Why Wall Street, Israel and D.C. need the illegal drug trade

Contributing Editor Catherine Austin Fitts, who was a Managing Director at Dillon Read before becoming Assistant Secretary of Housing under George Bush and who holds an MBA from Wharton makes things very simple. She points out that the four largest states for the importation of drugs are New York, Florida, Texas and California. She then points out that the top four money laundering states in the U.S. (good for between 100 and 260 billion per year) are New York, Florida, Texas and California. No surprise there. Then she rips the breath from your lungs by pointing out that 80 per cent of all Presidential campaign funds come from - New York, Florida, Texas and California.

All Promises Broken - Volume II Hearings Held Without Notice - Behind Closed Doors

You Might Miss What's Next by Michael C. Ruppert

Posted June 29, 1999 - © Copyright 1999 From The Wilderness, Michael C. Ruppert. All Rights Reserved

On May 25, just four days after we published our last issue, under the totally misleading heading of "CIA and Drugs in Los Angeles" the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) held a closed door hearing. It took us until June 22 to determine that the Committee heard testimony that day from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Bromwich, who had not appeared before the Committee since the release of his report last year. And it also heard from current CIA Inspector General Britt Snider, who discussed Volume II of retired CIA IG Fred Hitz's report on the whole Contra war - not Los Angeles. Los Angeles was Volume I.

That's right - They have had the hearing on Volume II. They did it in secret. The press did not cover it. And it remains unclear, at this moment, as to whether HPSCI's final report will even be declassified or made available to the public in any form at all. This is not only a breach of every promise made to us in 1996 by both Houses; it is, in my opinion, a complete breach of trust between the government and the people.

In a June 22 conversation with HPSCI Deputy Staff Director, Tim Sample, I was told that the Committee "would like to wrap this up this summer." I was also told that the protocol for closing the investigation out had not been finalized. It is "not known" whether there will be another hearing. It is "not known" whether or if the Committee's final report will be declassified or ever released. It is "not known" if any additional witnesses will be called. I and retired DEA Agent Cele Castillo and presumably the other major figures in the investigation have all received letters asking us to submit whatever other evidence "we are aware of" before the Committee closes its work.

This is a sign of true desperation as the Republican controlled Committee must absolutely close the issue - to protect George W. Bush - before the 2000 Presidential campaign begins in earnest in October. It must also protect the biggest secret of all from the American people: The entire economy, and the entire political system itself, is currently hooked and dependent upon - drug money.

I have been saying for years that you could show a video of George Bush ordering drug runs, CIA agents laundering money and flying airplanes full of drugs and no one in power would do anything about it. They would not be able to. In this issue I will tell you, and the House, about something almost as damning - a partially authenticated letter, written on CIA letterhead and stamped "Top Secret", ostensibly written and signed by CIA Director William J. Casey in late 1986, that admits to direct participation in the drug trade [SEE STORY THIS ISSUE]. I have been aware of the existence of this letter for approximately five months. I have had it read to me in its entirety. It was not until I was given this last chance by HPSCI to present "all of the information of which you are aware on the allegations" that I was able to obtain an "On the Record" statement about the letter from Attorney Ray Kohlman. The letter will be admitted into evidence in a new trial motion for former Green Beret William Tyree in the near future. When that happens, From The Wilderness will publish the letter, both on the Internet and in the newsletter.

Now that the House has indicated its intent to close the matter for good and all it is time to bring the letter forward - for good and all. I will also see to it that the letter is widely distributed enough so that any of the major news organizations will be able to follow up on it. The information in this issue is enough for the House Intelligence Committee to go to the CIA and compel it to confirm or deny the letter's authenticity.

Reading The Right Map

If nothing happens with further hearings, or with the letter, I will tell you in advance exactly why.

Contributing Editor Catherine Austin Fitts, who was a Managing Director at Dillon Read before becoming Assistant Secretary of Housing under George Bush and who holds an MBA from Wharton makes things very simple. She points out that the four largest states for the importation of drugs are New York, Florida, Texas and California. She then points out that the top four money laundering states in the U.S. (good for between 100 and 260 billion per year) are New York, Florida, Texas and California. No surprise there. Then she rips the breath from your lungs by pointing out that 80 per cent of all Presidential campaign funds come from - New York, Florida, Texas and California.

Civics test: Who are the current governors of Texas and Florida?

From The Wilderness has been working on a story for an upcoming issue that will show conclusively, using testimony of law enforcement officers and U.S. Government records, that Dominican drug gangs, who dominate the trade in the northeast United States - especially New York and Pennsylvania - have been making regular campaign donations to the Clinton-Gore-Democratic camp since the early 90s. California drug sales are currently split between Democratically allied crime factions and entrenched hard core Republican strongholds from the Reagan era. People who shudder at the thought of the Chinese buying into presidential politics would choke if they knew how much drug money was involved.

Why? Again, the answer is simpler than you might think. While the Department of Justice estimates that $100 billion in drug funds are laundered in the U.S. each year, other research, including research material from the Andean Commission of Jurists cited by author Dan Russell in his soon to be published book Drug War place the figure at around $250 billion per year. Catherine Austin Fitts places the figure at $250 to $300 billion. Given the fact that the UN estimated that in the early 1990s world retail volume in the illegal drugs was $440 billion, $250 billion seems about right. Fitts, using her Wall Street experience as an investment banker is then quick to point out that the multiplier effect (x6) of $250 billion laundered would result in $1.5 trillion dollars per year in U.S. cash transactions resulting from the drug trade. How many jobs does $1.5 trillion represent? Why do President's get re-elected? As Bill Clinton's staff recognized in 1992, "It's the economy -Stupid!"

During the Contra years, when the CIA and Bill Clinton were swimming in cocaine, and Arkansas became the only state in the Union to ever issue bearer bonds (laundry certificates), employment in Arkansas rose to an all time high because there was so much money floating around. So what if they donÕt count all the dead bodies like two young boys Kevin Ives and Don Henry, shot, bludgeoned and dismembered on a railroad track after witnessing CIA drug drops. "It's the economy - Stupid!"

The Pop

Corporations trading on Wall Street, including many implicated in money laundering schemes where products are sold with questionable bookkeeping throughout drug producing regions, all have stock values that are based upon annual net profits. Known as "price to earnings" or "The Pop" the multiplier effect in stock values is sometimes as much as a factor of thirty. Thus, for a firm like GE or Piper Aircraft to have an additional $10 million in net profits based upon the drug trade, the net increase in these companies' stock value could be as much as $300,000,000. Did GE make a $10 million net profit on consumer products in Latin America last year? Easily. And since GE owns NBC is there a chance that accurate reporting on the drug trade and CIA's involvement therein might hurt their stock?

Disney owns ABC and has a huge retail, resort and entertainment empire that benefits from the "drug multiplier." Would ABC consider hurting its parent's stock value? Ronald Reagan's CIA Director, William Casey had been Chief Counsel to Cap Cities Broadcasting until 1981. His old law firm represented Cap Cities when it bought the ABC network in 1985. ABC's Peter Jennings, by the way, had been doing a series of investigative reports on the CIA drug bank (and successor to the Nugan Hand bank) Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham and Wong when the buyout was initiated. Cap Cities (not surprisingly) secured SEC approval in record time and effectively and immediately silenced Peter Jennings who had previously refused to back down from Casey's threats. Thereafter ABC was referred to as "The CIA network."

I have no doubt that the ABC "object lesson" was front and center for CNN founder Ted Turner and Time-Warner when Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell and (CIA vet) John Singlaub put the pressure on in the wake of April Oliver's 1998 "dead bang accurate" Sarin gas stories connecting CIA to the killing of American defectors.

Every major media corporation in the country trades on Wall Street. There are no "independents" left and the American people are left with the increasing cognitive dissonance of recognizing that they are being fed useless bullshit. I wonder how they would respond to real a news corporation if they saw or heard one.

It's Legal to be Bad

It is also perfectly legal for a Wall Street brokerage or investment bank to go "offshore" and borrow once laundered drug money to finance a corporate merger or leveraged buyout (LBO). Why do this? If you were a major multi-national corporation in a cutthroat competition to buy a company with a hundred million in sales (which might boost your stock value $3 billion) you would be willing to pay a seemingly outrageous price. [How much would you be willing to spend to make $3 billion? - 2.9?]. All an LBO is is an acquisition financed on borrowed money. If you are Goldman-Sachs, arranging the deal, and you can borrow laundered drug money at five per cent or a bank's money at ten per cent where are you going to go? Remember that since the cost of capital is lower using laundered drug money you are now able to outbid all the other competitors because your total payback stays the same. Does this actually happen? In 1998 the Russians asked for only $18 billion to save their entire economy. With $440 billion a year moving around how could it not happen?

And a major drug dealer, like a Carlos Lehder, a Pablo Escobar, an Amado Fuentes, a Matta Ballesteros or a Hank Rohn, sitting around with ten billion dollars of useless illegal money, is more than happy to loan it at five percent because his money is now legal and liquid. And, if one goes to prison or dies, there is always another dealer to fill the void so that the supply is not interrupted. The drug trade now has power because it is underwriting the investments of the largest corporations in the world. It underwrites politicians. It has hooked the gringos on Wall Street whose own children sometimes die from its drugs. Wall Street cannot afford to let the drug barons fall. Congress cannot afford to let the drug barons fall. Presidents and their campaign finances cannot afford to let the drug barons fall. Why? Because our top down economy, controlled by one per cent, cannot take the risk of letting competition (business or political) have the edge of using drug money. The third world has its revenge for European colonialism but Wall Street still calls the shots. And for every million dollars of increased sales or increased revenues from a buyout, the stock equity of the one per cent who control Wall Street, increases twenty to thirty times.

Remember - The National Security Act of 1947, which created the CIA, was written by Wall Street lawyer and banker Clark Clifford. Clark Clifford is the man who brought the CIA backed drug bank BCCI into the United States. Allen Dulles who virtually designed the CIA and served as its Director, and his brother John Foster who was Eisenhower's Secretary of State, were Wall Street lawyers from the firm Sullivan and Cromwell. Dwight Eisenhower's personal liaison with the CIA was none other than Nelson Rockefeller. William Casey was Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Richard Nixon. Former CIA Directors from William Raborn to William Webster to Robert Gates to James Woolsey to John Deutch all sit or have sat on the Boards of the largest, richest and most powerful companies in America.

As we near the millenium one thing is clear to anyone who sees the economic system clearly. The system is on the verge of implosion. Privately owned and operated prison companies trade on Wall Street. One of those, Wackenhut, is a virtual CIA proprietary. We have entered, at the end of the industrial age, a phase of growth where we must incarcerate an ever expanding number of people to sustain the growth of all the companies profiting from law enforcement, crime, imprisonment and war. And the overheated stock market must grow or collapse. The reason this nation spends five dollars on prisons for every one dollar on higher education - even after seven straight years of falling crime rates - is because there is more profit in it in the current economic model. Hell, we have turned police departments into profit making entities through asset forfeiture. This is insane!

This economic model is patently no more sustainable than a snake eating its own tail can be considered nourishment. Organized crime has become the government and it seeks to make all citizens become subliminally guilty participants, fearing for their own livelihoods, believing that the system will collapse if someone really tackles the issues facing us - as surely as the iceberg faced the Titanic.

The system will collapse anyway - unless the economic model is turned upside down - unless a way is found or offered which will make it more profitable than all other ways - to do the right thing. The only thing that will sustain the current economic system, and its dependence on drug capital, is a police state. New enforcement programs involving HUD and the Department of Justice such as Project "Safe Streets" and "Weed and Seed" - along with their corresponding butchery of the Constitution - show an emerging police state already. The conduct of Congress and the White House in the CIA drug investigations further demonstrate the arrogance, the fear and the ever-increasing sloppiness of a system out of control.

The veneer, the illusion that we live under the rule of law cracks before our eyes, grows thinner and ever more difficult to sell with each passing minute. All at once the fears of the right of a New World Order and the fears of the left, of new concentration camps and genocide suddenly become one and the same thing. Dogma matters little to the oppressed. Pain tastes the same whether you call it Fascism or Communism. Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas, co-founder of the Medellin Cartel, who was given a life sentence in 1990, now enjoys the sunshine at his home in the Bahamas. He frolics regularly with gaming magnate and owner of the Atlantis Hotel Sol Kerzner. His guests at parties include Kevin Costner who played (I am sorry to say) both Elliot Ness and Jim Garrison. Manuel Noriega will probably be out of prison before Bill Clinton leaves office. The Kosovo Liberation Army has been funded with drug money and has trained with Islamic terrorist Osama bin Laden. The son of a documented drug trafficker, who very few people in this country even know anything about, is "scheduled" to become our next President, simply because he has the most money and he and his backers control most of "The Pop."

Source: From the Wilderness

Let's not forget the massive amounts of money made by Israel thru the manufacture and sales of Ecstasy.

From an article in Haaretz

According to a report issued in 2003 by the U.S. State Department, Israel is at the center of international trafficking in Ecstasy and Israeli crime organizations, some of them linked to similar organizations from Russia, achieved a dominant status in the Ecstasy market in Europe, and went on to control the drug's distribution in the States. "Israeli drug-trafficking organizations are the main source of distribution of the drug to groups in the U.S, using express mail services, commercial airlines, and recently also using air cargo services," the report states. The authorities do not provide official data on the scope of the Israeli trade in Ecstasy, but the most commonly heard estimate is that Israeli criminals control no less than 75 percent of the Ecstasy market in the U.S.

Whether Israeli's are running moving compaines, or learning how to pilot 747's or selling illegal drugs to American kids, there's just no end to the amount of subversion they can get into here in the U.S.

Gov. Napolitano Approves Prohibition on Real ID (ARIZONA)

Contact: Senator Karen S. Johnson (602-926-3160)

Ernest Hancock

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano signed a bill today that prohibits the implementation of the REAL ID in Arizona. SB2677 received a Final vote of approval in the House last week by an overwhelming margin of 51 to 1. Napolitano’s signature was uncertain until today when she signed the bill into law.

The bill prohibits implementation of the REAL ID Act of 2005, which was passed by Congress as part of a supplemental spending bill for tsunami relief and the War on Terror. The bill did not receive a hearing in either the House or the Senate, and the public was largely unaware of it until it had already been signed into law.

“Everyone thinks that the REAL ID is just about protecting us against terrorism,” said co-sponsor Senator Karen Johnson (R-18). “But it really represents a cash cow for technology companies as well as the birth of the National ID card, complete with all the biometric information that technology can handle – face recognition, fingerprints, etc.”



“Corporations which specialize in selling identity cards stand to gain millions of dollars in profits if the Real ID Act is implemented,” said Johnson, “so, of course, they’re eager for everyone to be required to carry a National ID card everywhere they go.” Two of those corporations are Digimarc ID Systems and L-1 – the Number 1 and Number 2 companies for the manufacture of state driver’s licenses and identity cards. L-1 is considered the main driver behind the REAL ID and last year had nearly $100 million in federal contracts involving identity cards. Digimarc spent $350,000 in the first six months of 2007 lobbying Congress on the Real ID Act. Apparently the two companies are soon to be merged, resulting in a powerhouse corporation, pushing the “identification-as-security” concept to the maximum in order to increase company profits as they add more and more biometric features to state driver’s licenses.

“It’s misguided to think that identification equals security,” says Johnson. “Identification is just identification – it doesn’t prove intent and it doesn’t stop terrorists. Indeed, terrorists will forge documents – as they always have – to obtain the identification they want to commit crimes. Making U.S. citizens carry identity papers to board a plane or enter a government building stinks,” says Johnson. “It’s odious, onerous, and a violation of our civil liberties.”



“I refuse to be tagged and numbered,” said Johnson. “Requiring people to carry papers takes away their freedom. There are other, better ways to stop terrorism and to protect us against criminals. The federal government needs to butt out and let the states handle driver licensing. It’s not the business of the Dept. of Homeland Security to tell us how to run our state.”




Real ID – SB2677


1. Proponents always claim that the sole purpose of the Real ID is to prevent another 9/11-type attack by disrupting terrorists travel. That is bogus. If the government really wanted to prevent such an attack, they would secure our borders, which would (1) cost less than implementing Real ID, (2) would be more effective at keeping terrorists out, and (3) would be less intrusive and less inconvenient for American citizens. Until the borders are secure, all the rosy pleas for the Real ID are just so much hogwash.

2. The Real ID will cost the states billions of dollars. The Dept. of Transportation estimates that in Arizona alone, it will cost $40 to $70 million to implement just in the first year, and $15 to $20 million in subsequent years. But they really don’t have a clue – they don’t know what the regulations are going to be yet. They are just estimating. It will depend on what the Rules say when they are finally issued.

They already do some things that will be part of the requirements. For example, they already check citizenship, or whether or not someone is legally authorized to be in the country. So that would not be an additional expense. But even factoring in that some things required by REAL ID are already being handled, the $40 to $70 million is over and above what we already do!!!

3. The Real ID is an invasion of privacy. Why should so much personal information be compiled on one place for so many people to have access to?
- medical history
- social security number
- insurance information


4. The Real ID increases the risk of Identity Theft. Identity theft is a major problem in Arizona already. Throwing everyone’s personal information – including social security numbers, birth dates, medical information, driver’s license and auto licensing information, etc. – into one massive data base just makes it easier for identity thieves to harvest identities for fraudulent purposes. The Real ID requires all Arizona driver’s license information to be compiled with all the information for the other 49 states and the District of Columbia into one massive database that will be accessible by thousands of clerks and government employees throughout the country. This is a horrendous idea – an invitation to identity theft on a massive scale.

US House approves war funds bill

Sorry US tax payers about the levee's, bridges and the crippled infrastructure, you know you can't have everything. Geo Bush



The White Houses says it supports the legislation
The US House of Representatives has approved more funding to pay for another year of fighting in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

In a 268-155 vote, the Democrat-held House agreed to provide the Pentagon with $162bn (£82bn).

But the bill did not include any timetables for withdrawing US troops from Iraq. President George W Bush opposes such deadlines.

The bill is now expected to be debated in the Senate in the coming days.

In a statement, the White House said it supported the measure.

Criticism

The bill allows the Pentagon to pay for US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until mid-2009.

It also envisages a significant increase in college education benefits for returning soldiers and help for US unemployed and flood victims in the Midwest.

If approved by the Senate, it will bring to more than $650bn (£330bn) the amount provided by Congress for the war in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Some Democrats criticised the bill for not setting deadlines for pulling out US troops from Iraq.

"Let us hope this is the last time another dollar will be spent without constraint, without conditions," Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Welcoming the result of the vote, House Republican Minority leader John Boehner said: "I'm glad we're there."

Russia's Lavrov warns against attack on Iran

Folks, Russia is not going to stand idle if the US or Israel attacts Iran. This is further reasons to turn the war mungering off torwards Iran. Iran does not have nuclear war heads, only Israel has them.

Tom


By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV – 2 hours ago

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister on Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

Sergey Lavrov said Iran should be engaged in dialogue and encouraged to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency.

Lavrov made the statement when asked to comment on an Israeli Cabinet member's statement earlier this month that Israel could attack Iran if it does not halt its nuclear program.

"I hope the actual actions would be based on international law," Lavrov said. "And international law clearly protects Iran's and anyone else's territorial integrity."

Israel's military refused to confirm or deny a report Friday that its warplanes staged a major rehearsal this month for a possible attack on Iran.

The New York Times report quoted U.S. officials as saying more than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s staged the maneuver over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June. It said the aircraft flew more than 900 miles (1,450 kilometers), roughly the distance from Israel to Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, and that the exercise included refueling tankers and helicopters capable of rescuing downed pilots.

Lavrov said Russia had asked both the United States and Israel to provide factual information to back their claims that Iran was working to build atomic weapons. "So far we have seen none, and the same conclusion was made by the International Atomic Energy Agency," he said.

"It's absolutely not right to speak matter-of-factly that Iran continues building nuclear weapons," Lavrov added.

Iran insists its enrichment program is meant only to generate electricity. But because of its past clandestine activities, including some that could have applications for weapons research, the international community is concerned that Tehran wants to enrich uranium to a purity suitable for use in atomic bombs.

The IAEA suggested in a report to the U.N. Security Council last month that Iran was stonewalling investigators and possibly withholding information crucial to determining whether it conducted research on nuclear weapons.

Lavrov insisted that Iran must be encouraged to continue its cooperation with the U.N. monitoring agency.

"As long as the IAEA reports to us progress in its relations with Iran, as long as Iran closes the issues which were of concern to the IAEA and this process continues, we should avoid any steps which could undermine this very important process," he said, speaking in English.

Russia has maintained close ties with Iran and is building its first nuclear power plant in the southern port of Bushehr, which is expected to go on line later this year. It has backed limited U.N. sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, but has opposed the U.S. push for harsher measures.

"The key to resolving the Iranian issue is involvement," Lavrov said. "We must involve Iran, engage Iran in resolving the Iranian nuclear program, ... but also engage Iran in constructive, respectful, serious dialogue on Iraq and Afghanistan, on the Middle East in general."

China's booming PV market: Filled with smoke and fire

by Tom Morrow and Dylen Liu

With ten highly prominent initial public offerings (IPOs) racked up already, China's solar energy industry is poised to make a major impact on worldwide polysilicon capacity and solar cell production. However, determining who will succeed among the new firms in the domestic and international market remains highly uncertain as it is likely that at least some publicly announced plans will not materialize into actual projects, write Tom Morrow and Dylen Liu.

In the last two years, China’s ten IPOs have raised nearly US$2 billion to meet the world’s growing demand for PV-related products and services. The attractiveness of PV to Chinese industrial policy is also understandable due to China’s internal demand for energy, the exciting global economic projections for the solar industry, and the alignment of PV manufacturing needs with China’s current industrial and technology capabilities. Indeed, China’s domestic market for accumulated PV installation is expected to reach 300 MW by 2010, up from only 80 MW accumulated and 10 MW yearly installation in 2006. But the Chinese PV industry is planning to more than meet its domestic needs.

Since 2004, the country’s solar cell production and capacity have reached growth rates from 100%–400% per year, contributing to the global shortage of polysilicon feedstocks. Cell capacity of 4 GW has been announced for this year and, after growing a projected 40% in 2008 so far, China’s solar wafer capacity is also expected to reach 4 GW. However, how much polysilicon will be available and who will be able to obtain it remains extremely uncertain.

Unbalanced polysilicon supply chain

In response to China’s - and global – demand, a swathe of polysilicon production projects have been instigated. Reports of new polysilicon projects in China have appeared regularly in business, technology and trade press over the last year and in 2007, SEMI identified 27 separate polysilicon production projects that had been announced.

Furthermore, the SEMI analysis of the Chinese PV market is currently in progress and these estimates are preliminary. Investment for these projects comes from a variety of sources, especially silicon manufacturers, traditional energy producers and chemical companies. Of these 27 projects, seven projects will rely upon China-based technologies, while six will source technology from Russia, five from the Europe or the US, and four projects will be a partnered combination of Chinese and international technology. These projects will be located throughout China, with the leading regions being the western part of the country, which will see 11 projects, and the Yangtze delta, with four projects.

However, as of December 2007, 20 of these projects had begun construction and of the identified 27 polysilicon projects that have been announced - equating to nearly 30,000 tonnes of polysilicon capacity by the 2008 year-end - SEMI estimates less than 5000 tonnes will actually be produced this year. By 2010, of the 70,000 tonne capacity that has been announced, SEMI projects that only 30,000 tonnes will reach the market. In response to the discrepancy between announced and expected capacity, nearly all Chinese cell and module manufacturers have entered into long-term, expensive, supply contracts, although these contract prices are still much lower than the spot market prices, which were around $400/kg in December 2007.

Nonetheless, the list of new developments in China continues to grow. This month, for example, the DuPont chemicals company announced it will soon begin construction on a PV research centre in Hong Kong and a manufacturing facility in Shenzhen to support ‘the rapidly growing photovoltaic (PV) solar energy industry.’

DuPont expects growth in the photovoltaic market to exceed 30% in each of the next several years and the company has made significant investments in product development and capacity expansions to help keep pace with the demand.

The company says that expansions in Hong Kong and Shenzhen will provide new offerings to serve the amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film market, adding that the growth rate for thin film is projected to be approximately twice as high as demand for c-Si. DuPont expects this increase to drive specifications for both new and existing products that serve the thin film industry.

‘Through investments in materials, technology development and manufacturing, DuPont is accelerating its ability to deliver innovations that will improve the lifetime and efficiency of photovoltaic modules, and also have enough production capability to help keep pace with the fast rising global demand,’ said David B. Miller, group vice president of DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies.

An emerging solar equipment industry

In addition to polysilicon, China will also benefit from localized silicon crystal growth. Xi’an University of Technology, Jingyi and Jingyuntong are all qualified vendors for mono crystal ingot growth equipment. Silicon ingot capacity will reach 20,000 tonnes in monocrystalline and nearly 23,000 tonnes in polycrystalline in 2008. In addition to polysilicon, solar grade wafers and solar cells and modules, China is expected to witness the development of an emerging domestic equipment industry, representing the entire production process including thermal processes, plasma etch, wet bench, PECVD and semi-automated screen printing. Supporting equipment and component vendors are also expected to emerge in China.

Indeed, in April Trina Solar announced that five of its key suppliers have signed investment agreements to establish production facilities in the Changzhou Trina Photovoltaic Industrial Park. The suppliers, which include Guangzhou ChienSong Grind Material Co., Ltd., Hubei Feilihua Quartz Glass Co., Ltd., Ltd., Suzhou Good-Ark Electronics Co., Ltd., and a European manufacturer of PV glass, produce products such as reclaimed slurry, crucibles, junction boxes, and low iron glass used in the production of solar PV modules. These companies are targeting total investments of over US$275 million in Changzhou. ‘We are very excited by the advancement of the Changzhou Trina Photovoltaic Industrial Park and the opportunity to form strong partnerships with each of these key suppliers,’ said Jifan Gao, Trina Solar’s Chairman and CEO.

The five suppliers plan to build production facilities in Changzhou and enter into long-term supply agreements with Trina Solar. Their presence in Changzhou will Trina ensure a steady supply of its key supply chain components, while providing the company with lower material costs, among other logistical advantages.

The business model for many of these new solar energy firms, such as Suntech, Yingli and Jing’ao, follows a vertically integrated path. Some companies such as LDK or CSUN, however, are planning to specialize in a limited number of steps in the supply chain.

In a recent survey of Chinese manufacturers by SEMI, 88% of panel suppliers are set to lower or stabilize prices by reducing waste, with 28% saying this will form part of their strategy, a further 27% intend to increase automation, 25% upgrading management systems and a fifth aiming for vertical integration

Chinese PV manufacturers are also garnering recognition on the global stage. For example, based on its recent analysis of the solar energy development market, Frost & Sullivan recognized Suntech with the 2008 Global Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award for solar energy development. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated unparalleled excellence in design and delivery of high-quality PV, in this case for Suntech’s low-cost, high-quality, innovative, and energy-efficient PV cells and modules and system integration solutions.

‘The company’s pioneering success in developing energy-efficient, cost-effective and customizable building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems and crystalline PV cells, and modules for solar energy conversion into electricity are highly commendable,’ says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Mary John, adding ‘It has gone beyond just meeting global energy needs to anticipating them as well.’ The company is export focused and ranks among the top three suppliers in the three largest solar markets – Germany, Spain, and the United States.

In conclusion, while the global PV industry is certain to grow over the next several years, considerable uncertainty surrounds the Chinese market. Polysilicon shortages will remain in effect for the next 18 months and sources of future supply in China have not yet reached high confidence levels. Average efficiency of China-based PV technology is approximately 16–17% and top tier players are expected to improve this to 19% by the end of this year. Aside from materials, human resources will always remain limited in such a rapidly expanding industry. There will be a tough year from second half of 2008.

Even so, China’s solar cell capacity is expected to grow by some 68% in 2008 and with polysilicon constraints set to ease in the second half of 2009.

Chinese solar cell manufacturers need to cooperate with equipment & material vendors to improve the productivity and reduce the cost and the whole industry should collaborate to both advocate government policy to support a domestic market and improve competency in cost reductions.

Nonetheless, regardless of the ultimate scope and nature of the future industry, China’s role in the global industry will certainly grow and - like most industrial segments in China - achieve global impact.

Tom Morrow and Dylen Liu work with semiconductor industry group SEMI.
e-mail: dliu@semi.org
www.pvgroup.org






Figure 1: China solar cell capacity and production. Source: semi






Figure 2: China solar grade silicon ingot capacity. Source: semi

COMPASSION BEGINS WITH MYSELF

Compassion begins with myself. It is the doorway to gratefulness ~ which is the lifeblood of soul consciousness and the Unified Field : Allen L Roland

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerst not the beam that is in thine own eye? : Holy Bible, Matthew 7:3

Not the faults of others, nor what others have done or left undone, but one's own deeds, done and left undone, should one consider: 50th Stanza from the Dhammapada (The Path of Wisdom)

Believers, let not a group of you mock another. Perhaps they are better than you. - - - Let not one of you find faults in another nor let anyone of you defame another: Holy Quran, Chapter 49:11 (Al-Hujarat)

You see in others what you actually see in yourself: The Guru Dronacharya in Mahabharata

I went in search of a bad person; I found none as I, seeing myself, found me the worst : Kabir, Saint Poet of North India

I wonder whether there is any one in this generation who accepts reproof, for if one says to him: Remove the mote from between your eyes, he would answer: Remove the beam from between your eyes!: Talmud: Baraitha: Rashi (1050-1115 AD) quoting Rabbi Tarfon

It is easy to see the faults of others, but not so easy to see one’s own faults: Gautama Buddha (563 - 483 BC)

$165 Billion for Iraq, $2.7 Billion for the US

Congress is starting a debate on the budget bill, which has $165 billion in funding for the war in Iraq, but only $2.7 billion for emergency spending in the US. That's a 61:1 ratio in favor of spending your tax dollars in Iraq, rather than here in the US.

The US infrastructure is failing, and levees all over the Midwest are failing, or getting ready to fail. Flooding is destroying homes and businesses across the region. Roads and bridges in America are in serious disrepair, and schools across the country are in need of renovation. The electric grid is a disaster. Investment in alternative energy and medical research to cure diseases is abysmally low.

I think its time for US taxpayers to demand that we rebuild America, not Iraq.

Contact your Congressional Representative now, before the vote. US taxpayers will save over $2 billion per week after we end the Iraq occupation. We will also save US lives, which is even more important.

Do it now.
(202) 224-3121