My Books

The Third Beijing Environment and Sustainability Fair in the Hilton Hotel

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

The Third Beijing Environment and Sustainability Fair took place on 28 June 2014 from 10:00 to 17:00 at the Hilton Beijing Hotel (Liangma Qiao). The First Beijing Environment and Sustainability Fair event was held on 15 June 2013 and was an overwhelming success. The Second Beijing Environment and Sustainability Fair event was held on 9 November 2013 and was even better than the first one.
There is a growing demand for green products in China and new companies are regularly being formed in order to serve the ever growing need of this market. The Environment and Sustainability Fair is a perfect occasion to promote environmentally friendly values and products.
Entrance was free for everyone.
The event was organized and promoted through the FCGroup and its sponsors.


I decided to participate too, for the fun, selling my book “Toxic Capitalism” and to promote Rotaract. It was also a nice way to meet friends who came by for a chat.
See also:
http://fcgroup.org/slideshow/nggallery/june-2014/june-28-enviromental-fair
A busy day as the same evening I went to the concert of Akon… Another great and different experience.

Exploring the recycling villages of Beijing with Radio France

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

In my book Toxic Capitalism I mention the vast recycling network in Beijing, some being officially sanctioned, some being done by rather mafia-like operations.
Radio France, after reading my book, invited me to explore together one of the major villages in the north of Beijing, well after the 4th ring road; the radio interview was done walking around and in the taxi on our way back.
We went on a sunny Saturday afternoon, with Philippe of Radio France and Luca as our valuable guide and translator.
I was at first not that at ease as the people in those “garbage villages” do not like foreigners nosing around. We decided not to run around with cameras in hand, though Philippe shot some good pics with his mobile, I myself made one shot of the truck piled up with carton.
The village we visited is just immense and we walked around in just a part of it. Pretty impressive how the Chinese have built a small industry in recovering and recycling anything that comes to mind: plastics of all kids, styrofoam, water containers, fire extinguishers, office carpets, mattresses, aluminum, iron, steel, electronics, batteries, wood, paper, name it. All a bit messy and dusty and we were lucky it was not windy and not raining.


Thanks to Philippe for his pics. See the people dismantling the LED publicity panels, recovering plastics, metals, electronic circuits and all. I was also happy to see the recyclers are using a machine to mechanically remove the insulation from copper wires, and not burning them as it often happens.
Seems nothing gets “wasted”. We chatted with some of the workers who ended up being very friendly and we did not encounter any problem.
We were looking in particular to the batteries, a problem for the environment as the vast majority of batteries used in e-bikes and other equipment are still acid-lead type batteries. Some of the batteries still were filled with the liquid, others were dry, others were sealed.

Gilbert this morning on BBC Radio, live

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

I was at the BBC’s Beijing Office this morning for a live interview by BBC World Service, Business Matters, arranged by Lucy Burton, Business Journalist, BBC in the UK. Beijing time 9 to 10 am, UK time 01 am to 02 am.
I was (alone) in the radio room, listening to the one hour program and being interviewed a couple of times.


Topics covered were the latest world news, protests in Turkey, protests in Thailand, Greenpeace Activists released in Russia, Romanian Orphans – 23 years on –, Mao’s birthday in China, Gilbert’s book “Toxic Capitalism” and more.
I think every interview – and I’ve had many – is different and this one was certainly a new experience. All went pretty well and you can feel those people at the BBC know their job. All smooth.
Maybe more to come, I don’t know…
Listen here, I come up after some 18 minutes:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01nbn6l

China bigger oil importer than U.S.

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

As I predicted in my book Toxic Capitalism and in several of my seminars, it has happened and even faster than expected. As reported by the FCCC Newsletter and other media, China passed the United States in September as the world’s biggest net oil importer, driven by faster economic growth and strong auto sales, according to U.S. government data. Chinese oil consumption outstripped production by 6.3 million barrels per day. The U.S., with a population about one-third the size of China’s, still consumes far more oil per person than China. In September, Americans used 18.6 million barrels per day of oil and other liquid fossil fuels, while China used 10.9 million, according to the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook. U.S. production was 12.5 million barrels per day, while that of China was 4.6 million. China’s economy, the world’s second-largest, is cooling but still is forecast to grow by nearly 8% this year, well above forecasts for the U.S.
At the same time China is also increasing its imports of natural gas, through pipelines and through LNG shipments. The Factory of the World needs all the energy to deliver the goods to the West.

Prof. Dr. Taco C.R. van Someren in our Rotary lunch

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Author van Someren, from The Netherlands, was the speaker on 8 October in our Beijing Rotary Club. His speech was pretty interesting and received a lot of attention from our members.


Prof. Dr Taco van Someren is the founder of Ynnovate, see see http://www.Ynnovate.com and this introduction:
“He is an expert in strategic innovation and China business development specialized in environment, energy and water sector. He is good at new business development and has an extended experience with cross cultural project management based on his international career at Rothmans International, KPMG, Ynnovate and Universities. He is professor on strategic innovation and sustainability in Chinese and Dutch universities.”
He introduced his book “Green China – Sustainable Growth in East and West”.
The book flyer presents it as follows:

  • Intriguing ideas for dealing with Green China for managers, politicians and academics
  • Unique insight in both Chinese and Western decision making on high level in government and corporations
  • Focus on creation of competitive advantage while dealing with the new trend of green economy and creating new firms and industries
  • Written by authors with experience in academia and industry in China and Europe

And:
“After the agricultural and industrial revolution, China is creating the third growth wave based on sustainability. This greening of the Chinese economy offers threats and opportunities for Western organizations. Getting a piece of this new cake requires strategic innovations in both policy and corporate strategy. Based on the theory of strategic innovation and their extensive practical experiences in doing business with China, the authors propose potential areas and activities for strategic innovation in the West in response to Green China.
As my own book “Toxic Capitalism” also addresses environmental issues (with a focus on the horrors of pollution of China), I listened with interest. His angle is more towards business. As I am a bit cynical on how the Chinese system works, I am still not sure what real opportunities exist for foreign companies and how much they can share of the cake. But for sure, sustainability is high on the Chinese agenda, as I explain in my book, and some foreign companies do have something to offer. See for example the whole story of urbanization, eco-cities and so on. All nice but… as I discussed today in the French Embassy, what in it for us? Companies involved in water treatment and related do have opportunities, just to give one example. But like the e-vehicles, as I commented today, once again foreigners are squeezed out of the real market, not to wonder why sales are not picking up – do not blame only the lack of charging stations.
Checking the price of his (printed) book, a bit on the high side. And a “Printed eBook” available only to apparently a very limited public (at €24.95, name your currency but the amount is always the same!) is also new for me. My e-book: just over US$3. So as a publisher, springer.com raise some questions on how they operate.
Prof. van Someren also co-published “Innovative China – Innovation Race Between East and West”, among other works.