Cleaner Greener China

Being known for its natural beauty, nice climate, and clean air is somethign that th ecity of Kunming is apparently looking to protect. :

The 60-strong police force, formed under the municipal public security bureau on Tuesday, is responsible for dealing with criminal acts in environmental pollution within the city, as well as assisting the environment bureau with administrative law enforcement, an officer surnamed Li at Kunming public security bureau told China Daily yesterday.

‘Green’ crime team formed in Kunming

Greener People, Policies and Issues enforcement, environment

In the article Official warns environmental pollution no longer acceptable, I saw the strongest statement to date that officials and agencies are finally understanding the tradoff between economic growth and the environmnet:

Yangzonghai Lake, famous for its springs, was found to contain arsenic in June in the Yuxi City section. A local company named Jinye Industry and Trade Co. Ltd. was blamed for the pollution.

Zhou said the company, since it was opened three and half years ago, had paid 10 million yuan (1.5 million U.S. dollar) in taxes, but “its pollution cost billions and affected the lives of 26,000 people”.

and

“If people have to drink polluted water while driving BMWs, that’s a bitter irony of modernization,” he said. “We definitely don’t want such development.”

Greener People, Policies and Issues water

What do you think of first when you hear the word “sustainability”?

Do you think of solar panels?  hybrid cars?  Clean Coal? air pollution?

If you are in the US or EU, chances are that you think of those issues (which are legitimate) as that is what the green movement has been able to push into the psyche of consumers.

With 1.3 billion citizens to manage, for China though it is the issues of food and water.  they are not the sexy venture capitalist topics, but for China’s 1.3 billion citizens it is simply about having access to resources … and that those resources are clean (clean enough).

So when reading 40% of China’s territory suffers from soil erosion and Land erosion ‘threat to food supply’, it becomes adundantly clear that China’s food and water problems are going to be a large large problem:

If soil erosion continues at this rate, grain production on the 14 million mu of farm land in northeastern China, one of the country’s most productive areas, will be reduced by 40 percent in 50 years, experts warned.

and

In the southwest, over the next 35 years, about 100 million people will be at risk of losing their land, if desertification continues at the same rate.

the solutions will be complex, will involve the topics of land, water, industrial, and people management, and for those involved in cleantech the opportunities will be vastly larger than a signle wind farm or solar field.

Policies and Issues Energy, land, sustainable development, water

Returning from their period of Youtube silence, China’s Green Beat has returned with their latest video. Focused onthe Nu River, in Southwest China, this video marks a departure from their hisotrically slap stick based environmental lessons, but the topic is equally as important.

To learn more about the conditions of Nu River, and its damming, you can go to China Dialogue.  they have a number of articles on the subject: Nu River lessons, Hydropower on the Nu: one river, many perspectives, Dam-building rumours ‘frighten villagers’

Policies and Issues Energy, water

Even with the recent rise in awareness, and seemingly endless announcements that things were changing at the highest levels, there is yet another sobering reminder of the costs of economic development.

The pollution on China’s Yellow River, mother river, is worsening…

the organization monitored 12,510.8 km of the Yellow River system, of which, 31.1 percent were found to have type-five negative water. And 4.26 billion tonnes of waste and sewage water was discharged in the Yellow River system in that same year.

…and it is the usual suspects that are responsible:

Industrial sector was blamed as the No.1 polluter, followed by living sewage contributed by urbanites living along the river system and the service trade.

to see more on the Yellow River, and its pollution, I highly recommend the following:

Policies and Issues environment, water pollution

The Reuters report China cuts key water, air pollutants in early 2008 offers readers some hope that some of the recent actions taken to curb pollution may be working.

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), a measure of water pollution, dropped by 2.5 percent from the same period last year as new sewage plants came online, while sulphur dioxide emissions were down 4.0 percent, the official Xinhua agency said.

Before taking those figures at face value (I have spent a lot of time within the volumes of statistical report in China), where my optimism resides is in the passage:

The government shuttered small, dirty power plants with over 8 gigawatts of capacity, the report said.

Desulphurisation equipment was also added at plants with 40.6 GW of installed capacity, although that increase still represents well under 10 percent of the country’s power plant capacity.

Both small measures, but important ones in addressing the issues of acid rain.

Now, if some efforts could only be taken on soil erosion. Another large issue that feds back into China’s overall sustainability to do list

Policies and Issues environment

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

During last week’s JUCCCE Conference, we were introduced to the new TV Series Red Hot Green China.

Greener People, Policies and Issues environment

WWF recently released their 2008 Living Planet Report that lays out a compelling case for how interconnected our activities are with the rest of the earth, and the impact we in our process of extracting and consuming the earth’s resources are having.

The Living Planet Report is WWF’s periodic update on the state of the world’s ecosystems.
It describes the changing state of global biodiversity and the pressure on the biosphere arising from human consumption of natural resources.

It is built around two indicators:

* the Living Planet Index, which reflects the health of the planet’s ecosystems; and
* the Ecological Footprint, which shows the extent of human demand on these ecosystems.

Best shown in the picture before, there are immediate and direct ties that we can make when looking at the interconnected role of how humans and nature interact .

When reading the report, spend some time on the first few pages to make sure you understand the terms, how the measurements were made, and how to read the graphs.  There are a lot of graphic examples that present some stunning data, but without knowing how to read the graphs it may not have the intended impact or illicit the intended reactions.

As with many reports I have seen lately, where I am left a bit dissapointed is that this report is compelling.  It tells a story that is important, and then it does little to drive action.  When speaking with people about the problems we are facing, there is a recognition that things are out of balance and that things need to be done.. but very few people feel that they have the ability to actually do anything as individuals.. and often times as organizations.

So, for my friends at WWF.  Add a follow up to this on your site about how people can get involved.  Draw a line between the products we buy, the cars we drive, and the amount of waste we generate… and reinforce the fact that individuals (when they act in a herd) can make a difference, can drive change, and can assist in the rebalancing act.

Policies and Issues, Uncategorized environment, report

Written by Joanna  Lewis, China’s Strategic Priorities in International Climate Change Negotiations, is a very interesting report on the drivers behind China’s energy consumption, the areas that they are looking to reduce energy intensity, and what this means for the rest of us.

The paper does a nice job of presenting the history of the Central Party’s actions to address environmental issues, and the complex structure of agencies that oversee these issues…

The three major focus areas that will guide improvements, as presented in the paper, are:

• energy efficiency
• renewable energy
• Industrial policies

Note: Perhaps missing would be consumer awareness and consumption?

to read the full report, you can download the PDF here.

Policies and Issues cleantech, Energy, policy, regulation