News this week emerged about the collapse of Swedish battery startup Northvolt. “Like many companies in the battery sector,” the failed company’s website explained, “Northvolt has experienced a series of compounding challenges in recent months that eroded its financial position.” European Governments, including those of Britain and the EU, have long claimed that as pioneers of green policy and the ‘transition to a low carbon economy’, their policies will cause domestic industries and the green economy to boom. But instead of the green dream turning into reality, across the continent there is only a bleak economic outlook and deindustrialisation. Given that so much of this was predicted, yet those predictions met with policymakers’ intransigence, isn’t it time to ask if this nightmare is a feature of green policy, not merely a bug?
Established in 2016, Northvolt offered battery cells “produced with 100% fossil-free energy” which “represent the most sustainable products of their type in the world”. These super-green batteries were a rival to manufacturers mostly based in China, which enjoy dominant market position, thanks to the low cost of energy (much of which comes from coal) and greater control over supply chains. The company claimed to have $50 billion worth of orders on its books, and, according to the FT, had raised $15 billion of investment. But “neither Sweden nor the EU had provided the company with much financial support”, says the pink newspaper, citing “substantial Government subsidies” that Chinese manufacturers enjoy.
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