Rich countries including several EU nations are "importing" about a third of their CO2 emissions, says a study.US-based researchers used a global trade database to track goods and services, and assigned emissions to the countries where they were used. Nearly a quarter of China's emissions come from goods exported to the West. Writing in the journal PNAS, the researchers say this is an ethical reason why rich countries should lead global attempts to cut emissions. "We expected to find this net flow from developing countries to the developed world," said lead researcher Steve Davis. "But what stood out was how much of the global flow is accounted for by bilateral trade between China and the US."
Rich countries including several EU nations are "importing" about a third of their CO2 emissions, says a study.
US-based researchers used a global trade database to track goods and services, and assigned emissions to the countries where they were used.
Nearly a quarter of China's emissions come from goods exported to the West.
Writing in the journal PNAS, the researchers say this is an ethical reason why rich countries should lead global attempts to cut emissions.
"We expected to find this net flow from developing countries to the developed world," said lead researcher Steve Davis.
"But what stood out was how much of the global flow is accounted for by bilateral trade between China and the US."
Renita Jablonski: China's under pressure again, but this time not by other governments or protesters. Nope, this time it's Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart says it wants its Chinese suppliers to go green. So the mega retailer is planning to get roughly a thousand of those suppliers together later this year. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
Ashley Milne-Tyte:Wal-Mart accounts for 30% of all foreign buying in China. Andrew Hutson is with Environmental Defense. The group is working with Wal-Mart on greening its supply chain. He says it's too early to tell what Wal-Mart will ask of its Chinese suppliers, but... Andrew Hutson: We think as an organization that any effective program is gonna require greater transparency in the supply chain, meaning just knowing where your products come from and who's making them, and what the processes are and what goes into them. That may sound basic, but Ted Fishman, author of China, Inc., says it's not when you consider what goes into making just one Wal-Mart product. Ted Fishman: Not only does Wal-Mart have the thousand suppliers it's meeting with but it has the suppliers to those suppliers. So, if you take a common product like a cell phone, there are 200 suppliers that make the pieces for a cell phone. Fishman says if Wal-Mart can get suppliers to pollute less that could help shape Chinese national environmental standards too.
Andrew Hutson: We think as an organization that any effective program is gonna require greater transparency in the supply chain, meaning just knowing where your products come from and who's making them, and what the processes are and what goes into them.
That may sound basic, but Ted Fishman, author of China, Inc., says it's not when you consider what goes into making just one Wal-Mart product.
Ted Fishman: Not only does Wal-Mart have the thousand suppliers it's meeting with but it has the suppliers to those suppliers. So, if you take a common product like a cell phone, there are 200 suppliers that make the pieces for a cell phone.
Fishman says if Wal-Mart can get suppliers to pollute less that could help shape Chinese national environmental standards too.
FT.com | Wal-Mart seeks emissions data
Wal-Mart is to ask its suppliers to measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions, in the biggest move to disclose emissions from businesses.
A 2009 May update in BusinessWeek:
Wal-Mart: Making Its Suppliers Go Green - BusinessWeek
To spur these changes, [then-CEO, H. Lee Scott Jr.] offered both a carrot and a stick. Wal-Mart pledged to work with its top suppliers to help improve their operations, teaching them how to increase energy efficiency and how to cut the amount of raw materials they use. The threat: By 2012, Wal-Mart would pull its orders from companies not meeting the new standards. <...> The results already are beginning to trickle in. With Wal-Mart's help, Jiangsu Redbud Dyeing Technology in Changshu City, Jiangsu Province, has cut coal consumption by one-tenth and is aiming to bring toxic emissions down to zero. The company has accelerated new product innovation: Redbud Dyeing has garnered more than 150 patents for its line of environment-friendly jute-based textiles. <...> Smart tactics spread quickly among factories, says Andrew Hutson, a supply chain expert at the Environmental Defense Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit environmental group, who has been advising Wal-Mart without receiving compensation. ... Hutson argues that an eco-focus ultimately serves the company's low-price goals. By helping its suppliers cut waste and reduce spending on energy, Wal-Mart fully expects to see those savings passed on in lower prices. "Lowest cost doesn't have to come from past method--the squeeze-'em-till-they-bleed approach. If anything, that approach leads to environmental degradation." he says.
<...>
The results already are beginning to trickle in. With Wal-Mart's help, Jiangsu Redbud Dyeing Technology in Changshu City, Jiangsu Province, has cut coal consumption by one-tenth and is aiming to bring toxic emissions down to zero. The company has accelerated new product innovation: Redbud Dyeing has garnered more than 150 patents for its line of environment-friendly jute-based textiles.
Smart tactics spread quickly among factories, says Andrew Hutson, a supply chain expert at the Environmental Defense Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit environmental group, who has been advising Wal-Mart without receiving compensation. ... Hutson argues that an eco-focus ultimately serves the company's low-price goals. By helping its suppliers cut waste and reduce spending on energy, Wal-Mart fully expects to see those savings passed on in lower prices. "Lowest cost doesn't have to come from past method--the squeeze-'em-till-they-bleed approach. If anything, that approach leads to environmental degradation." he says.
Still,
FT.com / Companies / Retail - Walmart to set emissions goals for suppliers
Walmart estimated the direct footprint of its global store operations in 2008 at about 21m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, and the total has continued to rise as it continues to expand its stores. Its footprint is forecast to grow by more than 10m additional tonnes over the next five years even as it pursues its new supply chain goals. It has, however, reduced the volume of greenhouse gas emissions against sales, as it pursues a range of energy saving and alternative power initiatives. <...> The company, working with the Environmental Defence Fund, plans to produce a set of guidelines for itself and its suppliers to enable them to assess the extent of green house gas reductions. Claims will be verified by ClearCarbon, a consultancy, and reviewed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Walmart is also working with suppliers, academics and other parties on the creation of a single index on the environmental and social impact of products that could eventually be used in product labelling.
It has, however, reduced the volume of greenhouse gas emissions against sales, as it pursues a range of energy saving and alternative power initiatives.
The company, working with the Environmental Defence Fund, plans to produce a set of guidelines for itself and its suppliers to enable them to assess the extent of green house gas reductions. Claims will be verified by ClearCarbon, a consultancy, and reviewed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Walmart is also working with suppliers, academics and other parties on the creation of a single index on the environmental and social impact of products that could eventually be used in product labelling.
"Just like the electricity that you use in your home probably causes CO2 emissions at a coal-burning power plant somewhere else, we found that the products imported by the developed countries of western Europe, Japan, and the United States cause substantial emissions in other countries, especially China," says Davis. "On the flip side, nearly a quarter of the emissions produced in China are ultimately exported." Over a third of the carbon dioxide emissions linked to good and services consumed in many European countries actually occurred elsewhere, the researchers found. In Switzerland and several other small countries, outsourced emissions exceeded the amount of carbon dioxide emitted within national borders. The United States is both a major importer and a major exporter of emissions embodied in trade. The net result is that the U.S. outsources about 11% of total consumption-based emissions, primarily to the developing world. The researchers point out that regional climate policy needs to take into account emissions embodied in trade, not just domestic emissions.
"Just like the electricity that you use in your home probably causes CO2 emissions at a coal-burning power plant somewhere else, we found that the products imported by the developed countries of western Europe, Japan, and the United States cause substantial emissions in other countries, especially China," says Davis. "On the flip side, nearly a quarter of the emissions produced in China are ultimately exported."
Over a third of the carbon dioxide emissions linked to good and services consumed in many European countries actually occurred elsewhere, the researchers found. In Switzerland and several other small countries, outsourced emissions exceeded the amount of carbon dioxide emitted within national borders.
The United States is both a major importer and a major exporter of emissions embodied in trade. The net result is that the U.S. outsources about 11% of total consumption-based emissions, primarily to the developing world.
The researchers point out that regional climate policy needs to take into account emissions embodied in trade, not just domestic emissions.
Ya' think? The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.
Still, glad -- and surprised -- that the BBC has actually come around to printing what Jérôme pointed to almost two years ago:
We should include taxes on imported goods reflecting the quantity of pollution and carbon emissions embedded in such imports. That would force everybody to put a price on these. After all, China's pollution is to a large extent an "outsourcing" of ours, as they manufacture the good we no longer do, but that we still buy.
More disappointing and surprising is that researchers did not publicize such findings more forcefully and at a much earlier date. The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.
Fang Fang, vice chairman of J. P. Morgan Asia Investment Banking division, has proposed that China develop a domestic carbon-trading system as part of its efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. <...> In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Fang said he made the proposal mainly for two reasons. "The first reason is that China needs to take all kinds of measures to reduce carbon emissions to fulfil its promise to reduce per capita gross domestic product carbon emission levels by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 with the year 2005 as the base year," he said. The second reason, he added, is that "China must take the initiative to reduce carbon emissions, as climate change has become an issue of significant international concern after the United Nations climate summit held late last year in Copenhagen, Denmark." <...> He stressed that it could become another issue related to China's core interests as some Western countries had proposed to levy so-called carbon tariffs against Chinese exports. <...> Some researchers had predicted a full-fledged global carbon-trading market could be bigger than the oil market.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Fang said he made the proposal mainly for two reasons.
"The first reason is that China needs to take all kinds of measures to reduce carbon emissions to fulfil its promise to reduce per capita gross domestic product carbon emission levels by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 with the year 2005 as the base year," he said.
The second reason, he added, is that "China must take the initiative to reduce carbon emissions, as climate change has become an issue of significant international concern after the United Nations climate summit held late last year in Copenhagen, Denmark."
He stressed that it could become another issue related to China's core interests as some Western countries had proposed to levy so-called carbon tariffs against Chinese exports.
Some researchers had predicted a full-fledged global carbon-trading market could be bigger than the oil market.
A tiny Japanese insect that could help the fight against an aggressive superweed has been given the go-ahead for a trial release in England.Since Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK it has rapidly spread, and the plant currently costs over £150m a year to control and clear. But scientists say a natural predator in the weed's native home of Japan could also help to control it here. The insect will initially be released in a handful of sites this spring. This is the first time that biocontrol - the use of a "natural predator" to control a pest - has been used in the EU to fight a weed.
A tiny Japanese insect that could help the fight against an aggressive superweed has been given the go-ahead for a trial release in England.
Since Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK it has rapidly spread, and the plant currently costs over £150m a year to control and clear.
But scientists say a natural predator in the weed's native home of Japan could also help to control it here.
The insect will initially be released in a handful of sites this spring.
This is the first time that biocontrol - the use of a "natural predator" to control a pest - has been used in the EU to fight a weed.
The effort of Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to craft comprehensive clean energy legislation that caps global warming pollution has brought some positive words from Big Oil and their political allies. In particular, the senators are considering a proposal by ConocoPhillips, BP America, and Exxon Mobil to exclude petroleum producers and refiners from a carbon market and instead levy a carbon fee. "Once you have oil people saying, `We can live with this, this was our idea,' then hopefully everybody else begins to look at this thing anew," Graham told reporters. "That's the hope." However, the American Petroleum Institute's Jack Gerard explained that the "support" from the oil industry for a carbon fee on petroleum will come in the form of "signs at the gas pump letting people know they're paying more because of U.S. efforts to deal with climate change":
In other words, the oil industry likes the idea of legislators embracing a carbon fee plan -- a plan originally proposed by oil companies -- because they'll be able to blame "U.S. efforts to deal with climate change" on high gas prices. And that is what they're already doing, with full-page ads in Politico and Roll Call that attack Congress for "new energy taxes":
Colorado was one of the first states to adopt a renewable energy standard at all, committing in 2004 to get 10 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2015 and increasing that to 20 percent by 2020 in 2006. This latest measure puts the state right behind California, who has the highest standard at 33 percent by 2020.
Rights activists and residents have accused the Canadian owners of Guatemala's largest gold mine of exploiting local communities. Most worrying, they say, is the use of highly toxic cyanide to separate gold particles from the rock.
Rights activists and residents have accused the Canadian owners of Guatemala's largest gold mine of exploiting local communities.
Most worrying, they say, is the use of highly toxic cyanide to separate gold particles from the rock.
In general the formula is something like d = (a*c)(a - t) where d is the maximum supported distance, and a is the speed of planes, t is the speed of trains and c is the cost of going to an airport. so if a = 600km/hr, t = 300km/h and c is 1.5 hour, we have a limit of 600*1.5(600-300) = 450km.
where d is the maximum supported distance, and a is the speed of planes, t is the speed of trains and c is the cost of going to an airport. so if a = 600km/hr, t = 300km/h and c is 1.5 hour, we have a limit of 600*1.5
This is the formula for equal city center to city center travel times. The plane and train speeds in that formula are travel speed, that is, departure to arrival average speeds (which, for both planes and trains, depend on distance if top speed is the same), and "time to the airport" is the sum of those for arrival and departure airports. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
How many China - Europe planes are there each days ? If the market is large enough filling up the line with even a small share of this market might be possible... Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
"We have also already carried out the prospecting and survey work for the European network, and Central and Eastern European countries are keen for us to start," Mr Wang said.
Huh!? Some runaway boasting here...
Elsewhere, it seems like they are mixing up high-speed and conventional projects:
Mr Wang said the route of the three lines had yet to be decided, but that construction for the South East Asian line had already begun in the southern province of Yunnan and that Burma was about to begin building its link. China has offered to bankroll the Burmese line in exchange for the country's rich reserves of lithium, a metal widely used in batteries. Currently, the only rail line that links China to South East Asia is an antiquated track built by the French in Vietnam a century ago. The Asian Development Bank has recently agreed a second £27 million loan as part of the £93 reconstruction of Cambodia's network, which should finish by 2013. The cost of the lines from Cambodia to Singapore and then from Vietnam to China could be roughly £400 million.
Mr Wang said the route of the three lines had yet to be decided, but that construction for the South East Asian line had already begun in the southern province of Yunnan and that Burma was about to begin building its link. China has offered to bankroll the Burmese line in exchange for the country's rich reserves of lithium, a metal widely used in batteries.
Currently, the only rail line that links China to South East Asia is an antiquated track built by the French in Vietnam a century ago. The Asian Development Bank has recently agreed a second £27 million loan as part of the £93 reconstruction of Cambodia's network, which should finish by 2013. The cost of the lines from Cambodia to Singapore and then from Vietnam to China could be roughly £400 million.
The HSR lines would cost much more than that. Vietnam has plans for a HSR line, discussed here. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
I wrote about some of those in Another Great Game almost exactly four years ago. Since then, there was not much progress outside China. In particular, Kazakhstan's bold New Silk Road project, though it was supposed to have the financing, remained on the drawing boards, only one long section (though the politically most risky: from Iran across Turkmenistan into Kazakhstan itself) is in construction, and that AFAIK in broad gauge. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Take four cups of breast milk, add rennet, salt and yoghurt - yes, four cups of breast milk, according to a recipe created by New York chef and restaurateur Daniel Angerer, who posted his formula for maple caramelized pumpkin encrusted cheese on his blog, and offered "whoever wants to try it is welcome to try it as long as supply lasts".Angerer runs the Manhattan restaurant Klee, and the breast milk is supplied by his wife and restaurant co-owner Lori Mason after the couple found they had an excess supply in their freezer intended for their baby daughter Arabella. Angerer explained on his blog
Take four cups of breast milk, add rennet, salt and yoghurt - yes, four cups of breast milk, according to a recipe created by New York chef and restaurateur Daniel Angerer, who posted his formula for maple caramelized pumpkin encrusted cheese on his blog, and offered "whoever wants to try it is welcome to try it as long as supply lasts".
Angerer runs the Manhattan restaurant Klee, and the breast milk is supplied by his wife and restaurant co-owner Lori Mason after the couple found they had an excess supply in their freezer intended for their baby daughter Arabella. Angerer explained on his blog
The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), the thinktank set up last November "to bring reason, integrity and balance to a debate that has become seriously unbalanced, irrationally alarmist, and all too often depressingly intolerant", goes from strength to strength, it would seem.Just a few days after its chairman, Nigel Lawson, and director, Benny Peiser, appeared before the science and technology select committee to answer questions about the inquiry into the climate science emails hacked from the University of East Anglia, a job advert for a new assistant director has appeared on the House of Commons internal jobs listings website.
The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), the thinktank set up last November "to bring reason, integrity and balance to a debate that has become seriously unbalanced, irrationally alarmist, and all too often depressingly intolerant", goes from strength to strength, it would seem.
Just a few days after its chairman, Nigel Lawson, and director, Benny Peiser, appeared before the science and technology select committee to answer questions about the inquiry into the climate science emails hacked from the University of East Anglia, a job advert for a new assistant director has appeared on the House of Commons internal jobs listings website.
CHINA is considering offering a subsidy of as much as 60,000 yuan (US$8,797) to consumers who buy a new energy vehicle, Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry And Information Technology, said yesterday. Giving a reason for the subsidy, Li said green vehicles are expensive because of the huge investment as the technology is still being developed. "The subsidy won't be effective if it is less than several thousand yuan," Li said. "Without government support, it would be difficult for Chinese families to buy new energy vehicles." Industry analysts estimated that green cars would normally be sold at a 50 percent premium over a traditional gasoline-powered model.
This from USTR's 2010 Trade Policy Agenda and 2009 Annual Report: The United States has also continued to engage Taiwan on concerns raised by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries that Taiwan's procedures for medical product pricing and reimbursement fail to adequately recognize the value of innovative medical products for patients in Taiwan. The United States encourages Taiwan to continue to engage in collaborative consultations with relevant stakeholders to consider improving such policies in order to better facilitate the development of innovative products and improve patients' access to such products.
This from USTR's 2010 Trade Policy Agenda and 2009 Annual Report:
The United States has also continued to engage Taiwan on concerns raised by the pharmaceutical and medical device industries that Taiwan's procedures for medical product pricing and reimbursement fail to adequately recognize the value of innovative medical products for patients in Taiwan. The United States encourages Taiwan to continue to engage in collaborative consultations with relevant stakeholders to consider improving such policies in order to better facilitate the development of innovative products and improve patients' access to such products.
