Archive for December, 2019

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02/12/2019

Giant pandas adapting well first winter on Qinghai Plateau

XINING, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) — Four giant pandas can be seen playing at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wild Zoo in northwest China, as they are adapting well to their first winter on the plateau.

The rare species native to warm and humid Sichuan Province in southwest China became the first pandas to settle down in the plateau city of Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, in June.

The panda house in the zoo is the largest of its kind in China. The zoo is open to visitors in winter.

Xining, with an altitude of over 2,260 meters above the sea level, has entered its coldest time of the year with the daily low temperature averaging minus 10 degrees Celsius.

However, the pandas do not just idle in their enclosures enjoying the luxuries of temperature control, floor heating and humidified air. During the day, they venture out rolling in the snow and digging for bamboo shoots buried in the snow by their keepers.

The keepers said the pandas have fully adapted to the climate on the plateau, and all their health indexes are normal.

Experts said the panda settlement on the plateau can help expand the species’ adaptive range of living. Researchers will continue to follow their health conditions at high altitudes.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in adapting well, bamboo shoot, first winter, giant pandas, Qinghai, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wild Zoo, sichuan province, Uncategorized, warm and humid, Xining | Leave a Comment »

02/12/2019

China’s plans for new coal plants risk undermining battle against global warming

  • World’s largest coal consumer shows little sign of ending its dependency even though it is also the biggest market for renewable energy sources
  • UN climate summit is meeting to discuss ways to limit future warming, but hopes are fading that China will commit to further curbs on emissions
China now accounts for around 30 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. Photo: AP
China now accounts for around 30 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. Photo: AP
As world leaders gather in Spain to discuss how to slow the warming of the planet, the spotlight has fallen on China – the top emitter of greenhouse gases.
China burns about half the coal used globally each year. Between 2000 and 2018, its annual carbon emissions nearly tripled, and it now accounts for about 30 per cent of the world’s total.
Yet it is also the leading market for solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles, and it manufactures about two-thirds of solar cells installed worldwide.
“We are witnessing many contradictions in China’s energy development,” said Kevin Tu, a Beijing-based fellow with the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. “It’s the largest coal market and the largest clean energy market in the world.”
That apparent paradox is possible because of the sheer scale of China’s energy demands.
Pollution alarm as tourism businesses contaminate home of China’s hairy crab
But as China’s economy slows to the lowest level in a quarter century – around 6 per cent growth, according to government statistics – policymakers are doubling down on support for coal and other heavy industries, the traditional backbones of China’s energy system and economy. At the same time, the country is reducing subsidies for renewable energy.

At the annual United Nations climate summit, this year in Madrid, government representatives will put the finishing touches on implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, which set a goal to limit future warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Nations may decide for themselves how to achieve it.

China had previously committed to shifting its energy mix to 20 per cent renewables, including nuclear and hydroelectric energy.

Climate experts generally agree that the initial targets pledged in Paris will not be enough to reach the goal, and next year nations are required to articulate more ambitious targets.

Hopes that China would offer to do much more are fading.

Recent media reports and satellite images suggest that China is building or planning to complete new coal power plants with total capacity of 148 gigawatts – nearly equal to the entire coal-power capacity of the European Union within the next few years, according to an analysis by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based non-profit.

China is the world’s leading market for wind turbines and other renewables – but is still a major source of emissions. Photo: Chinatopix via AP
China is the world’s leading market for wind turbines and other renewables – but is still a major source of emissions. Photo: Chinatopix via AP
Meanwhile, investment in China’s renewable energy dropped almost 40 per cent in the first half of 2019 compared with the same period last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research organisation. The government slashed subsidies for solar energy.
Last week in Beijing, China’s vice-minister of ecology and environment told reporters that non-fossil-fuel sources already account for 14.3 per cent of the country’s energy mix. He did not indicate that China would embrace more stringent targets soon.
“We are still faced with challenges of developing our economy, improving people’s livelihood,” Zhao Yingmin said.
As a fast-growing economy, it was always inevitable that China’s energy demands would climb steeply. The only question was whether the country could power a sufficiently large portion of its economy with renewables to curb emissions growth.

Many observers took hope from a brief dip in China’s carbon emissions between 2014 and 2016. Today the country’s renewed focus on coal comes as a disappointment.

“Now there’s a sense that rather than being a leader, China is the one that is out of step,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Helsinki.

He notes that several developed countries – including Germany, South Korea and the United States – are rapidly reducing their reliance on coal power.

After climbing sharply for two decades, China’s emissions stalled around 2013 and then declined slightly in 2015 and 2016, according to Global Carbon Budget, which tracks emissions worldwide.

This dip came as Chinese leaders declared a “war on pollution” and suspended the construction of dozens of planned coal power plants, including some in Shanxi.

Pollution scandal near China nature reserve at Tengger desert’s edge

At the same time, the government required many existing coal operators to install new equipment in chimneys to remove sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and other hazardous substances. About 80 per cent of coal plants now have scrubbers, said Alvin Lin, Beijing-based China climate and energy policy director for the Natural Resources Defence Council, a non-profit.

As a result, the air quality in many Chinese cities, including Beijing, improved significantly between 2013 and 2017. Residents long accustomed to wearing face masks and running home air-filter machines enjoyed a reprieve of more “blue sky days,” as low-pollution days are known in China.

In the past three years, China’s carbon emissions have begun to rise again, according to Global Carbon Budget.

The coming winter in Beijing may see a return of prolonged smog, as authorities loosen environmental controls on heavy industry – in part to compensate for other slowing sectors in the economy.

The UN Climate Change Conference is taking place in Madrid this month. Photo: AFP
The UN Climate Change Conference is taking place in Madrid this month. Photo: AFP
Permits for new coal plants proliferated after regulatory authority was briefly devolved from Beijing to provincial governments, which see construction projects and coal operations as boosts to local economies and tax bases, said Ted Nace, executive director of Global Energy Monitor.
“It’s as though a boa constrictor swallowed a giraffe, and now we’re watching that bulge move through the system,” said Nace. In China, it takes about three years to build a coal plant.
The world has already warmed by 1 degree Celsius. All scenarios envisioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for holding planetary warming to around 1.5 degrees Celsius involve steep worldwide reductions in coal-power generation.
In that effort, other countries rely on Chinese manufacturing to hold down prices on solar panels. wind turbines and lithium-ion batteries.
“China has a really mixed record. On the one hand, it’s seen rapidly rising emissions over the past two decades,” said Jonas Nahm, an energy expert at Johns Hopkins University.
“On the other hand, it’s shown it’s able to innovate around manufacturing – and make new energy technologies available at scale, faster and cheaper.”
Source: SCMP

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02/12/2019

Factbox – The world’s biggest electric vehicle battery makers

(Reuters) – Asian companies dominate the market for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and they are expanding their production capacity in Europe, China and the United States in a fight to win lucrative contracts from global automakers.

Some carmakers worry, however, there won’t be enough batteries for all the EVs they plan to launch in the coming years and a bitter row between South Korea’s SK Innovation and LG Chem risks exacerbating the potential shortfall.

Below are details of the world’s leading EV battery makers with details of their customers and expansion plans:

CATL

China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s biggest EV battery maker, counts BMW (BMWG.DE), Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), Daimler (DAIGn.DE) – which makes Mercedes cars – Volvo, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and Honda Motor Co (7267.T) among its customers.

The company emerged as a major force partly thanks to Beijing’s policy of only subsidising vehicles equipped with Chinese batteries in the world’s biggest EV market. Beijing is phasing out EV subsidies next year.

CATL, which operates factories in China, is building its first overseas plant in Germany and is considering a U.S. factory.

PANASONIC CORP (6752.T)

Japan’s Panasonic, a supplier of U.S. EV pioneer Tesla (TSLA.O), said it has installed equipment to ramp up production at Tesla’s Nevada plant to 35 GWh from its current production of around 30 GWh as of late October. Panasonic has said it is investing about $1.6 billion in the factory.

Panasonic also produces EV batteries in Japan, China and plans to shift some of its plants to a new joint venture with Toyota. Panasonic’s clients also include Honda and Ford Motor Company (F.N).

For a graphic of expansion plans: tmsnrt.rs/35tFmOL

BYD CO LTD (002594.SZ)

China’s BYD, which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, is also one of the world’s biggest EV battery makers. It mainly uses them in-house for its own cars and buses. BYD said last year it is was considering cell production in Europe.

LG CHEM LTD (051910.KS)

The South Korean firm was an early industry mover, winning a contract to supply General Motor’s (GM.N) Volt in 2008. It also supplies Ford, Renault (RENA.PA), Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), Tesla, Volkswagen and Volvo.

It is investing 3.3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) to build and expand production facilities near Tesla’s plant in Shanghai. It has a joint venture (JV) in China with Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK), which makes Volvos, and is in talks with other carmakers about JVs in major markets.

The firm is considering building a second U.S. factory in addition to its facility in Michigan and is expanding its plant in Poland.

SAMSUNG SDI CO LTD (006400.KS) Samsung SDI an affiliate of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), has EV battery plants in South Korea, China and Hungary, which supply customers such as BMW (BMWG.DE), Volvo and Volkswagen. Samsung SDI is investing about 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to expand its factory in Hungary though the EU is investigating whether Budapest’s financial support complies with the bloc’s state aid rules.

Samsung started production last year on the Hungary plant, which will produce batteries for 50,000 EVs a year.

SK INNOVATION CO LTD (096770.KS) LG Chem’s cross-town rival SK Innovation supplies batteries to Volkswagen, Daimler and Kia Motors (000270.KS), as well as Jaguar Land Rover [TAMOJL.UL] and Ferrari (RACE.MI).

An oil refiner that came to the battery industry late, SKI is investing about $3.9 billion to build three plants in the United States, China and Hungary, with a goal of expanding its annual production capacity to 33 GWh by 2022.

SKI currently operates one battery factory in South Korea, with a capacity of 4.7 GWh annually.

It set up a joint venture with Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) of China in August 2018 and another Chinese partner. It is in talks with Volkswagen about another battery JV and is building a $1.7 billion factory in the U.S. state of Georgia, not far from Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant.

Source: Reuters

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01/12/2019

India plans to invest $1.39 trillion in infrastructure to spur economy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India will unveil a series of infrastructure projects this month as part of a plan to invest 100 trillion rupees ($1.39 trillion/£1.08 trillion) in the sector over the next five years, the finance minister said on Saturday, in a push to improve the country’s economy.
Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments, as cited in local newspapers, followed data released on Friday that showed India’s economic growth slowed to 4.5% in the July-September quarter – its weakest pace since 2013 – upping the pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to speed reforms.
“A set of officers are looking into the pipeline of projects that can be readied so that once the fund is ready, it could be front-loaded on these projects,” Sitharaman said at a business summit in Mumbai, the newspapers reported.
“That task is nearly completed. Before December 15, we will be able to announce frontloading of at least ten projects,” she said.
Modi came to power in 2014 on the promise to improve India’s economy and boost foreign investments, but he has struggled to meet those aims due to a lack of structural reforms. Modi won a second term in May and has taken various measures since 2014 to spur growth, including cutting the corporate tax and speeding up privatisation of state-run firms.
But several economic indicators show domestic consumption is weak, and many economists expect the current slowdown could persist for another two years.
Source: Reuters

Posted in economy, India alert, Infrastructure, invest, plans, spur, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

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