Sunday, May 17, 2009

Articles on Air Pollution & Climate Change by "China Dialogue"

Here is a list of interesting articles on Air Pollution & Climate Change by "China Dialogue".

Getting out of the shade, May 13th, 2009.
Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
In the second segment of a three-part article, Julian L. Wong argues that solar energy should be viewed as a crucial part of China’s national security strategy.

Energy integration for China, May 11th, 2009.
Faced with worsening energy scarcity, environmental damage and climate change, China is striving to develop renewable energy sources; in particular, large-scale wind power generation... Large-scale development of wind power is the current trend, but the connection to the grid is a major issue.

Reducing energy use at low cost, May 04th, 2009.
Energy saving in buildings may be the most cost-effective and achievable strategy to address climate change. Collaboration between China and the US, writes David Hathaway, demonstrates that the best strategy is decidedly low-tech.

Low carbon living begins at work, April 21st, 2009.
We need an office revolution to combat these environmental challenges. Green offices will retain or improve on current levels of productivity, but use less energy and create less pollution.

Climate on the Couch Part 1 and Part 2, April 10th, 2009.
Western culture lives in fear of wild nature, both external and internal, writes ecotherapist Mary-Jayne Rust. How can we find a way of working with nature in this consumerist age?

Fixing Beijing's Transport Nightmare, April 9th, 2009.
The surprising insight is that mitigating climate change through transport demand management is highly beneficial for car drivers, who can enjoy relatively free roads – and for citizens who will love more “blue sky days”. Of course, political courage is required to take the automobile lobby out of the proverbial driver’s seat, and discourage, if not ownership, at least car usage.

A High Cost to Hong Kong, April 7th, 2009.
Hong Kong has traditionally been China’s most dynamic city, at the cutting edge of economic development and a leader in introducing international best practice to China. Yet, in air quality management the city lags far behind other world cities. As one of Asia’s premier financial centres, we need to ask what air pollution is really costing us.

A New Approach at Copenhagen, Part 1, Part2, and Part 3, April 06th, 2009.
To classify a nation as “developing” or “developed” is insufficient to decide its climate-change responsibilities.

Paint it White, March 10th, 2009.The idea is a form of geo-engineering, a broad term used to cover all schemes that tackle the symptoms of climate change -- namely catastrophic temperature rise, without addressing the root cause, our spiralling greenhouse-gas emissions. And if altering all of the world's roofs and roads sounds extreme, then take a look at some ideas from the other end of the geo-engineering scale: giant mirrors in space, shiny balloons to float above the clouds and millions of fake plastic trees to suck carbon from the air.

The High Cost of Low Carbon, March 02nd, 2009.
Is leading a low-carbon lifestyle too expensive, particularly for ordinary Chinese people? Do you buy environmentally friendly goods and services despite the cost? If not, would you switch to more eco-friendly products and practices if the costs were lower? How important is this lifestyle decision to you?

Mountains of Concrete, February 26th, 2009.
Against these dramatic changes, the governments of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan are planning to transform the Himalayan rivers into the powerhouse of south Asia. They want to build hundreds of mega-dams to generate electricity from the wild waters of the Himalayas. With over 150,000 megawatts (MW) of additional hydropower capacity proposed in the next 20 years across the four countries, the Himalayan region could potentially have the highest concentration of dams in the world. At what cost?Road to Rapprochement, February 09th, 2009.
It is essential that both the Obama administration and the Chinese leadership engage at the highest levels to begin a new programme of significantly scaled-up cooperation on energy and climate change as soon as possible. Successful US-China cooperation on energy and climate security will substantially enhance prospects for a new international climate agreement as well as bolstering political support in each country for climate change mitigation policies. It will also build mutual trust between the United States and China, strengthen the US-China partnership for tackling a wide range of common strategic challenges in the twenty-first century, and be a constructive force in US-China relations at a point in time when the American public is increasingly sceptical of the benefits of bilateral economic integration.

Winds of Change Blow in India, January 26th, 2009.

A Tax on Breathing? January 09th, 2009.

Can Congestion Charging Soothe Beijing's Woes? October 27th, 2008
The geography of Beijing, with its various ring roads, would lend itself very easily to congestion charging. At the beginning, a congestion charge zone could be introduced within either the second or third ring road and then be extended outwards depending on the success of the scheme and public demand for it. In order to win public support, the funds raised from the congestion charge would have to be reinvested into public transport.

Slideshow: Air Pollution in Beijing
. July 15th, 2008.

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