Emission Controls: One step back in USA, two steps forward in China
The stark contrast between the strategies adopted by the world’s top carbon emitters - China and US - was once more in evidence last week.
In the US, legislation was introduced in Congress to curb the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency to control emissions, intertwined with a proposal to cut its budget by 30% or USD 3bn.
EPA is fighting back with numbers. The Agency said that tougher emission standards adopted in 1990 helped prevent more than 160,000 premature deaths, 130,000 heart attacks, 13m lost work days and 1.7m asthma attacks last year. “If Congress slashed EPA’s funding, concentrations of harmful pollution would increase from current levels. The result would be more asthma attacks, more missed school and work days, more heart attacks, more cancer cases, more premature deaths,” EPA administrator Lisa Jackson told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest emitter - China - is planning to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 17% during the 12th five-year plan which runs from 2011 to 2015, according to a draft of the plan made public. It also plans to implement preferential tax policies to encourage energy conservation and a reduction in emissions. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China announced that it aims to double lending to new and strategic industries and energy-saving and emission-reduction sectors in the next three to five years, from CNY 610bn (USD 93bn) at the end of last year.
China also announced plans to push forward with the development of vehicles powered by alternative energy, according to a government report released at the National People’s Congress. Electric vehicles have already been declared as a strategic industry for the 12th plan. There are now 50 electric taxis running in Beijing - the capital city of the world’s largest polluter - according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency. The cabs can run for 140 kilometres on full batteries.
China and US accounted for more than half the USD 128bn of asset finance deals for clean energy in 2010, data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows.
A report by an environmental research body - CO2 Scorecard Group - said that the record carbon dioxide emissions from China are attributable to its undervalued currency, which is subsidising energy-intensive export industries and negating the nation’s conservation efforts.
China’s neighbour India, which is the third largest carbon emitter, announced a National Mission for Electric Vehicles in its 2011-12 budget last week, against the backdrop of rising crude oil prices. It had earlier announced subsidies for electric vehicles.
Makers of electric vehicles, for their part, are readying themselves to feed the market demand, even as supporting infrastructure - like charging stations - gets built. Coda Automotive, backed by billionaire Philip Falcone, reiterated that it would start selling its electric car in the second half of this year in California at an “unbelievable value”. The car is based on a Mitsubishi Motors chassis and made in China through a partnership with Hafei Motor. Final assembly will take place in California. The car can travel 120 miles or 193 kilometres on a full charge.
In Europe, the UK sought comments on its proposed Electricity Market Reform. This aims at offering incentives for curtailing investment at peak time and creating a market for so-called “negawatts” while accommodating a larger share of renewable energy in the overall energy mix.
In the US, legislation was introduced in Congress to curb the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency to control emissions, intertwined with a proposal to cut its budget by 30% or USD 3bn.
EPA is fighting back with numbers. The Agency said that tougher emission standards adopted in 1990 helped prevent more than 160,000 premature deaths, 130,000 heart attacks, 13m lost work days and 1.7m asthma attacks last year. “If Congress slashed EPA’s funding, concentrations of harmful pollution would increase from current levels. The result would be more asthma attacks, more missed school and work days, more heart attacks, more cancer cases, more premature deaths,” EPA administrator Lisa Jackson told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest emitter - China - is planning to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 17% during the 12th five-year plan which runs from 2011 to 2015, according to a draft of the plan made public. It also plans to implement preferential tax policies to encourage energy conservation and a reduction in emissions. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China announced that it aims to double lending to new and strategic industries and energy-saving and emission-reduction sectors in the next three to five years, from CNY 610bn (USD 93bn) at the end of last year.
China also announced plans to push forward with the development of vehicles powered by alternative energy, according to a government report released at the National People’s Congress. Electric vehicles have already been declared as a strategic industry for the 12th plan. There are now 50 electric taxis running in Beijing - the capital city of the world’s largest polluter - according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency. The cabs can run for 140 kilometres on full batteries.
China and US accounted for more than half the USD 128bn of asset finance deals for clean energy in 2010, data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows.
A report by an environmental research body - CO2 Scorecard Group - said that the record carbon dioxide emissions from China are attributable to its undervalued currency, which is subsidising energy-intensive export industries and negating the nation’s conservation efforts.
China’s neighbour India, which is the third largest carbon emitter, announced a National Mission for Electric Vehicles in its 2011-12 budget last week, against the backdrop of rising crude oil prices. It had earlier announced subsidies for electric vehicles.
Makers of electric vehicles, for their part, are readying themselves to feed the market demand, even as supporting infrastructure - like charging stations - gets built. Coda Automotive, backed by billionaire Philip Falcone, reiterated that it would start selling its electric car in the second half of this year in California at an “unbelievable value”. The car is based on a Mitsubishi Motors chassis and made in China through a partnership with Hafei Motor. Final assembly will take place in California. The car can travel 120 miles or 193 kilometres on a full charge.
In Europe, the UK sought comments on its proposed Electricity Market Reform. This aims at offering incentives for curtailing investment at peak time and creating a market for so-called “negawatts” while accommodating a larger share of renewable energy in the overall energy mix.
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