[cai-asia] CAI-Asia China Project E-Newsletter Issue No. 46, 2009
Huang Shan
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Air Quality, Energy, Transport, and Climate Change in China
CAI-Asia China Project E-Newsletter
Issue No. 46, 2009
(Compiled by Shan HUANG)
Included in this issue:
- Jam will lead to more pollution: Experts
- Grid operator planning to build mega power carrier
- Beijing has 4 million vehicles
- Wen says China will strive for climate goals
- Rubbish to be taxed from next year
AIR QUALITY
-facts
Thick fog strands 8,000 flight passengers in SW China (December 17, 2009)
CHENGDU: A thick fog delayed about 100 flights and left more than 8,000 passengers stranded at an airport in southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday.
"The heavy fog had blanketed the airport from about 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., which reduced the visibility to only 200 meters," said Lu Junming, of the Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/17/content_9194240.htm
Jam will lead to more pollution: Experts (December 16, 2009)
Despite success in slashing the number of heavy pollution days in the city this year, Beijing still faces an environmental debt from its mounting traffic congestion, air pollution specialists warned yesterday.
Zhu Tong, an environment professor at Peking University, said it was too early to reach positive conclusions about Beijing's air quality because the car population is about to hit four million this week.
"Beijing's air looks to be improved from the government numbers after the Olympics," said Zhu.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/16/content_9184987.htm
ENERGY
-facts
Chinese cities short of heating energy amid new cold spell (December 18, 2009)
A new freezing spell has intensified the shortage of heating energy, including electricity and natural gas, in Chinese cities.
Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang province, had a shortage of natural gas for the second time this winter on Wednesday and Thursday, said Xiang Min, an official with Hangzhou Gas Group.
The shortfall of 170,000 cubic meters gas was less severe than the last in November as the company had provided 1.65 million cubic meters of gas, 100,000 cubic meters more than predicted, Xiang said.
English link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/17/content_12663034.htm
-initiatives
Campuses warm to energy-saving ideas & measures (December 19, 2009)
The air conditioning system in Yuan Ze University classrooms is like that of any other university. It costs a lot of money to run. But at Yuan Ze, where saving energy has become an obsession, the air conditioning and the lights are turned on only 10 minutes before class begins and shut off automatically after class ends. Lights in hallways and student lounges are programmed to go off five minutes after they are turned on.
Rather than simply preaching environmental consciousness, Yuan Ze administrators also make students pay for the discretionary use of electricity to instill energy-saving principles.
Students are required, for example, to use stored value cards to pay to play on the campus's tennis and basketball courts at night.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2009-12/19/content_9201837.htm
China enjoys fastest growth in new energy (December 18, 2009)
COPENHAGEN: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday that China has enjoyed the fastest growth of new energy and renewable energy, and has the largest area of man-made forests in the world.
Premier Wen Jiabao also called for the nations to build consensus.
Wen was speaking at the opening session of the final summit segment of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/18/content_9201410.htm
Grid operator planning to build mega power carrier (December 17, 2009)
State Grid Corp of China (SGCC), a major power grid operator, plans to construct next year an ultra-high voltage carrier that will transmit electricity generated by wind and thermal power plants in Inner Mongolia to Jiangsu province, a company executive said yesterday.
Work on the 1,300-km transmission line is awaiting the government's nod, Shu Yinbiao, deputy general manager of SGCC, said yesterday.
"With the use of ultra-high voltage (UHV) technology - the most advanced technology in power transmission - the rich coal mining resources and wind energy in Inner Mongolia can be better utilized," said Shu.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/17/content_9193091.htm
China, Kazakhstan set to sign nuclear agreement (December 15, 2009)
China will soon reach an agreement to receive nuclear power assistance from Kazakhstan, a source told China Daily.
The unnamed source with ties to the government said the two countries had originally planned to sign the agreement during President Hu Jintao's recent visit to the Central Asian country.
But due to Hu's limited time there, an agreement was not drafted, but the source said one will be signed soon.
The agreement, once signed, will allow the resource-rich Kazakhstan to offer substantial help to China, which has a rising demand for nuclear plants.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/15/content_9177468.htm
TRANSPORT
-facts
Beijing has 4 million vehicles (December 19, 2009)
Beijing has registered 4,001,426 vehicles and 5,679,000 drivers, the publicity office of the municipal government said Friday.
The numbers of vehicles and drivers jumped 497,000 and 536,000 respectively from that of last year, it said.
Beijing will continue its efforts to encourage people to travel by less polluting means such as taking the public transport system, it said.
More than 4.8 billion people have traveled via public transportation this year, about 13.6 million passengers per day, up 11.1 percent from that of last year, according to the Beijing Public Transport Group.
English link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/19/content_12668040.htm
Related readings:
4m cars to bring problems in Beijing
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/regional/2009-12/16/content_9187299.htm
HK-Zhuhai-Macao bridge begins construction (December 16, 2009)
ZHUHAI, Guangdong: Construction of the world's longest cross-sea bridge linking China's southern economic hub of Guangdong Province to Hong Kong and Macao began Tuesday, a move widely expected to bring economic ties closer.
Starting from the Lantau Island in Hong Kong, the Y-shaped Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge will have a total length of almost 50 km, of which about 35 km will be built over the sea, making it the longest cross-sea bridge in the world, said Zhu Yongling, an official in charge of the project construction.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/16/content_9183542.htm
-initiatives
Qingdao buses go green (December 16, 2009)
Qingdao plans to renovate 1,208 public buses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions next year creating an environment-friendly coastal city, according to Song Chunkang, director of the local Environmental Protection Agency.
Such buses are expected to be transformed into the low-carbon emission models through technological innovation, with a total investment of over 500 million yuan by the local government, Song said.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/shandong/e/2009-12/16/content_9187507.htm
ADB to lend $150m to NW China city's urban transport system (December 16, 2009)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will grant a loan of $150 million to the northwestern Chinese city of Lanzhou to help it improve urban transport system, the ADB's China office said Tuesday in a statement.
The loan is to help the provincial capital of Gansu to set up a rapid bus transit system that will reduce transport time and costs and cut emissions of greenhouse gases, it said.
English link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/15/content_12651752.htm
ADB provides $2m loan to build railways in E China (December 14, 2009)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Saturday said it has approved a $2-million loan to finance a-billion-dollar project to build railways in an eastern Chinese province to link remote rural villages to the country's economic hubs.
The $1.35-billion Anhui Integrated Transport Sector Improvement Project includes building of a new 139-kilometer-long expressway in Anhui province's neglected northern region, upgrading 452 kilometers of existing roads, improving village bus services, and strengthened capacity in the province's transport departments, the ADB said.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/14/content_9174623.htm
CLIMATE CHANGE
-facts
Shanghai leads China's fight of climate change and low-carbon development (December 15, 2009)
For Kathy Tan, a Shanghai-based staff with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), a two-week visit to the Regional Climate Change Center in southern Zhejiang Province's Gutianshan Nature Reserve in late September offered her a unique opportunity to sharpen her understanding of climate change.
With other 11 HSBC Climate Champions selected from across Asia and Pacific region, Tan learned about the impact of climate change on the deteriorating environment and frequent extreme weathers of Shanghai. In the past few years, Tan felt the random occurrence like blizzard and torrential had increased in Shanghai.
English link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/15/content_12651242.htm
-initiatives
Wen says China will strive for climate goals (December 18, 2009)
COPENHAGEN: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao vowed the country is determined to deliver a notable reduction in carbon intensity even if today (the final day of two-week UN climate change conference) sees no positive outcomes.
Wen and his colleagues have been working against the clock in recent days, through telephone diplomacy and meetings, in an attempt to move forward the negotiation agenda.
"I know there are still some obstacles ahead but no matter what outcomes this Friday sees, China is determined to achieve its goal of cutting carbon intensity," said Wen during his flight to Copenhagen on Wednesday.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009copenhagenclimate/2009-12/18/content_9197533.htm
Related readings:
Full text of Chinese premier's address at Copenhagen Climate Change Summit
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/Copenhagen/2009-12/19/content_19095868.htm
2 degree temperature rise may be long-term goal: Wen
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009copenhagenclimate/2009-12/18/content_9197451.htm
China's climate action not subject to int'l monitoring
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/Copenhagen/2009-12/18/content_19087450.htm
China undertaking low-carbon development: official (December 16, 2009)
China is reconciling its traditional development and consumption patterns with low-carbon development so as to achieve ultimate harmony between humans and nature, a senior Chinese official said Tuesday.
In his speech to be delivered at a United Nations (UN) climate change seminar, Xie Zhenhua promised that China would strive to achieve this harmony by closely integrating the Chinese stage of development with its unique national situation.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/16/content_9188212.htm
OTHER
Rubbish to be taxed from next year (December 18, 2009)
A tax on excessive rubbish disposal will be introduced next year in an attempt to combat the city's growing waste problem, local authorities said.
Chen Ling, vice-director of the Beijing municipal commission of administration, said organizations and residents would be charged under the tiered scheme, which would be imposed according to the total amount of rubbish produced.
"We have proposed that legislators start charging organizations and some individuals according to the volume of rubbish they produce," Chen told a legislative session on waste disposal, the Beijing News reported.
English link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2009-12/18/content_9197195.htm
Beijing expert gives touch of life to ancient tree (December 18, 2009)
A senior engineer from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry was called to Dengfeng, Henan province, to rescue a 1,400-year-old white poplar tree.
The endangered ancient tree in the city's Yongtai Temple has suffered from serious insect damage in recent years. The local cultural relics bureau asked Cong Sheng, an expert in rescuing dying trees, for help.
English link: http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2009-12/18/content_19089932.htm
Human development a key ingredient for any green solution (December 17, 2009)
Though a low-carbon economy and a place where people can tap into their full potential could both be achieved, in the next 10 to 20 years, human development remains China's top priority, Chinese experts say.
The stand on investing in people was made at an event in conjunction with the Copenhagen climate change conference and ahead of the Tuesday release of key findings from the China Human Development Report 2009/10.
The report, to be published in its entirety early next year, requires human development to be taken into consideration in developing a low carbon economy.
English link: http://www.china.org.cn/environment/Copenhagen/2009-12/17/content_19081986.htm
Beijing's plan to hike water price by 24.3% okayed in hearing (December 16, 2009)
A majority of public representatives voted for a proposed water price hike of 24.3 percent at a public hearing in Beijing Wednesday, but they also agreed to phase in rises over the next three years.
Twenty-four representatives of residents, industrial users, lawmakers, political advisors, scholars, social groups, government officials and water companies attended the hearing.
Of the 25 votes, 22 were in favor of the government-proposed price hike, hoping it could help increase water-use efficiency as in the city, which faces frequent water shortages.
English link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/16/content_12657487.htm
--
Ms. Shan HUANG
Research and Program Assistant
CAI-Asia Center
Tel/fax: 86-10-65661650
Cel: 86 134 2624 4966
Email: shan....@cai-asia.org
Website: www.cleanairnet.org/china
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