Trump's Policy Pivot Kills $8 Billion Of Clean Energy Plans

Forbes

21-04-2025

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President Trump has played up his plans to boost U.S. energy production, though so far his priority is doing that with fossil fuels instead of renewable power. And his efforts to eliminate federal subsidies for clean power created by the Inflation Reduction Act and other policies enacted during the Biden Administration are quickly having an impact on that industry.
Since January, investments totalling $7.9 billion for 16 large-scale factories and other projects have been cancelled, closed or downsized in the first quarter of 2025, according to a study by E2, a nonpartisan interest group that promotes policies that are environmentally and economically beneficial. The study cites increasing market uncertainty and the potential that Congress will repeal tax credits and other incentives that boosted renewable energy.
Scrubbing those investment plans will eliminate 7,800 new clean energy-related jobs that would have been added, according to the analysis. The pace of cancellations jumped up in February and March, ending projects including a $200 million hydrogen fuel cell factory Bosch planned to open in South Carolina and a $2.5 billion Freyr Battery plant in Georgia.
The industry isn't only seeing cancellations, though– more than $1.6 billion was invested in new solar, EV and grid and transmission equipment factories, E2 said.
'Clean energy companies still want to invest in America, but uncertainty over Trump administration policies and the future of critical clean energy tax credits are taking a clear toll,' E2 spokesman Michael Timberlake said. 'If this self-inflicted and unnecessary market uncertainty continues, we'll almost certainly see more projects paused, more construction halted, and more job opportunities disappear.'
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California, Tesla's biggest U.S. market since it began delivering electric vehicles in 2008, soured on the brand in the first quarter, with sales there dropping 15% amid stiffer competition and as protests at the company's stores statewide amped up over CEO Elon Musk's unpopular government-slashing DOGE efforts.
The Austin-based company that has been a top beneficiary of the Golden State's environmentally conscious consumers and regulations sold 42,322 vehicles there this year through March, down from 49,875 in the same period last year, according to data released by the California New Car Dealers Association on Wednesday. The drop in volume cut its market share to 49.3% in the period, down from 55.5% a year ago. It was also the first time it's been below 50% of overall EV sales in the state.
Tesla's fall in California, like its overall U.S. sales in the quarter, went against a broader growth trend for battery-powered cars. Total EV sales in the state rose 7.3% to 96,416, according to the report. Big gainers included GM, which saw a 62% jump for Chevrolet-brand EVs, Hyundai and Honda, whose new Prologue was the third-best seller behind Tesla's Model Y and 3. Last week, Cox Automotive said Tesla's sales fell 8.6% nationwide even as U.S. sales jumped 11.4% in the quarter. Globally, the company saw a 13% drop in the year's first three months.
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Sila will soon start production of silicon anodes at your new plant in Moses Lake, Washington. What does the next year look like for the business?
We're starting to turn on the tools. We're finishing major phases of construction, but this is a first of a kind plant in the world. No one operates a plant like this anywhere else. To commission it, you have to do it very systematically and you have to make sure you do it safely.
We'll start commissioning this quarter and next quarter we'll start producing some materials at the plant. In Q3 we'll start to dial in all the recipes and with production once we've safely brought up all the tools. Then in Q4 we'll hit what I would call qualified production–quality, consistency, throughput, all of it. Those materials, as soon as they're available, will go to automotive customers. They'll go to consumer electronics battery customers. There'll be drone applications for them as well, and likely some kind of e-bike applications. We have a number of customers waiting to take qualified product from this plant at the back end of this year.
Within 12 to 18 months of that we'll be in vehicles that you can buy. We'll likely be in consumer electronics devices you can buy with materials from this plant sooner–sometime next year–but vehicles late next year and or stretching into 2027.
What's the advantage of silicon anodes cells over graphite anode cells?
At the material level, silicon anodes are about five to seven times better. We can replace a hundred kilos of graphite in the car with 20 kilos of silicon. What that translates to, because that's one of the key components in a battery, in a battery is about a 25% increase in energy density over state-of-the-art [graphite] today. That means much longer runtime or a much smaller battery pack for the same runtime. That's today. We see that being pushed up to 30% or 40% over the next coming years as we continue to push higher performing products in the field.
Will tariffs cause any problems for the key materials in your supply chain?
They're almost entirely domestic, so we don't have a whole lot of exposure. We have some things that come from overseas, but nothing from China, so it's a very modest impact. For us, it's more of a question of our exports. We do export to various countries in Asia, including China, so tracking the retaliatory tariffs is definitely on our mind.
Sila's Mose Lake anode plant
China has had success with LFP batteries for EVs, which are heavier than traditional lithium-ion batteries but cheaper. Is that chemistry a long-term winner?
I think LFP makes much less sense in the U.S. than it does in China, especially if we are looking for domestic supply chains.
Our view is higher performance will be the best way to drive better EVs. I think higher performance materials like silicon anodes paired with recycled nickel cathodes will actually lead to one of the lowest cost structures possible because you'll produce battery packs that are half the size compared to an LFP pack. And if you use a battery pack half the size then as you kind of squeeze all the costs out, it's going to be cheaper than one twice the size; the vehicles will be lighter and they'll be more efficient. But you do have to have very high quality cathodes made with recycled nickel where you're not mining primary nickel, which is quite expensive, and you need a much larger scale silicon energy production, which we will take care of. We will absolutely do that.
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By redefining 'harm' agencies aim to end longstanding wildlife protections. Trump officials have proposed changing a decades-old interpretation of a key word in the Endangered Species Act, which would make it much easier to log, build or drill for oil. (New York Times)
Cleaner cars can't offset pollution from faster driving. A University of California, Riverside study shows that higher speed limits can make city air dirtier (UC Riverside)