The brakes go on hard in China

摘要

To be rich is glorious, said Deng Xiaoping. To this writer's knowledge, this very enlightened Chinese leader said little about the side effects of getting rich— the on-costs of high energy usage, health and safety issues and environmental pollution. For more than two decades, Chinese lead-acid battery manufacture has grown and grown, meeting the needs of indigenous infrastructure support, vehicle starting, the nation's own peculiar electric bicycle market and a prodigious amount of export. In total, the lead-acid battery industry in China produced a staggering 140 million Ahs worth of capacity last year— worth more than US$15billion.