Visualizing China's Dominance in Battery Manufacturing (2022-2027)
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Visualizing China’s Dominance in Battery Manufacturing (2022-2027P)

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battery manufacturing capacity by country infographic

Visualizing China’s Dominance in Battery Manufacturing

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With the world gearing up for the electric vehicle era, battery manufacturing has become a priority for many nations, including the United States.

However, having entered the race for batteries early, China is far and away in the lead.

Using the data and projections behind BloombergNEF’s lithium-ion supply chain rankings , this infographic visualizes battery manufacturing capacity by country in 2022 and 2027p, highlighting the extent of China’s battery dominance.

Battery Manufacturing Capacity by Country in 2022

In 2022, China had more battery production capacity than the rest of the world combined.

Rank Country 2022 Battery Cell
Manufacturing Capacity, GWh
% of Total
#1 🇨🇳 China 893 77%
#2 🇵🇱 Poland 73 6%
#3 🇺🇸 U.S. 70 6%
#4 🇭🇺 Hungary 38 3%
#5 🇩🇪 Germany 31 3%
#6 🇸🇪 Sweden 16 1%
#7 🇰🇷 South Korea 15 1%
#8 🇯🇵 Japan 12 1%
#9 🇫🇷 France 6 1%
#10 🇮🇳 India 3 0.2%
🌍 Other 7 1%
Total 1,163 100%

With nearly 900 gigawatt-hours of manufacturing capacity or 77% of the global total, China is home to six of the world’s 10 biggest battery makers . Behind China’s battery dominance is its vertical integration across the rest of the EV supply chain, from mining the metals to producing the EVs. It’s also the largest EV market , accounting for 52% of global sales in 2021.

Poland ranks second with less than one-tenth of China’s capacity. In addition, it hosts LG Energy Solution’s Wroclaw gigafactory, the largest of its kind in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Overall, European countries (including non-EU members) made up just 14% of global battery manufacturing capacity in 2022.

Although it lives in China’s shadow when it comes to batteries, the U.S. is also among the world’s lithium-ion powerhouses. As of 2022, it had eight major operational battery factories, concentrated in the Midwest and the South.

China’s Near-Monopoly Continues Through 2027

Global lithium-ion manufacturing capacity is projected to increase eightfold in the next five years. Here are the top 10 countries by projected battery production capacity in 2027:

Rank Country 2027P Battery Cell
Manufacturing Capacity, GWh
% of Total
#1 🇨🇳 China 6,197 69%
#2 🇺🇸 U.S. 908 10%
#3 🇩🇪 Germany 503 6%
#4 🇭🇺 Hungary 194 2%
#5 🇸🇪 Sweden 135 2%
#6 🇵🇱 Poland 112 1%
#7 🇨🇦 Canada 106 1%
#8 🇪🇸 Spain 98 1%
#9 🇫🇷 France 89 1%
#10 🇲🇽 Mexico 80 1%
🌍 Other 523 6%
Total 8,945 100%

China’s well-established advantage is set to continue through 2027, with 69% of the world’s battery manufacturing capacity.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is projected to increase its capacity by more than 10-fold in the next five years. EV tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act are likely to incentivize battery manufacturing by rewarding EVs made with domestic materials. Alongside Ford and General Motors, Asian companies including Toyota, SK Innovation, and LG Energy Solution have all announced investments in U.S. battery manufacturing in recent months.

Europe will host six of the projected top 10 countries for battery production in 2027. Europe’s current and future battery plants come from a mix of domestic and foreign firms, including Germany’s Volkswagen, China’s CATL, and South Korea’s SK Innovation.

Can Countries Cut Ties With China?

Regardless of the growth in North America and Europe, China’s dominance is unmatched.

Battery manufacturing is just one piece of the puzzle, albeit a major one. Most of the parts and metals that make up a battery —like battery-grade lithium, electrolytes, separators, cathodes, and anodes—are primarily made in China.

Therefore, combating China’s dominance will be expensive. According to Bloomberg , the U.S. and Europe will have to invest $87 billion and $102 billion , respectively, to meet domestic battery demand with fully local supply chains by 2030.

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Energy

Charted: Global Energy Consumption by Source, and Carbon Emissions (1900-2021)

Despite the advent of renewable sources of energy, fossil fuels and their carbon emissions, haven’t gone anywhere.

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Where does our energy come from, and how has this mix changed over the last 100 years?

These charts from Truman Du examine the complex relationship between energy production, consumption, and related carbon emissions using information from Our World in Data .

The World’s Energy Mix (1900-2021)

In the last 10 years, total global energy consumption has risen nearly 15% . Before that, between 2000 and 2010, it increased by nearly 25% .

And despite frequent headlines about green initiatives over the last few years, fossil fuels continue to account for the majority of total energy consumption.

This graphic shows the break up of the different sources of energy and how much they contribute to the total energy consumed in the world.

In 2021, 77% of global energy was sourced from coal, oil, and gas.

Even so, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro have gained traction since the year 2000. Hydropower was the biggest renewable energy source in 2021, accounting for 6.3% of total energy consumed.

A Fossil Fuel Heavy Mix

Taking a closer look at the breakdown of energy by source, another strong (if slightly counterintuitive) trend appears to be holding its own.

Coal has remained a key source of the world’s energy consumption since 1900. Despite its relative share decreasing over time, as of 2021, coal remains the second biggest energy source, accounting for 25% of the world’s energy needs. All figures below are in TWh (terrawatt-hours).

Global Energy Consumption 1900 1950 2000 2010 2021
Solar - - 3 TWh 94 TWh 2,702 TWh
Wind - - 93 TWh 962 TWh 4,872 TWh
Nuclear - - 7,323 TWh 7,374 TWh 7,031 TWh
Hydro 47 TWh 925 TWh 7,826 TWh 9,518 TWh 11,183 TWh
Gas 64 TWh 2,092 TWh 23,994 TWh 31,589 TWh 40,375 TWh
Oil 181 TWh 5,444 TWh 42,881 TWh 47,895 TWh 51,170 TWh
Coal 5,728 TWh 12,603 TWh 27,428 TWh 41,996 TWh 44,473 TWh
Total 12,131 TWh 28,564 TWh 122,745 TWh 152,966 TWh 176,431 TWh

From its crucial role in the Industrial Revolution, to its relative cheapness and useful byproducts, coal isn’t close to being phased out anytime soon. In fact, it has seen a resurgence in powering India and China’s growing economies in the 21st century.

As fossil fuel use has increased in absolute terms, so have carbon emissions.

Carbon Emissions in 1900 vs. 2020

China, the U.S., India, Russia, and Japan are the top five emitters in the world, responsible for 60% of the world’s total emissions in 2020.

As these countries include the world’s largest economic powers, some believe emissions are a necessary byproduct of economic growth. Though there are exceptions, this seems to have held true on average, as studies show a 1% change in GDP is correlated with a 0.072 change in carbon dioxide emissions.

When looking at the chart of carbon emissions below, China’s journey of economic growth in the latter half of the 20th century exemplifies this.

This chart compares the biggest carbon emitters between 2020 and 1900.

China’s emissions increased dramatically, rising by six times from 1978 to 2018 alone, driven primarily by economic growth.

Here’s a breakdown of the top 50 biggest emitters in the world in 2020 versus 1900. All figures are in units of 100 million tons, and are rounded for simplicity.

Rank Country 1900 Emissions Country 2020 Emissions
1 U.S. 6.6 China 106.7
2 U.K 4.2 U.S. 47.1
3 Germany 3.3 India 24.4
4 France 1.3 Russia 15.8
5 Poland 0.6 Japan 10.3
6 Belgium 0.5 Iran 7.5
7 Russia 0.5 Germany 6.4
8 Czechia 0.3 Saudi Arabia 6.3
9 Austria 0.3 South Korea 6
10 Canada 0.2 Indonesia 5.9
11 Japan 0.2 Canada 5.4
12 Netherlands 0.1 Brazil 4.7
13 Ukraine 0.1 South Africa 4.5
14 Italy 0.1 Turkey 3.9
15 India 0.1 Australia 3.9
16 Spain 0.1 Mexico 3.6
17 Slovakia 0.1 U.K. 3.3
18 Australia 0.1 Italy 3
19 Hungary 0.1 Poland 3
20 Sweden 0.1 Kazakhstan 2.9
21 Switzerland 0.1 France 2.8
22 Denmark 0.1 Taiwan 2.7
23 Kazakhstan 0 Malaysia 2.7
24 Norway 0 Thailand 2.6
25 Portugal 0 Vietnam 2.5
26 New Zealand 0 Pakistan 2.3
27 South Africa 0 Ukraine 2.1
28 Belarus 0 Egypt 2.1
29 Argentina 0 Iraq 2.1
30 Uzbekistan 0 Spain 2.1
31 Romania 0 Argentina 1.6
32 Indonesia 0 Algeria 1.5
33 Turkey 0 UAE 1.5
34 Mexico 0 Netherlands 1.4
35 Azerbaijan 0 Philippines 1.4
36 Chile 0 Nigeria 1.3
37 Moldova 0 Uzbekistan 1.1
38 Lithuania 0 Qatar 1.1
39 Estonia 0 Bangladesh 0.9
40 Turkmenistan 0 Colombia 0.9
41 Finland 0 Kuwait 0.9
42 Vietnam 0 Mongolia 0.9
43 Latvia 0 Czechia 0.9
44 Kyrgyzstan 0 Venezuela 0.8
45 Greece 0 Belgium 0.8
46 Serbia 0 Chile 0.8
47 Georgia 0 Turkmenistan 0.8
48 Tajikistan 0 Romania 0.7
49 Peru 0 Morocco 0.6
50 Bulgaria 0 Oman 0.6
Total World 19.5 World 319.2

The data also highlights the shift in the global economy between developed and developing economies.

In the 1900s, the largest emitters were the U.S. and other industrialized nations. In the later data set, developing economies like India, Brazil, and Indonesia have moved up the list as more significant carbon emitters as well.

Exporting Emissions

The accounting for carbon emissions can change with international trade, depending on how emissions are counted and attributed.

Should emissions generated from a manufactured good be assigned to the country where the good was made, or to the place where the good was ultimately consumed? Adjusting emissions based on imports and exports can help us look at these differences.

This chart compares production-based emissions versus consumption-based emissions by country.

Richer economies that import lots of goods, like the U.S., UK, or Germany tend to have higher consumption-based emissions.

Meanwhile, for high-growth countries like China, India, Iran, and South Africa, the inverse is true: their production-based emissions are higher than their consumption-based emissions.

Cumulative Carbon Emissions

When taking into account emissions from the Industrial Revolution to 2020, nearly every continent has contributed large amounts of carbon emissions—but key leaders emerge.

Here is the full breakdown:

This chart shows cumulative carbon emissions by country since 1900.

According to the UN, the world will need to cut emissions by 32 Gt more than what countries have already promised in order to achieve the 1.5 °C target outlined in the Paris Agreement.

As you can see in this data, how or if this happens will likely be driven largely by the future of our energy sources and consumption.

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