See the article of John Kennedy in SCMP
http://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1139077/china-now-matches-rest-world-combined-annual-coal-consumption
and also:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/29/china-is-burning-nearly-as-much-coal-as-the-rest-of-the-world-combined/
China burned through 325 million more tons of coal in 2011 than in 2010, according to the US Energy Information Administration, and consumption of the fossil fuel has grown an average of 9% since 2000. China’s coal use grew 9% in 2011, rising to 3.8 billion tons. At this point, the country is burning nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined (4.3 billion tons).
China, but also the world, is paying the price for using China as “factory of the world”. Everybody complains about China burning so much coal, but what do you expect from a continent with 1.3 billion people mass-producing all the gadgets and other consumer items the West loves to buy at a cheaper than cheaper price, generating so much waste? It is the orgy of overconsumption. To manufacture, we need energy. To make improve the life of the Chinese people, we need more energy.
We should consume less but go for better quality and durability, and impose environmental and labor laws on the supply chain – while paying a fair price. We have to stop the vicious cycle of overconsumption. Otherwise, the West should shut up and be less hypocritical. Read “Toxic capitalism”!
Are you OK?
In an IHT, some time ago, I found the explanation for the origin of “OK”.
It all started with was is called a “misspelling-based abbreviation”. In the Boston Morning Post of 23 March 1839 it started as a joke: “o.k. – all correct”. Those misspellings were a fad, some did not catch on, like “o.w.” for “oll wright”. But OK survived as we all know.
Now you know, OK?
Do we really need so many clothes?
Interesting article in China Daily – as I mention in my book, do we really need so many clothes? So many pairs of jeans, shoes, suits, dresses? Look into your wardrobe and ask yourself how much of all those clothes you actually use, and how often. I always tell family and friends, please don’t buy me more stuff (even if “it was on sales and so cheap”). I think I have enough for a couple of years. Knowing what it takes to get a jeans or even a T-shirt, the need for cotton, other fibers, the water and energy to produce it all. Not even to talk about the factories where workers slave to make it. And are fortunate not to get work-related diseases or die in a factory fire. The point here is not to make them lose their jobs but at least to pay them a reasonable salary and give them humane working conditions. We buy less but pay more.
When less is more: Tiffany Tan explores the “capsule wardrobe”; “With consumerism and fast fashion booming in China, Tiffany Tan susses out if the Chinese are ready for capsule wardrobes – a collection of only a few essential pieces that can be mixed and matched.”
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/beijing/2013-01/22/content_16152664.htm
Update on China’s energy goals
In “Toxic Capitalism” I detailed China’s plans to improve its energy consumption and energy mix.
Here some recent updates, source: China Daily.
Situation 2012
– Total energy consumption reached 3.62 billion tons of standard coal, up 4% year-on-year
– China will reduce coal consumption’s share of the total energy mix to 65% from 66.4% in 2012.
– Non-fossil fuel consumption took up about 9.1% of the energy mix, up 1.1% year-on-year.
– Natural gas consumption accounted for 5.5% of the total mix
Goals 2015
– Energy consumption will be capped at 4 billion tons of standard coal, and power use will be 6.15 trillion kWh
– Keep oil imports within 61% of total demand
– Energy consumption per unit of GDP will be cut by 16% compared with 2010 levels while energy efficiency will be raised by 38%
– Coal production capacity will reach 4.1 billion tons, but the output will be limited within 3.9 billion tons
– China will raise its non-fossil fuel consumption to 11.4% of primary energy use, with natural gas accounting for 7.5%
– Newly added proven reserves of coal-bed gas will be 1 trillion cubic meters, and shale gas will reach 600 billion cu m.
– Sinopec will own up to 1 billion cubic meters of shale gas production capacity
– Installed generating capacity of nuclear power plants will reach 40 GW
China Daily on the U.S. gun mania
On 24 January 2013, China Daily published an article “US faces the gun and tax cliffs” by Stephan Richter (publisher of The Globalist and president of The Globalist Research Center). The fact they publish it shows they basically agree with that view. Now, some strong words here about the gun mania in the USA:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2013-01/24/content_16167781.htm
“Somehow, the US seems stuck in the concepts of the Old Testament. The perverse self-justification of all those gun buyers who now sheepishly argue “why should my freedom be restricted just because some kids got shot?” attests not just to a level of naiveté, but inhumanness that begs disbelief.
…
The crux of the issue is that Americans must abandon their childish ideas of how a society works. No person is an island unto himself or herself. We all live as part of a much, much larger group. The people must understand that using assault weapons for hunting or shooting is not an expression of freedom, but an expression of human sickness or perversion.
…
What the NRA is peddling is an incredible hoax. Americans can no longer go on accumulating limitless debt but they can still buy weapons at every Walmart and plenty of other stores. The offer on hand to deal with one’s frustrations is not to consume, but to shoot.
The blindness of American society, which is generally a very fearful one, is staggering. Putting that many weapons out there – almost 1 for every American man, woman and child – is not just bewildering. It is plain dumb.
…
The only grammatically correct way to read the Second Amendment (“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”) is not to see it as two independent clauses. Rather, the first half clearly qualifies (in fact, conditions) the second.
…
As a matter of fact, after the Newtown school massacre, there cannot be any doubt that a revised Second Amendment to the US constitution is urgently required. And it should read: “A well regulated society, being necessary to the security of a free people, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall be abridged.” The very notion of civilization demands no less.”
Not that I disagree!