Cleaner Greener China

With the memories of tainted milk, eggs, and chicken still fresh in the minds of citizens in China, citizens in their role as consumers are beginning to catalyze the organics market.

One of the newest entrants I have been introduced to is Tongchu Organics.

According to the site, their farm in Fengxian (south Shanghai):

is about 60,000 sq. m of land which contains 2 green houses (5,000 sq. m) and 90 plastic greenhouses (20,000 sq. m) to carry out cultivation by focusing on soil, water and farming methods.

With a full online menu to select from, and decent prices (some farms are getting expensive), I am planning to add them to my O farm trip later this month.

Greener Products food, organic

For those of you in China looking to learn more about the organic market in China, or see which products, equipment, and technology are available in China, you should check out the Green Food Expo this weekend.

According to the Shanghai Daily report:

The four-day expo will be hosted at the Shanghai Agriculture Exhibition Hall in Hongqiao. A total of 681 leading agricultural companies from 40 provinces, cities and districts will market their products including grains, oil, fruit, vegetables, tea, poultry, livestock, eggs, as well as dairy and aquatic products.

Green food refers to pollution-free food with good quality and high nutrition. Such food is called green food in China because it is always related to ecological environment. Officials said the category falls between organic and regularly produced food.

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China’s Energy – Challenges and Strategies by Professor Ni Weidou Academician, Chinese Academy of Science

“We are running out of the atmosphere faster than we’re running out of fossil fuels”
5 Challenges in China: 1) Huge pressure for energy by 2020. From 2010 to 2020 energy demand will double according to estimates that are under-calculating; 2) Shortage of liquid fuels leading to oil imports of up to 60% by 2015; 3) Severe pollution: 30-40% of China’s territory already suffers from acid rain; 4) Huge increase in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions; 5) Energy supply to 800 million rural residents in the face of rapid urbanization leading to more energy demand as they move because urbanites consume 3.5 times more energy than rural residents.

According to Professor Ni, the only way to mitigate the shortage of liquid fuel is via coal alternatives such as F-T synthetic fuel, Methanol, or DME (dimethyl ether). Coal produced methanol/DME is good for residential use but producing it emits a lot of CO2. A way out is “polygeneration” where the CO2 is captured. The reason wind power is not a viable option for Methanol production is because wind power areas are usually too far away from load centers and grid structures are still very weak in China.

Energy Research at Berkeley by Professor Sastry
CA has a carbon roadmap that is incumbent on currently available technologies.
Need to look at the left side of the equation….WHO CONSUMES? = Transportation, Industries, Buildings.
Buildings: 60% residential 40% commercial. Bldgs matter because they use 72% of all electricity and 55% natural gas.

Big problem is that no one monitors buildings after they are built. Buildings are just assumed to be efficient according to their design plan, not if they actually deliver. To get around this, Berkeley has created “smart dust” where micro sensors are put into buildings to monitor energy efficiency and demand response.
For innovative way to produce methanol and other fuels by the sun (like splitter water by sunlight), check out the HELIOS Initiative (www.climatechange.ca.gov/events/2008_conference/presentations/2008-09-10/Elaine_Chandler.pdf)

Trying to use the most abundant material in the earth’s crust (rust) to create future solar panels.
Envisions a future where fuel manufacturers tell engine/car manufacturers what they need rather than the car telling fuel manufacturers now.

Working on thermoelectrics where waste heat is converted into electricity

Transportation is the no. 1 producer of GHGs in developed nations and is on the rise on China. Berkeley is working with Chengdu to design an affordable transportation system that will use cell phones to map real-time traffic.

Sees nuclear plants as a major player and green cement (cement that can sequester CO2)

Read more…

Greener Companies, Greener People, Greener Products, Greener Tech, Policies and Issues cleantech, Energy, events, sustainable development, urban planning, water

Steve Papermaster - Powershift Ventures - President Council of Advisers on Science and Technology

US Energy issues 2008/ 2009
- volatility in oil markets has highlighted the concept of “global markets”
- investment oil exploration and production resumed, but many projects have been delayed
- ethanol drove food prices up

Trends that are historically not predictable on the short term, have been.. expectations for 200 USD became common.

Demand drivers
- fundamental supply constraints / growing demand
- oil deman in 1960 20mm/ 2008 87mm/ day
- US imported 2008 11.3mbd

US peaked in 2005 from transportation efficiencies

Key drivers going forward:
- Demand growth (GDP/ population)
-Supply growth (resources, infrastructure)
- environmental constraints (local pollution/ climate Change)
- security of supply (import dependence/ competition)
- in the middle of all these is technology

2008/9 policy
- energy independence and security act
- 2009 federal energy policy
– 150 billion, 10yr proposal for energy technology
– 1 million PHEV cars by 2015
– accelerate smart grid
– cap and trade policy
– renewable energy plans
- clean coal and nuclear

Technology Developments
- biofuels
- PHEV plug-in hybrids
- Electricity production (nuke, smart grid, renewable energy)
- electricity generation
- next generation solar, wind, geothermal
- energy storage

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Shangahiist has a short interview of Denise Cheng, founder of Kiwing Foods, that I found interesting.

How does a group of people that has no experience in the business of farming go about doing it?

We brought in experts that had done work at the School of Agriculture here. We also are surrounded by farmland that is tended to by small farming families. It was just a matter of bringing in the right people at the beginning. It’s not as if members of my family and I are the ones out there actually planting everything. But these experts know the best growing practices, know which seeds are the best.

and on the industry itself

What is your take on the local organic food industry in China? Is there increasing awareness and interest and thus more competition?

This is already happening. Around Shanghai, there is a growing interest in organics in bigger cities like Hangzhou and Nanjing. There are actually organic farms and companies that have been around for over a decade, but it has been a bumpy a ride. From my knowledge, a lot of them have gone out of business, and those that have hung around may only now be seeing the kind of market develop the way they anticipated earlier on.

With their home delivery business still not off the ground, when I spoke to Kiwing at the recent Greenovate party, they told me that they have been operating on a wholesale basis and will continue to seek opportunities there.. and given the order size and stability of restaurants is better, that is clearly a smart move in such a competitive market.

Quickly turning into a sizeable industry here in Shanghai, a number of new farms open their farm doors and have placed their goods in City Shop, JiuGuang, Lianhua, Carrefour, and others.

Shanghai seems to be a great market for products that often seen as a luxury, and while I have my own ideas for organic in Shanghai, I must admit that I am enjoying seeing these groups come online at the speed they are.  they are entering at a time when confidence in local goods is at an all time low, and that will open doors.

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Yesterday, a fashion show was held in Wuhu Anhui.

Unlike, the ones that grace the runways of Paris, London, New York, or Shanghai, the clothing highlighted at this show was designed by elementary kids using recycled materials.

Fashion creations made of newspapers, packaging bags, plastic bottles and leaves designed by 280 students were displayed here on Thursday.

All jokes aside, I must give the organizers credit for taking this innitiative. As I have pointed out in several posts here and on Crossroads, it is important to get them while they are young before they develop bad habits.

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The development of new materials in China is nothing new.

If you visit any investment zone in China, it will list “new materials” as one of its pillar industries, and as we are seeing with the use of carbon.. sometimes an old material can become a “sustianable material” when used in a new manner.

This week, according to the article Plastics could help China’s sustainability, 60 members of the plastics industry and government came together in Chongqing for the Plastics Sustainable Development Annual Conference and Plastics & Automobiles Sustainable Development Forum.

For me, the interesting statistic that was the higlight of the article (and a strong sign of opportunity) was:

Cars in developed countries use about 330 pounds of plastic per vehicle, or about 10-15% of the weight of a vehicle, while Chinese carmakers generally use about 150-200 per vehicle.

Greener Products Transportation

When looking for innovative social enterprises in China, one would not think to look at a corporate website, but in the case of the Threads of Yunnan that is exactly where I found one.

Supported by the Yunnan Danyun Business Affairs Consulting Company Ltd. , the Threads of Yunnan Project is one of those gems that you find and only wish there was more information on the project on the website, or that it had its own site.

Formed in 1999, this project started with a single village and has over the last 10 years developed out to include nearly 250 women who are apart of smaller groups (resembles a microfinance model less the money).

To ensure the ongoing growth of the program, members of Danyun make regular trips to the villages to assist in product development, training, and money management. which leads to potentially the most interesting part of the program - the women have created a fund of their own called the “folk bank” where:

where a certain number of women, usually six, commit to putting a part of their monthly earnings into a common pool. Each month a different woman gets to draw from the pool. At the end of six months, if there are six women in the group, each woman would have gotten an opportunity to draw from the pool

Their product catalog is here, but I recommend you contact them (threads_of_yunnan - at - pobox.com) to get the up to date version as their website does not appear to have been updated recently

to learn more, you can go to their website Threads of Yunnan

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While speaking at the 2008 Poptech conference, Carl Safina of the Blue Ocean Institute spoke about the impact we are having on the world’s fish stock.

In short, we are cleaning out the oceans.

While watching the speech, I was reminded of how a mine operates. you have a resource of value that is being sought, and to get to it you must extract a multiple of that resource.

Wrapping up his presentation he point out that while he himself is not looking to stop people from eating fish, he is looking to educate people about the conditions of fish that are eaten.

To that end, he has put together a guide called Ocean Friendly Sushi. Only 2 pages in length, the document has a lot of information packed into it about the fish you are eating and I suggest you take a look.

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There are few sources of clean energy more discussed than solar, but as we recently highlighted, solar energy in China has faced a lot of hurdles.

Put into operation last week, this project could offer some hope as more and more firms are looking to put panels into operation.

However, before jumping to conclusions, I would be interested to know if the hotel is off the grid and storing energy in batteries, or is able to put energy onto the grid.  I would also be curious to know what (if any) tax breaks, loans, or other incentives were given to the group to put the panels on.. or if this was an organic decision.

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