2nd Green Revolution » China

FFF: Fastest Growing Metropolitan Regions in the World

Justin Manger — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:27:08 +0000

A very comprehensive report by The Brookings Institute reveals just how rapidly the cities of the developing world are growing. In the midst of the largest human migration from the countryside to cities, the report portends a rise in living standards for millions as well as highlights the challenges in sustainably providing energy and food for the inhabitants of these thriving metropolises.

The Brookings report analyzed “per capita GDP (income) and employment changes in the 2010 to 2011 period for 200 of the world’s largest metropolitan economies, which account for nearly one-half (48 percent) of global output but contain only 14 percent of world population and employment.” The study reveals that,

Ninety (90) percent of the fastest-growing metropolitan economies among the 200 largest worldwide were located outside North America and Western Europe.
By contrast, 95 percent of the slowest-growing metro economies were in the United States, Western Europe, and earthquake-damaged Japan.
Dallas and Houston, Texas were the only two cities in North America to make the top 40.
The highest per capita GDP of all the metro areas studied was found in Hartford, CT.
10 of the top 40 cities are found in China, including Shanghai, the fastest growing metropolitan region in the world in 2011

Filthy Beijing Air (Photos)

Justin Manger — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:21:15 +0000

How dirty is the air in Beijing? “Beyond index” hazardous, for one. It also looks just nasty. The photos below paint a very hazy and unpleasant picture. The pollution this winter in China’s capital city is in stark contrast to the winter view here in Tokyo, where the cool air and winter air patterns sweep the city sky of haze and fumes leading to beautiful views of the skyline (as can be seen in the last two pictures below) and Mount Fuji.

What strikes me about the Beijing pictures is how low to the ground the pollution permeates. This is a stark reminder of where unchecked use of the unsustainable energy sources we are currently burning to fuel modern society can lead.

Tokyo

Keystone Pipeline and the Future of Fuel

Eric Wilson — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:40:12 +0000

A few weeks ago news came out that President Obama was stalling the decision on the Keystone Pipeline from Alberta, Canada down to Texas. This was no doubt a political move tied to the 2012 election.

Apparently, the company that is building the pipeline acquiesced to demands from environmentalists that the pipeline avoid certain areas of Nebraska that supply water from an aquifer there. NPR had reported earlier in the same week that the Canadians were going to look to China to sell their oil since potential environmental reviews that would have been part of rerouting the pipeline very well may have delayed the deal. Some argue that this would have been a reason to go ahead and build the pipeline as planned, reducing resource scarcity and ensuring supply.

I’d argue a slightly different tact about “going ahead” with the project. There’s a great quotation that I recently inserted into my dissertation proposal (which I’m supposed to be working on right now and not this site) that says: “To be a teacher is to be a prophet – you are not preparing a student for the world of today but for a world twenty to fifty years into the future.” While referring to colleges and universities, I am going to link it to the world energy economy. Oil is the 20th century’s fuel. Biofuel (algae, switchgrass, agricultural waste that is not tilled back into the soil/composted) is the future. The US can lead, follow, or get out of the way.

In order for the U.S. to lead – something we at 2nd Green Revolution would like to see, as would the rest of the world – there needs to be a functional political atmosphere, something that obviously doesn’t exist. Without a government that can come together for the benefit and security of the nation’s future, leading the energy revolution is the last thing we will be doing.

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What Is Your Country’s Climate Change Policy?

Eric Wilson — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:42:26 +0000

As a follow up to the 2-part series from NPR (covered here recently on 2nd Green Revolution) comes this post about various countries’ climate policy. With the end of the United Nations’ most recent conference on climate change in Durban, South Africa, NPR had a valuable synopsis of what many of the largest emitters of greenhouses are doing to reduce their emissions over the coming decades.

One of the biggest challenges to a unified approaches revolves around how to reconcile industrialized countries with those that are still developing.

Included in the story are the following nations as well as the European Union, along with a brief note about their plans. All data comes from the NPR report:

Australia: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 2000 levels by 2020.
Brazil: Emissions to 1994 levels and cut deforestation by 80 percent from highs by 2020.
Canada: Original commitment – reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent below 1990 levels. Current position – reduce emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.
China: No pledge to reduce its carbon emissions. Promised to become at least 40 percent more energy efficient by 2015.
European Union*: Reduce emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
India: No pledge to reduce its carbon emissions. Agreed to increase its energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2015.
Indonesia: Pledged to cut emissions by 26 percent by 2020 from today’s levels.
Japan: Pledged to reduce its emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
Russia: Pledged to reduce its emissions by at least 15 percent from 1990 levels.
South Africa: Aims for emissions to top out at levels 34 percent lower than if the country were to take no actions by 2020.
United States of America: Pledged to reduce emissions by 17 percent by 2020, which was contingent on Congress passing an aggressive cap-and-trade bill that did not pass

*Will increase to 30 percent if other developed countries sign up for similar commitments

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Pollution in Beijing Reaches “Beyond Index” Levels

Justin Manger — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:07:08 +0000

Being the world’s factory and having a population of 1 billion people rushing to own cars and consume has led to rising living standards for Chinese citizens. Rising living standards are now being put at risk by those exact increased living standards as pollution overwhelms big cities in China and starts adversely affecting people’s health.

The U.S. Embassy pollution monitor in Beijing – widely considered the most reliable measure of the cities pollution – was “beyond index” a week ago (picture of Twitter feed below). That’s right, the 522 micrograms of particulate pollutants (PM) per cubic meter of air that were registered were literally off the chart. The World Health Organization‘s (WHO) air quality guidelines for PM is 20 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) as an annual average. Granted, the 522 in Beijing was during one hour in one day but it is still unsettling. Other WHO data shows that average PM in some cities has reached up to 300 µg/m3.

Take a look the U.S. Embassy in Beijing’s Twitter feed for the latest measurements and you’ll see a string of “unhealthy,” “hazardous,” and “very unhealthy” readings over the last several weeks.

China is a superpower and still on a path of booming economic growth. Whether environmental and political conditions remain tolerable to citizens is the unknown factor. The government is trying its mightiest to balance everything that may derail the juggernaut and throw out its established leadership.

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