Leaders | Bunged up

How green bottlenecks threaten the clean energy business

A great green investment boom is under way, but supply-side problems are underappreciated

AS THE WORLD economy wakes back up, shortages and price spikes are affecting everything from the supply of Taiwanese chips to the cost of a French breakfast. As we explain this week, one kind of bottleneck deserves special attention: the supply-side problems, such as scarce metals and land constraints, that threaten to slow the green-energy boom. Far from being transitory, these bottlenecks risk becoming a recurring feature of the world economy for years to come because the shift to a cleaner energy system is still only in its infancy. Governments must respond to these market signals, facilitating a huge private-sector investment boom over the next decade that increases capacity. If they don’t, they stand little chance of keeping their promises to reach “net-zero” emissions.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Bunged up"

Bunged up: How the green boom could get stuck

From the June 12th 2021 edition

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