Analysis: Soaring Chinese economy at odds with climate goals

Just last year experts at the International Energy Agency proposed a target for China’s carbon emissions to peak in 2020 before declining if the world were to be saved from devastating climate change. Too late now.

Figures from energy firm BP showed earlier this year that Chinese emissions will steamroll through the Paris-based IEA’s 2020 peak target next year, nearly a decade early, with no sign of slowing down.

China, which hosts U.N. climate talks next week for the first time, is promoting what it calls ambitious plans to boost energy efficiency and curb emissions. But its supercharged growth means even with rapid efficiency gains it cancels out other global efforts to combat climate change.

via Analysis: Soaring Chinese economy at odds with climate goals | Reuters.

REVEALED: True cost of coal in China

Watch the video below!

China’s coal-fired power plants dump enough toxic coal ash to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every two and a half minutes. Our latest report ‘The True Cost of Coal: An Investigation into Coal Ash in China’ reveals that coal ash has now become China’s largest single source of solid waste, due to the country’s heavy reliance on coal.

via REVEALED: True cost of coal in China | Greenpeace International.

China Wants Legally Binding Climate Agreement by 2011,

China wants a binding global climate-change agreement by late 2011, the China Economic Times reported today, citing Li Gao, a Chinese negotiator.

China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, hopes definite measures for the next decade will be implemented after the United Nations conference in South Africa scheduled for the end of next year, Li told the newspaper. The biggest obstacle to reaching an accord is the U.S., he said.

via China Wants Legally Binding Climate Agreement by 2011, Economic Times Says – Bloomberg.

China Supplants U.S. for First Time on Renewable-Energy Investor Ranking

China overtook the U.S. to lead a quarterly index of the most attractive countries for renewable energy projects for the first time, according to a list compiled by the global accounting firm Ernst & Young.

After sharing the lead with the U.S. in the first quarter, China moved ahead of the world’s largest economy to rank as the most appealing nation for investing in wind and solar power projects, according to the report released today. The move follows the failure of U.S. Congress to pass legislation that would have required utilities to use clean energy.

via China Supplants U.S. for First Time on Renewable-Energy Investor Ranking – Bloomberg.

In China, Pollution Worsens Despite New Efforts

The ministry said the number of accidents fouling the air and water doubled during the first half of 2010, with an average of 10 each month. The report also found that more than a quarter of the country’s rivers, lakes and streams were too contaminated to be used for drinking water. Acid rain, it added, has become a problem in nearly 200 of the 440 cities it monitored.

via NYTimes.com.

China Starts Generation at Its Largest Offshore Wind Farm, Xinmin Reports

The 102-megawatt Donghai Bridge Wind Farm off Shanghai’s coast may generate 267 million kilowatt-hours of power a year, the newspaper reported on its website. That could meet the needs of more than 200,000 households in the city, Xinmin said.

via Bloomberg.

Fresher and smellier

Would you like some poo with your garlic? If not, ask where it comes from. And if you don’t like it, grow your own.

Bell also calls into question some growing practices in China. “I know for a fact that some garlic growers over there use raw human sewage to fertilise their crops, and I dont believe the Australian quarantine regulations are strict enough in terms of bacteria testing on imported produce,” he says. “I also challenge the effectiveness of the Chinese methyl bromide fumigation processes.”

Read more at theage.com.au.

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