Maybe the world is flat
April 24, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Opinions & Thoughts , trackback
As CindyC wrote a week ago, many people who believe it is futile to make personal changes and conserve natural resources often like to point out that the conservation effort in the U.S. will be completely overshadowed by the sharp increase in countries like China and India.
So when I heard about the US-China Green Energy Conference, I had to find out for myself whether China was undertaking any effort to reduce its environmental impact. My impression from the conference was that
- China was trying to the best of its ability, but the effort was insufficient
- It wasn’t going to let the green house gas emission slow down its economic growth
- We in the west were all contributing to its economic growth and its massive emission by sending over product orders
The Chairman of the Chinese Academy of Science presented three green technologies currently being widely deployed in China – solar water heating, wind power and biogas.
- 80 million solar water heaters have been deployed in Chinese households
- The low cost implementation of wind power generators has put China in the top 5 countries in terms of installed wind capacity
- As early as 2005, 216 billion cubic feet of biogas has been generated from domestic animal waste to power 14 million rural residence
(Solar Water Heaters: courtesy of Global Environmental Teaching)
He also pointed out somewhat ironically even though most of the solar panels had been manufactured in China, they were too expensive to be adopted there. Yep, the reality is that it is a thriving economy based on low labor, material and operation costs. He said, China is dubbed as the “world factory”. You wonder how Wal-mart can sell crappy toys for $0.5.
The director of the Energy Research Institute, who shared a piece of the Nobel prize (being on IPCC ) gave the attendees some stunning statistics about the growth in China. By 2030, 85% of the infrastructure in China (buildings, transportation systems, communication systems, etc) will be built or rebuilt – brand new country in the next 20 years. It is nightmarish to imagine how much natural resource and energy this unprecedented construction will consume. China has been focusing on rapidly increasing energy efficiency. Buildings codes are being overhauled (he cited that more than 18 billion square feet of new buildings are erected every year), production infrastructure is being adjusted, urban planning is being redesigned, transportation systems are literally being built.
I was exhausted just from listening to this. I saw a picture of absolute chaos with environmental protection completely lost in the midst. Even though it brings a new coal firing plant online every week and it imports petroleum like there is no tomorrow, the “world factory” still does not have enough fuel. Out of necessity, the country is forced to explore energy efficiency and alternative energy sources.
The silver lining was that both the Chinese directors believe that China will hit carbon emission peak around 2030. Is that too late?
The conference went on to discuss new alternative energy options and issues. Absolutely fascinating. I won’t detail here.
It was overwhelming to digest what I had learned from the conference. However I certainly did NOT walk away from the conference thinking that it was futile for us to make changes in our lifestyle. In fact, the “world factory” notion made me even more determined to consume less. Majority of the finished products from the “world factory” are shipped all over the world in big container ships. It is at best disingenuous for us to lament how it is all so useless to conserve energy in the U.S., as we are sending non-stop orders to the “world factor” to pump out products to satisfy our consumption. Aren’t we at least one of the big culprits for the pollution? Makes Cruchy’s Buy Nothing Challenge all the more worth doing, doesn’t it?
CindyW at Organicpicks
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Comments»
In Oil on the Brain, many Chinese officials described efforts to “leap frog” past some of the western mistakes. Thus, instead of going through the big car/waste fuel auto industry, they were going to design the most fuel efficient car they could (with a smiley face attached to the grill). While I’d like the many Chinese cities to just lift the bicycle ban, I guess I can be a bit happy that a fuel efficient car is better than a polluting one? I don’t think anyone industry is going to rest until the last drop of oil has been used up.
A few months ago, the WSJ had a story about Chinese environmentalists fighting to ban disposable chopsticks. The main environmental spokesman was wearing a monkey suit (orangutan?) and walking around the company cafeteria shaming people for using disposable chopsticks. It was such a funny, uplifting article. So in a way it isn’t that much different from how it is in the USA. I still get attitude for bring a cloth bag to store or market. Still!!
Many people are changing their behaviour…with or without help from any sort of institution. Once being green becomes cool, everyone will jump on the bandwagon. I am leading the parade amongst my friends and I get the feeling that some of our friends are competing with us on who is more of an environmental nut.
Here is an article on critical mass you may enjoy.
The Chinese people I talk to are probably not a representative sample, since they are all here for advanced degrees, but something they all have said to me is that they are struck by the fact that in the US there is what they describe as the ‘rule of Law”. They have told me that the real problem with industry in China is that safety and environmental laws, which ARE in place, are flaunted with such impunity. This is my biggest concern with China being the world’s maunfacturer. While we can all certainly think of examples to the contrary, for the most part manufacturers here feel that they must, however grudgingly, follow the law. Bribery is also very much condemned here, where it is not in China. My Chinese friends are concerned about the environment, but feel a sense of hopelessness that it will ever be an intrinsic concern of business in China.
China is so fascinating to me - with its massive growth fueled in large part by Western consumption. I think I end up where you do, Cindy. If we buy less, they won’t need so much fuel. Still, China will grow and I am glad that they at least seem more committed to renewable energy and such that the current US administration.
This is why I think the west needs to invest heavily in renewable energy NOW. Solar is already closing the cost gap with fossil fuels. They say it might be as few as five years before they are roughly equivalent in price. The more R&D we are able to do, the cheaper solar can be, the fewer coal plants get built in India and China.
Beany: thanks for the tip on the book Oil on the Brain and the critical mass article. I now have half a dozen of books to read
Joyce, in the conference, the key moderator Mark Levine (also an IPCC Nobel prize sharer) pointed out that China had an almost opposite governmental effectiveness from the U.S. For us, the current administration (thus the federal government) is more of a road block for any clean energy advance while the states and local governments are much more active in pursuing a greener future. However in China, the federal government has legislated much tighter standards on energy inefficiency and pollution control. Unfortunately when it comes to implementation at the state and local level, these policies are very much diluted if not entirely ignored. Perhaps that is what your friends were suggesting - there is clearly a lack of rule of law.
GB: I just know we think along the same line when it comes to the new consumption philosophy
arduous: VCs and companies have put in millions and millions of $ to bootstrap the development of solar technologies. The price of coal is still hard to beat. But we are definitely not decades away. Probably years away from making the solar energy cost comparable to dirty coal. I personally think that low cost, facilitated by initial governmental subsidies is the most effective way to make solar and other clean energies the primary fuels for the world.
Cindy, I think you are probably right about the rule of law thing.
Yes, but private investment is not enough. There has to be extensive GOVERNMENT investment. The United States budget for renewable resources is puny.
Arduous, you are absolutely right in terms of demanding for federal and state investment in cleaner energy.Sadly I have written off the current federal government entirely. Waiting for January 09. I wasn’t going to talk about politics, but in this case politics is a critical factor. So let’s all get informed about the candidates’ (at federal and state level) positions on clean energy and vote.
Cindy, have you seen the newest National Geographic? The whole issue is about China as the emerging economic giant, and some of the environmental fallout.