您的位置：首页 > 新闻中心 > 社会 > 正文

肖申克的救赎

Can US afford cost of clean-energy protectionism in race for AI capabilities?_我的网站

楚汉传奇

一 | “云大哥，听说你家葡萄比去年下果早，4月上旬就能上市，我先预定着，到时给我多发点儿货。

Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT
Recent media reports have questioned whether a natural gas plant built to power an Amazon data center project in Texas could become the largest climate polluter in the US. The controversy, whatever the eventual outcome, offers a reality check for America's artificial intelligence (AI) drive.
It exposes a growing contradiction: The US is racing to expand its AI capabilities, yet its protectionist trade policies are making it harder and more costly to access some of the clean-energy technologies needed to sustain that expansion. This raises a broader question: Can an energy-intensive AI race afford the costs of renewable energy protectionism?
The US is entering a new era of rising electricity demand. Data centers, the backbone of the AI economy, are emerging as one of the fastest-growing sources of power consumption. Much of that demand is still being met by fossil fuels: The International Energy Agency reports that natural gas supplies more than 40 percent of the electricity used by data centers in the US, making it their largest source of power.
So, it's not surprising that the expansion of data centers has raised concerns over their environmental impact and the pressure they could place on local power systems and electricity bills. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that seven in 10 Americans opposed the construction of AI data centers in their local area, including 48 percent who strongly opposed such projects.
The findings point to a broader challenge for the US: The race to develop AI is increasingly becoming a race to meet growing energy needs. Addressing this challenge will require more than advances in computing technology; it will also depend on an energy system capable of delivering large amounts of reliable, affordable and cleaner power. That, in turn, will require faster development and broader deployment of clean-energy technologies, from solar power to energy storage.
Yet in the clean-energy sector, the US has increasingly relied on protectionist trade measures that limit access to cost-competitive products from global markets. The country has placed greater emphasis on expanding domestic manufacturing capacity, but rebuilding entire clean-energy supply chains at home is a costly and time-consuming process. Even if expanded domestic production is achieved, it is likely to come at a higher cost, making the deployment of renewable technologies more expensive and potentially slower.
The solar industry offers a clear illustration of this policy direction. The US has continued to expand trade barriers in the sector. Reuters reported that the US government announced on Thursday a series of price floors and a 15 percent tariff on products made from polysilicon, a raw material used in solar panels.
The challenge lies in the limited scale of the US polysilicon industry. Reuters reported that the country has two polysilicon factories. Against this backdrop, relying on domestic polysilicon production while restricting access to imports runs counter to the goal of expanding solar power in the US. The country risks creating barriers that ultimately constrain its own access to the global supply chains needed for growth.
The pressing issue for the US is the speed at which new power demand is emerging. The expansion of data centers is creating electricity needs that cannot wait for domestic clean-energy capacity to develop gradually. Global supply chains can provide the scale and speed required in the near term. By narrowing access to these sources, the US risks turning clean-energy policy into a drag on the infrastructure needed for its AI race.
The US has placed AI high on its economic and technological agenda. The outcome of this race will matter greatly, as financial markets are also watching whether America can turn its AI efforts into commercial success.
This leaves the US with a difficult choice: Can it afford the cost of clean-energy protectionism while racing to build AI infrastructure? The answer may be no. Trade barriers that limit access to competitive renewable technologies could ultimately become a constraint on the AI expansion that Washington is seeking to accelerate.
The author is a reporter with the Global Times. [email protected]

。

二 | 你家的葡萄个头大、肉质饱满、口感好，消费者特别满意。”3月23日，广东的李先生给兴城市望海满族乡葡萄种植户云中全打来电话，提前订好货。

三 | 云中全（右）正在查看葡萄长势。 55岁的云中全种植葡萄多年，经验丰富，技术成熟，是侍弄葡萄的好手。至今年，他家共建了27座大棚，其中，22座大棚种植茉莉香葡萄，5座大棚种植阳光玫瑰葡萄。“这些葡萄都是新品种，品质上乘，在市场上销路很好。迎合市场走向，产业的发展空间才越来越宽广。” 葡萄比较“娇气”，在其生长过程中，棚间管理必须到位。云中全肯吃苦、管理精细。

四 | 他与5名工人长期在葡萄架下钻来钻去，把每一个细微处都照顾到。“萌芽、出枝、开花、稀果、下果等必须面面俱到，像照顾孩子一样精心。管理得当，收获时，葡萄秧会给一个满意的答案。

五 | ” 提及稀果，云中全说，正常情况下，一串葡萄上会结100颗左右的果。如果任其发展，果实将大小不一，且由于阳光照射不均匀、其他营养吸收不均衡，势必会导致品质不佳。稀完果后，一串葡萄上保持60颗果，就避免了以上的毛病，果品非常好，在市场上的竞争力也较强。正常情况下，大棚内的温度都于11月份左右升温，有利于葡萄生长。为了适应市场需求，迅速占领市场，卖出好价位，从去年开始，云中全利用新技术，于去年10月10日就开始给大棚升温，目前，大棚内的温度均保持在27度左右，葡萄秧郁郁葱葱，果实饱满，且已经“上色”。“往年都是五一前后上市，今年能提前半个多月，估计能卖个好价钱，比下果旺季多两倍左右。

六 | ” 云中全家的大棚，有两种规模，一个长150米，另一个长110米，两者宽均为10米，共占地50多亩。

七 | 去年，他家的葡萄产值近150万元。“看这势头，产值肯定比去年多。想想这些，浑身有使不完的劲儿，嘴角忍不住上扬。” 望海满族乡共种植葡萄近1000亩，大棚200多座，分布在黑庄村、朱家村、曲河村等地。去年，葡萄产量近300万斤，除了销往本地及周边外，还深受河北、广东、江西等地的客商赞誉，产值1500万元左右。以目前的产业规模及发展态势，产值将比去年有明显提升。