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Britain's state-owned energy company will not be allowed to use solar panels linked to Chinese slave labour, under changes to government plans (www.bbc.com)

submitted 1 day ago by Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.org to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will introduce an amendment to legislation to ensure there is no slavery in GB Energy's supply chains.

It comes after ministers rejected an amendment to a bill last month that would have prevented that state-owned GB Energy spending money on solar panels where supply chains had "credible evidence of modern slavery".

The production of solar panels in China's Xinjiang region has been linked to the alleged exploitation of Uyghur Muslims.

[...]

A government source told the BBC since then "there has been an acknowledgement of the argument that GB Energy should be an industry leader".

There has already been praise from the international community for the U-turn. Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, told the BBC: "I really salute the UK government's decision."

He said that the materials for green technology are important but "should really be produced in a socially and environmentally acceptable way".

Labour MPs who have been calling for the change are seeing it as a victory.

[...]

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[–] Emperor@feddit.uk 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I live in hope that this will kickstart a solar panel industry here, rather than us just finding a developing country with cheap labour and lax laws.

[–] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Labour is too expensive here. Especially for something like fabrication of solar panels. Unless GB Energy wants to subside the industry for a decade or more? We can automate a lot of it but we'll still be more expensive than countries in developing markets.

[–] GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 1 points 1 day ago

With the right investment into production automation, and classifying energy generation as a national security factor, I could see us building our own at prices that make sense.
The real kicker I guess is going to be the supply of rare earths required.

[–] scholar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

We have OxfordPV, though I believe they manufacture the panels in Germany. I'm sure there are reasons for this but cheap manpower won't be one.

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

It could but I don't see it being a big jobs spinner. I'd expect us to automate the hell out of it.

Of course, the issue still remains that the materials need to be supplied from "clean" sources.