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24links24 t1_j8n40np wrote

Reply to comment by PowerfulMilk2794 in US’s first solar panels over canals pilot will deploy iron flow batteries by For_All_Humanity

The us spent tons of money researching iron based batteries, succeeded then gave the technology to China and made it illegal to make them in the United States. We are now backtracking trying to tell China they can’t use the technology we just handed them. Typical us politics.

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queequagg t1_j8nvtr3 wrote

Based on the article you linked below, what happened is after the DOE developed the tech, they licensed it to a U.S. company that was started by the lead scientist. That company ended up violating the license by sublicensing to a Chinese company because it was cheaper and easier due to better supply chains and more willingness by other companies to invest in these technologies there. Typical American capitalism at work, sadly.

Meanwhile, “the Government Accountability Office found that the Department of Energy lacked resources to properly monitor its licenses” and they never noticed this shit going down.

The primary tie in to “US politics” here is the underfunded government department that is incapable of enforcing its existing regulations, allowing capitalism to do what is best for money rather than what is best for Americans. In the last couple decades, where Republicans haven’t been able to wholesale remove regulations (which they also do plenty of) they’ve been using a strategy of defunding and dismantling agencies so that the regulations are toothless. This particular situation began in 2017, a period when of course this shit really accelerated. (Hell, the DOE specifically was targeted as useless by many Republicans at that time).

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PowerfulMilk2794 t1_j8nbrb5 wrote

Yeah… that sounds like bullshit bud

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