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China has set a target for the large-scale deployment of solid-state batteries by 2030, but CATL believes that achieving low-cost electric vehicles using the technology will remain more difficult than beginning production. Obstacles include manufacturing maturity, cost reduction, and improvements in performance and stability.
Plans to expand AI data centers are facing growing opposition in the United States because of their consumption of energy and water, as well as noise and emissions. In Philadelphia, opposition is tied to the history of the Grays Ferry neighborhood and an oil refinery that closed after a 2019 explosion, although there are still no formal construction proposals.
A BloombergNEF report expects the expansion of AI-related data centers to raise U.S. natural gas consumption to about 18 billion cubic feet per day by 2035, surpassing Germany and Japan combined. This could put pressure on gas prices and electricity utility bills, in addition to causing a significant increase in emissions.