After the 2015 COP 21 Paris Agreement, concepts like Green Economy, Green GDP, Green Hydrogen gained momentum. This was also the period when electric vehicles proliferated on the streets. We have seen many developments, such as the government’s supportive policies for these ‘eco-friendly’ vehicles, related taxation, subsidies, and recently, the arrival of Tesla in India. A question arises: How did the governments of the world, especially the Western world, which had consumed coal for many decades, suddenly become so concerned about the environment? How did those who ruled the world with myths like the ‘White Man’s Burden’ suddenly champion the entire planet?
While searching for answers to these questions, one thing becomes clear: Western nations have developed new concepts for the sake of dominance and exploitation. This journey, which began with direct methods like imperialism and colonization, has now taken a turn into the environmental sector after passing through globalization and neoliberalism. As new technologies are developed, the developed world is creating environmental standards around them, excluding others, and labelling technologies they control as green technology to develop a new economic ecosystem. This article will review how a new attempt is being made to break the 20th-century oil-based environmental system of the Middle Eastern nations and create new sources, standards, and economies, all under the guise of green technology.
The Curse of Natural Resources
When electric vehicles came into use, they were claimed to be pollution-free. Many studies have shown that as long as electricity in countries like India is generated from coal, these vehicles are simply transferring pollution from the city centre to the power plant. However, beyond that, the technology of electric vehicles appears to be shifting pollution from air pollution to water and land pollution, and from the user to the manufacturer. The raw materials needed for these vehicle batteries have shifted from oil to lithium, cobalt, and rare earth metals.
The triangle of Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina in South America holds more than 60% of the world’s lithium reserves. Extracting one ton of lithium requires 2.2 million litres of water. The massive increase in demand for electric vehicles has led to uncontrolled water use in this region, causing immense struggle for the local people. In the last decade, the groundwater level has dropped by 15 metres, and the river ‘Trapiche’ in this area is shrinking.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Africa has abundant cobalt reserves. The exploitation of the local population to dig these underground reserves, the payment of less than a dollar, and the use of 7-year-old children for labour to extract cobalt from small underground tunnels are all being branded as green technology in developed countries. Technology subtly enables the developed world to breathe easy at the expense of suffocating the third world.
The Political Layers of ‘Clean/Green’
Under the Paris Agreement, developed countries agreed to raise $100 billion annually in green funds. Many other efforts for environmentally friendly projects will be seen in a similar manner. Consequently, developed nations have cleverly taken on the task of defining what ‘green’ means and setting its standards. Although clean or green technology is a scientific subject, there is immense politics behind it.
According to Europe’s Green Agenda, “green hydrogen” is hydrogen made only from a mix of water and electricity using renewable energy sources like solar or wind power. In contrast, many oil-rich countries and fossil fuel companies are promoting a different type called “blue hydrogen“. This hydrogen is made from natural gas and carbon capture systems. Theoretically, this reduces emissions, but in practice, the technology is not that effective. Moreover, a large amount of methane gas is released during the extraction and transportation of natural gas. For the past few years, representatives of the oil industry have been striving to get this blue hydrogen recognized as a clean energy source. In 2023, about 475 representatives from oil companies participated in the COP-28 conference in Dubai.
From an economic perspective, a new trend called carbon tax or ‘Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism’ is being adopted by Europe. If a factory in Indonesia or India produces steel with more emissions than a European factory, a fee will be charged on those additional emissions when exporting to Europe. This directly burdens suppliers in poor countries with additional costs. According to one study, an aluminium-exporting country like Mozambique could face an additional carbon cost of about 6% of the value of their exports. More importantly, the money collected from these fees is not used for climate change assistance. This money goes directly into the European Union’s treasury and is not returned to the industries that are struggling to reduce their emissions.
Intellectual property rules are the clearest example of monopolistic law. Patents for batteries, solar panels, and wind energy turbines are mainly held by companies in rich countries. According to the World Trade Organization and bilateral trade agreements, these patent holders have the right to prevent or tax technology transfer. Developing countries have repeatedly demanded flexibility in these rules (they even proposed a special intellectual property waiver for climate technology), but so far, they have received little response. Without major legal changes, the result is that poor countries will remain consumers of clean energy technology, unable to become producers.
AI and Green Technology
Managing a power grid is an extremely complex task. Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a huge help here. With the help of AI, grid management can be improved by predicting future demand, load balancing, and maintenance. One estimate suggests that by 2025, AI could supply 175 gigawatts more electricity through existing power lines. Currently, the US dominates in software and China in hardware. Poor countries will have to buy this technology, which will leave them behind.
On the other hand, remote sensors and satellites have made it easier to obtain emission data. Now, instead of relying on government reports, private enterprises can accurately detect methane gas leaks in the atmosphere. Because of this, no country or company will be able to hide gas leaks. Countries that do not have their own such technology will have to rely on foreign data, which will make them weak in negotiations. Similarly, the use of AI for adapting to climate change is increasing in rich countries. They use AI models to predict droughts and natural disasters, which reduces the impact of the disasters. In contrast, poor countries have to face unexpected crises due to a lack of sufficient data and technology. A group of people is emerging who can predict, while another group is left to face the actual crises.
Climate change means the entire planet is like a vehicle moving towards a wall. However, developed countries, with the help of technology, are installing sufficient safety equipment on their seats, forcing others to face economic and political turmoil along with natural disasters. Unfortunately, there is nothing truly clean, pure, or green in the world… unless it comes to dirty swamp of politics..