Environment China

Energy security was already a hot issue in China well before the global oil price collapse and Covid crisis. Now, as the country listens to the government list its coming priorities during the long-delayed Two Sessions of the National People's Congress, energy security is topic Number One. In this episode, we sit down with Dr Michal Meidan, Director of the China Energy Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES), to talk about China, energy security, and oil and gas markets. Before joining OIES in July 2019, she headed cross-commodity China research at Energy Aspects. Prior to that, she headed China Matters, an independent research consultancy providing analysis on the politics of energy in China. She is the author of numerous academic papers, articles, and books related to China, energy, and political economy. Dr Meidan is also a past speaker at the Beijing Energy Network and has memories of BEN going back over a decade.   Show notes:   China Key Themes for Energy in 2020 (written in January)

This is the second part of a two-part episode featuring Lauri Myllyvirta, an air pollution and climate expert from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Lauri has over 10 years of experience as an air pollution and climate expert. He has led numerous research projects on air pollution, assessing air quality and health impacts of energy policies, including more than a dozen modeling studies of the air quality and health impacts of coal-fired power plants. Lauri has also contributed to numerous publications around energy solutions and air pollution. He served as a member of the Technical Working Group on regulating emissions from large combustion plants in the EU. He lived in Beijing for many years and was previously a senior member of the Greenpeace East Asia team based in Beijing. In this segment, Lauri and Environment China host Anders Hove discuss some of the issues and questions raised by Lauri's presentation and his other research.  

This is the first part of a two-part episode featuring Lauri Myllyvirta, an air pollution and climate expert from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Lauri has over 10 years of experience as an air pollution and climate expert. He has led numerous research projects on air pollution, assessing air quality and health impacts of energy policies, including more than a dozen modeling studies of the air quality and health impacts of coal-fired power plants. Lauri has also contributed to numerous publications around energy solutions and air pollution. He served as a member of the Technical Working Group on regulating emissions from large combustion plants in the EU. He lived in Beijing for many years and was previously a senior member of the Greenpeace East Asia team based in Beijing. In this segment, Lauri has recorded a video of a presentation he made recently on the impact of Covid-19 on air pollution worldwide as well as the potential for a green stimulus to make this economic recovery focus on more

China, like other major countries, is actively working on measures to stimulate the economy and recover from the coronavirus. The question is, how can China make its stimulus measures as green and beneficial for the economy as possible? In this episode, we cover what types of stimulus have been done in the past, what the principles should be for green stimulus, and what ideas each of us have for how green stimulus could be done this time in China. Finally, we talk about whether it’s likely to actually happen. Guests are: Dimitri DeBoer, who started and leads the china office of Client Earth, a European NGO focused on environmental law, which works with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment as well as the Supreme People’s Court helping with training of environmental judges. Dimitri is also special advisor to the CCICED, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. Wu Yixiu, who leads the Climate communications team with China Dialogue. She has been following and writing abo

In this special mini-episode of Environment China, we again talk to Li Shuo of Greenpeace, following up on his earlier interview on the Biodiversity COP, as well as discussing how the recent crisis in China could affect the country's policies and efforts on the broader topics of biodiversity, wildlife protection, and climate change.   Li Shuo references a column by recent podcast guest Lauri Myllyvirta, of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, available here: https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-coronavirus-has-temporarily-reduced-chinas-co2-emissions-by-a-quarter   Here is another article illustrating graphically how the reduction in industrial activity has influenced emissions, as observed by satellites. The question is, will additional stimulus lead emissions to rebound even more strongly?  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-01/air-pollution-vanishes-across-china-s-industrial-heartland

Although Beijing still frequently suffers from stretches of heavy air pollution, the city has made astonishing improvements since the Airpocalypse of 2013, when for several days readings of PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter, the most dangerous type of pollution in regional air pollution) literally went off the charts of the U.S. Embassy air quality monitor, which tops out at the U.S. EPA Air Quality Index value of 500. Today, Beijing averages around 40-50 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter over the course of a year. That's still worse than international standards (the World Health Organization guideline is 10 micrograms/m3 on an annual basis for PM2.5), but showing steady improvement since 2013, when the annual average was well above 100. Progress elsewhere in China has been less dramatic. In this episode, we sit down to discuss air quality in Beijing and China with Lauri Myllyvirta, Lead Analyst with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Lauri has over 10 years of

In this episode, our panel sits down with Edmund Downie to discuss China’s vision for a Global Energy Interconnection, or 全球能源互联网 in Chinese. Downie is an energy analyst with the Analysis Group in Boston, and former Fulbright Scholar at Yunnan University in Southwest China.  In past roles with Yale and the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, Downie has written extensively on South and Southeast Asia political and social issues, including for Foreign Policy magazine. While many Western analysts are skeptical about the Global Energy Interconnection plan, and its fantastical map of a world crossed by ultra-high voltage transmission lines stretching from New Zealand to Greenland and everywhere in between, Downie takes a nuanced view: “There are many things that GEI can achieve reflecting the interests driving GEI… The key is to think of [GEIDCO, the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization] as a planning and research body that’s occupying a niche between global energy governance

Biodiversity loss and climate change have may of the same causes: ecosystem destruction both releases carbon into the atmosphere and shrinks the area available for threatened species to survive. Nature-based solutions are emerging as a framework to address these challenges together. Most recently, China and New Zealand were named co-chairs of the Nature-Based Solutions Track for the Climate Action Summit, one of nine areas the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is focusing on for solutions to the climate crisis. In this podcast, we sit down with Xi Xie from the Nature Conservancy to discuss Nature-Based Solutions in China and China's role in promoting NBS worldwide.  Xi Xie is the Climate Change and Energy Director for TNC China. She has 12 years of experience working on international climate efforts, both in government and NGO roles. She holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Xi'an Jiaotong University. In the show, participants discuss a paper written in part by authors from TNC, Bronson

This week we join past guest and recent host, Anders Hove, for a journey to Inner Mongolia, Northern California, and Central Europe, where he recently tested the charging infrastructure on three long-distance electric vehicle road trips. We examine how EVs compare on fueling cost, emissions, and convenience, and discuss how the experience compared across the three regions, along with potential recommendations for policy-makers. Anders is a non-resident fellow with Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Policy as well as Project Director at GIZ China.  He is the co-author with Prof David Sandalow of Columbia University of the recent paper "Electric Vehicle Charging in China and the United States": https://energypolicy.columbia.edu/research/report/electric-vehicle-charging-china-and-united-states https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/11172-Electric-vehicle-charging-What-can-the-US-and-China-learn-from-each-other- Yiyang Chenzi and Cynthia Wang serve as co-hosts this week. We hope you en

Li Shuo, Senior Global Policy Advisor at Greenpeace East Asia, gives a preview of the biggest issues on the table at the climate COP (Conference of the Parties) this year in Madrid, and what role China will likely play in the proceedings.  Li Shuo's official bio: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/li-shuo Li Shuo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lishuo_gp?lang=en Link to COP 25 official web page: https://unfccc.int/cop25 (Note: episode republished due to sound issues.) The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a carbon trading mechanism that has enabled developed countries to offset their own emissions by investing in or purchasing credits from carbon reduction projects in developing countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Development_Mechanism.  

China's data centers currently consume over 2% of China's electricity production and that share is growing quickly. In today's episode, we sit down with Greenpeace East Asia's Ye Ruiqi to discuss how some companies are turning to renewable energy to meet the growing need for clean energy to power data centers.  A link to the report Powering the Cloud: How China's Internet Industry Can Shift to Renewable Energy, from September 2019, can be found here: https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/24112/electricity-consumption-from-chinas-internet-industry-to-increase-by-two-thirds-by-2023-greenpeace/  Ruiqi is a climate and energy campaigner from Greenpeace East Asia, and covers topics like China’s renewable energy development, power market reform, and IT sector sustainability. Before joining Greenpeace, Ruiqi worked as a grassroots organizer at the US Public Interest Network after graduated from University of California Santa Barbara. In the episode, we reference Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). You

Professor David Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Prior to Columbia, David served in senior positions in the US government – at the White House, State Department and US Department of Energy. He’s also served in various roles at the Brookings Institution, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the World Wildlife Fund. In this episode we discuss developments in China climate policy over the past year, as well as the most recent news concerning China’s carbon trading system as well as a prominent speech on energy security by the Premier of China, Li Keqiang. David Sandalow, Guide to China Climate Policy 2019, Columbia University https://energypolicy.columbia.edu/explore-guide-chinese-climate-policy-2019-david-sandalow https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Chinese-Climate-Policy-Sandalow/dp/1726184307 Yao Zhe and Tom Baxter, The 14th Five Year Plan: what ideas are on the table? China Dialogue, August 2019 https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/11434-The-

We sit down to talk about the recent history and far future of urban planning and design in China and worldwide with Sebastian Ibold, Project Director for the project Sino-German Cooperation on Low Carbon Transport, GIZ. Sebastian has a rich past life as a consultant on urban planning issues and consulting in Asia, and his current work relates to rethinking urban mobility, shaping the city around an integration of the needs of users, technology, and sustainability.  At the end of the episode, we play a scenario analysis betting game based on a report, "The Politics and Practices of Low-Carbon Urban Mobility in China," from the Centre for Mobilities Research, Lancaster University, and the Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University. The report is available at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/42416653.pdf.  The episode's title is from a poem by William Cowper: https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/god-made-country. Sebastian references Dutch-American sociologist Saskia Sassen. Her biography, bibliography, and var

As the way China eats transforms, food activism and education are rising to address these changes. This week’s episode of Environment China collaborates with Erwin Li of Chewing the Fat, a podcast from Yale’s sustainable food program, to interview Zhou Wanqing about her research and grassroots organizing in China. Starting with an overview of the country’s food system, we then discuss the ways Chinese people have historically eaten, and what this means for a trend like a plant-forward diet. In other words, in what ways should place and culture inform or complicate our approaches to food and agriculture, even ones sometimes seen as universal? How do collaborations then emerge to transform the relationships between people, food, farming, and the environment?

With the U.S. announcing its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and China now embracing the concept of global climate governance, it’s easy to forget that 20 years ago, discussion of climate change in China was almost nonexistent. One person particularly well-placed to reflect on China’s transformation into a purported environmental hero is Barbara Finamore, founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s China Program and author of the book Will China Save the Planet?. Although China has certainly come a long way from the days when NRDC first started sharing its experience on energy efficiency and “negawatts” in the 1990’s, it is still a land of contradictions. We sat down with Barbara to explore China’s ongoing battle to fundamentally transform its economy in order to protect public health and reduce emissions, and the challenges it faces both domestically and globally.  You can check out Barbara’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Will-China-Planet-Barbara-Finamore/dp/1509532641

Environment China is back from hibernation with a series of new interviews! First up, today’s episode was recorded live at the Beijing Bookworm International Literary Festival. It was an honor to be invited back for the second year in a row to host a panel about the biggest stories coming out of China’s energy and environmental field over the past year. Our producer and host Lili Pike moderates a panel with three expert guests: Ma Tianjie, Managing Editor of chinadialogue Beijing; Alvin Lin, Climate and Energy Policy Director at Natural Resources Defense Council China; and Lijing, a freelance environmental journalist based in Beijing. They discuss the top environmental news stories from the past year from how the trade war has impacted environmental governance to the evolution of the Belt and Road Initiative. Tune in for a riveting conversation, and we’ll be back in two weeks with our next episode! Also be sure to check out our new website, created by our producer Erin Wong! https://www.environmentchinapodcas

马天杰，中外对话北京运营副主编。加入中外对话之前，他担任绿色和平中国大陆项目总监。他于2009年取得美利坚大学国际环境政策硕士学位。他的英文博客Panda Paw, Dragon Claw (中文名：萌猛哒) 致力于从主流媒体以外的视角去记录和分析中国海外投资的足迹。 如果您有兴趣关注中外对话，请登录中外对话官网 https://www.chinadialogue.net/ 如果您有兴趣阅读Panda Paw, Dragon Claw 博客, 请点击 https://pandapawdragonclaw.blog/   Ma Tianjie is Beijing Managing Editor of chinadialogue. Before joining chinadialogue, he was Greenpeace's Program Director for Mainland China. He holds a master’s degree in environmental policy from American University, Washington D.C. His English blogPanda Paw, Dragon Claw, is a conversation about China‘s footprint beyond its border. If you are interested in learning more about chinadialogue, please visit https://www.chinadialogue.net/ If you are interested in reading Panda Paw, Dragon Claw, please go to https://pandapawdragonclaw.blog/    

This week, we have a special episode that was recorded LIVE in Beijing at an event on July 5th.  Environment China hosted an evening panel discussion on the growing trend of podcasting and podcasters in Beijing.  We were joined by hosts and producers from four relatively new Beijing-produced podcasts, including: Zhang Ya Jun from the Wo Men podcast, John Artman from the China Tech Talk podcast, Brendan Davis from the Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom podcast, and our own Noah Lerner from Environment China. The evening was moderated by another of our hosts and producers, Kate Logan.  As you'll hear, Kate led an interesting discussion on the origin stories and motivations behind each of the shows, as well as on some technical talk and tips on how each of the guests sets up, records, and produces their show.

“十三五”煤控目标如何实现，“一带一路”建设如何促进绿色发展，是目前中国能源环境问题的两个重要焦点。华北电力大学袁家海教授作为电力经济和电力低碳转型的专家，从电力发展的角度就以上问题开展了深度研究。在这期节目中，袁教授将通过实地调研案例，与我们分享他在 “十三五”电力行业控煤政策研究以及“一带一路”绿色电力合作研究中的发现。如果希望进一步阅读相关研究成果，可以在网络上搜索《持续推进电力改革 提高可再生能源消纳》，下载这份报告。 Our guest this episode is Professor Yuan Jiahai from North China Electric Power University, an expert in electric power development and its low carbon transition. During the past few years, Prof. Yuan has done extensive research on how China's electric power development is meeting coal cap goals. He also travelled to a number of countries to research on China's green electric power cooperation with Belt and Road Initiative countries. He is very excited to share his findings with us.

In today’s episode, we check the millennial box and take a look at blockchain -- and its energy implications. Alarming headlines came out earlier this year charting the rising energy consumption of Bitcoin and tracing the majority of its mining operations back to China. We are joined by Sophie Lu, head of China Research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, who has written a report on the topic. She describes why Bitcoin mining consumes so much electricity, why it is taking place in China, and what future power consumption might be as demand for Bitcoin rises but its manufacture also becomes more efficient. Sophie also discusses the broader potential environmental benefits of the blockchain technology behind Bitcoin – particularly its use in making supply chains more transparent and facilitating distributed energy grids.