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Seven truths about China and climate change
China has officially passed the U.S. as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. This is likely to prompt a lot of misinformation and obfuscation from the usual quarters.
So here are some simple truths about China and global warming that everyone should remember as the debate proceeds. 1. The U.S. still vastly outpaces China in terms of per-capita GHG emissions, and will for the foreseeable future. That’s because the U.S. is a much more industrialized and richer country, with a GDP of around $13.2 trillion compared to China’s of $2.5 trillion.
2. The West in general and the U.S. in particular are responsible for the vast majority of manmade greenhouse gases presently in the atmosphere. The West also consumed many resources to the point of near-depletion, among them petroleum. That means China will be denied the ability to develop in the same way and at the same pace the U.S. did. In addition, China will have to contend with the already-inevitable impacts of global warming, which it did not create.
3. China still contains millions of people in abject poverty. Economic development there is an ethical and political imperative. For people in the West to discourage development in China is both futile and unethical.
4. If China develops along the same path as the West, it will condemn all of humanity to a Lord of the Flies future of disease, extreme weather, violent conflict, starvation, and mass immigration. Again: if China develops based on fossil fuels, humanity is f*cked.
5. Sustainable development for China – using green energy and cradle-to-cradle manufacturing – will be much, much more expensive than the default (Western) path to industrialization.
6. The only way China will choose to develop in a more sustainable-but-expensive way is if somebody else pays for it.
7. Who should pay for it? Those who reaped the benefits of fossil fuels and filled the atmosphere with carbon. Us. The West. Principally the U.S.
There you have it. The logic of the situation – the moral logic, the economic logic, the climatic logic – points in one direction: we need to start sending a lot of sustainable development money and technology, and know-how to China.
(And India, and Africa, etc.)Anybody want to tell me where this chain of reasoning breaks down? And if doesn’t, why so few people forthrightly face its conclusion?
Posted by David Roberts/Photograph by Peter Parks/AFP
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Fruit could make ‘powerful fuel’
It is called dimethylfuran – it can store 40% more energy than ethanol, does not evaporate as easily and is less volatile.The scientists say that fructose can be obtained directly from fruits and plants or made from glucose.
But more work needs to be done to assess the environmental impact of this new fuel.
In Britain, researchers say that the technology now exists to create biodiesel not just from palm oil but from a range of materials including wood, weeds and plastic bags.
This process is called biomass to liquid and experts say that within six years up to 30% of Britain’s diesel requirements could be met from this source.
Jeremy Tomkinson of the UK’s National Non-Food Crops Centre said this next generation of biofuels could meet many needs beyond powering cars.
"The impact on society we’re hoping will be far wider than simply ‘we can give you a fuel now with a tenfold reduction in its carbon footprint’.
"Imagine now if chemicals that we use in the chemical industry also came from the same feed stock, the aircraft that we fly to New York in also runs on this? There’s the big potential," he said.
The biggest drawback to this process is cost.
Setting up new production facilities is estimated to be 10 times higher than for current biofuel refineries.
Story by Matt McGrath, BBC Environment:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/6224846.stmPublished: 2007/06/21 01:36:05 GMT
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Renewable Energy Investment Up 25%
Almost 10 percent of the 2006 investments were in China, he said. India was the biggest net buyer of companies abroad in 2006, led by takeovers by Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon which is planning a European listing.
The report said worries about climate change, high oil prices averaging more than US$60 a barrel last year, efforts to break dependence on energy imports and government incentives to shift away from fossil fuels had spurred investment.
The report, prepared by UNEP with London-based New Energy Finance, said the wind sector won most investment with 38 percent of the total, ahead of biofuels on 26 percent and solar power on 16 percent.
Renewable energies are a key to fighting global warming, widely blamed on greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels. A UN panel has projected that emissions will cause more floods, droughts, disease and rising oceans.
Of the total of US$100 billion, the report said US$71 billion included initial public offerings and spending on research and development of sustainable energy while mergers and acquisitions added almost US$30 billion.
UNEP noted that gains by many renewable energy stocks had far outpaced rises in world stock markets in recent months but toned down comparisons with Internet stocks which surged in the late 1990s before the dot-com collapse in 2001.
Unlike dot-com firms, the report said renewables were based more solidly on existing technology, that many companies were generating strong revenues and had regulatory support.
"Betting on companies that already have technologies is easier than betting on companies that are developing the technologies of the future," Eric Usher, head of UNEP’s Energy Finance Unit in Paris, told Reuters.
The report said that renewable energies accounted for 18 percent of investment in world power generation, or US$21.5 billion, compared with 2 percent of installed capacity.
The report also said the International Energy Agency, which advises rich countries, seemed conservative in forecasting that renewables would account for just 9 percent of power generation by 2030. UNEP scenarios ranged up to 23 percent of the total.
Story by Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent, Reuters News Service
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Renewable Energy Investment Up 25%
WIND, BIOFUELS, SOLAR
The report, prepared by UNEP with London-based New Energy Finance, said the wind sector won most investment with 38 percent of the total, ahead of biofuels on 26 percent and solar power on 16 percent.
Renewable energies are a key to fighting global warming, widely blamed on greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels. A UN panel has projected that emissions will cause more floods, droughts, disease and rising oceans.
Of the total of US$100 billion, the report said US$71 billion included initial public offerings and spending on research and development of sustainable energy while mergers and acquisitions added almost US$30 billion.
UNEP noted that gains by many renewable energy stocks had far outpaced rises in world stock markets in recent months but toned down comparisons with Internet stocks which surged in the late 1990s before the dot-com collapse in 2001.
Unlike dot-com firms, the report said renewables were based more solidly on existing technology, that many companies were generating strong revenues and had regulatory support.
"Betting on companies that already have technologies is easier than betting on companies that are developing the technologies of the future," Eric Usher, head of UNEP’s Energy Finance Unit in Paris, told Reuters.
The report said that renewable energies accounted for 18 percent of investment in world power generation, or US$21.5 billion, compared with 2 percent of installed capacity.
The report also said the International Energy Agency, which advises rich countries, seemed conservative in forecasting that renewables would account for just 9 percent of power generation by 2030. UNEP scenarios ranged up to 23 percent of the total.
Story by Alister Doyle , Environment Correspondent, Reuters News Service
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Queensland Gas doubles production
The development programme will involve drilling more than 100 wells, and significant upgrades to gas processing, at its 90 per cent owned Berwyndale South Gasfield in the Cooper basin.
The Cooper Basin, which straddles the Queensland and South Australian border, contains the largest known gas reserve in the country.
"With the AGL deal, we had $289 million in the bank on March 31, and if we sell 30pj, we’ll have enormous cash flows as well," managing director Ricard Cottee told AAP.
"So it’s going to be funded out of that $289 million plus cash flows but we will probably borrow some money as well.
"We don’t need to, but the bank’s always happier to lend you money when you don’t need it."
QGC also announced it had allocated an additional $56 million, on top of the $260 million development project, to an exploratory drilling program about 50 kilometres south of Brwyndale South.
The company currently has proven, probable and possible gas reserves of 2,755 pj.
"This investment extends QGC’s position as the rising independent gas producer on the Australian east coast," Mr Cottee said.
Mr Cottee said QGC needed to expand its production capacity to meet steadily increasing demand for natural gas as an environmentally cleaner, low cost alternative to coal.
"QGC’s aim is to ensure it has sufficient production capacity to supply new power stations currently being built in Queensland and New South Wales," Mr Cottee said.
QGC has already commenced development of a 135-megawatt combined cycle gas-fired power project to be owned by a subsidiary of Infrastructure Trust, which is backed by ANZ Bank, scheduled to begin operation in August 2009.
© 2007 AAP