leasing out foreign competitors, as in the case of civil lo sparren's, which are antibiotics. even a german manufacturer with the state of the art production technology had no chance against china cabinet and schedule bias. remarkably, only a few years ago, we produce f low sparren's at the company hooks. but that's no longer the case by

just the chinese have been very clever. see how they always under caught the price . that hooks was charging until then owner of folks. a private equity company eventually said it's not worth it will stop production because of the rules. he's just finished, i'm starting with the portal, show 9. what are the consequences short what is missing and help you take a closer look at simpler spar. and there is a key based material, amino sephardic per a noise asset which is produced exclusively in china. so if the chinese decide that they no longer want to supply it to europe, but if we were to sign with taiwan in the event of war, then we would be left empty handed, so to speak, in terms of some of those for and antibiotics are like saving drugs going to be will take us and leaving, settling ex 9 mentioned in china wants even more. it wants to be at the forefront of new medicine. experts say that china is now researching every 10 strong in the

world. that's in the development phase. and i think they are much more innovation friendly for me. and i think that ultimately is these bureaucratic processes. and then if they want to implement something, then they will. so the bureaucratic process is a much faster than ours and some. and then on the other hand, money support and funding flows into what are referred to as core industries. and that is sort of home to a candidates team wants to bring back pharmaceutical production here in france. applying for parents, feed them on a pain killer, is to be built to cover a 3rd of european demand. but this is only possible thanks to high subsidies step in this. and if it comes, i think we 1st have to reach a consensus on which active ingredients we consider to be important that there are a lot of lessons and many different active ingredients floating around for them. i think we also have to be honest and acknowledge all it will be more expensive and

then as i get less and will have to agree to pay x amount of the $8.00 that i am but the dock it's in. yeah, that's a single bill would probably be $10.00 to $20.00 euro cents more expensive in germany. if it came from europe instead of china. it's unknown whether a patient's anywhere in the world would be willing to pay more for more independence from china. from green tech to medicine here up as walking a tightrope, the aim making quick progress while becoming more independent of china. this episode looked at how that might or might not be possible. thank you for watching and see you next time the

the safe haven to choose theme from the coast refugee home in henry has been taking ensure montage, jews since full broadcast and you know, following the terror attacks by him. most families from israel also explain to like us to find safety and disturbing to focus on human insights. he minutes on d. w and some of the conflicts with tim sebastian fonts you may need

to talk to many of stuff is awesome. my guess this week is to see how the people of does this today. we may have no idea how complex in 90 minutes on dw, the actually we don't have a choice thing. so we have little time list to save the planet. so we have to do what we can as fast as possible. we only have one generation left just 25 years to increment the greatest resolution

has the soon as the industrial, a replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy around the world without exception is a global energy transformation really possible or is it any these researches are working on amazing out documentary, the renewables resolution jobs november 25th from dw the

. this is the, the news coming to line from berlin, adult and relations between the worlds to super power us present. joe biden says there's real progress in his purse face to face talks in a year with trying his liter changing thing. but say they want better relations despite lingering tensions. also coming up, you end demands, humanitarian pauses in gaza. the security council dot com. so it's 1st resolution since the start of the war calling for immediate access to provide aid is real, rejects the votes, him is all.