Issue 17, July 17th to July 24th, 2009

OPINION

Population boom and green dilemma (China Daily, 7/24/2009) In our insane quest for development, and sane but disconcerted efforts to fight climate change, we seem to have forgotten the problem posed by booming populations. The rate at which the world population is growing would render development useless and nullify our efforts to save the environment.

China fights climate change in its own way (Shanghai Daily, 7/23/2009) As Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chinese diplomats sat in a spacious hall in Beijing over the weekend to discuss diplomatic projects, they sacrificed the formality of suits and ties in favor of white dress shirts to better weather the warm temperatures inside the building - a measure to help conserve energy.

Environmental torts in China (China Environmental Law Blog, 7/22/2009) A judgment of RMB80,000 has been entered against the Korean WFOE, Cangzhou Chengyuan Cosmetics Co Limited (Chengyuan) for the cancer death of a neighbor to its facility in Hebei Province.

China and climate: Where do we go from here? (National Journal, 7/21/2009) What should American policy be toward China on climate change? Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke traveled to China last week to discuss ways the two countries can collaborate on reducing the risks of climate change.

China sprouts green energy opportunities (Forbes, 7/16/2009) Michael Ding, head of Accenture's utility industry consulting practice in Beijing, on what's brewing.

PUBLIC SECTOR/NGOs

Henan trade unions investigate migrant worker’s lung condition (ChinaCSR, 7/24/2009) Peng Shaoxing, a vice director from Henan Provincial Trade Unions, has told local media that HPTU has attached great importance to the lung checkup of the migrant worker Zhang Haichao and has initiated an investigation on the issue.

Botanical garden on Hulu Island like Eden (Xinhua, 7/23/2009) Menglun is a tiny township surrounded by Dai villages, rubber tree plantations and tropical forests more than 600 km from Kunming, capital of Yunnan province. Few people know there is a dynamic expat community on an island ringed on three sides by a river near the town.

Chasing China, South Korean energy majors look abroad (Reuters, 7/23/2009) An Asian country with large, government-backed energy companies seeks growth through cross-border acquisitions. It's inexperienced in such deals however, and gets off to a shaky start.

When monkeying around pays off (Xinhua, 7/23/2009) Traditional Chinese culture and folklore abound with monkey figures. From the ancient monkey totem to the legendary Monkey King, mischievous monkeys have always been popular. Now we even have an entire islet reserved for these animals.

It’s Electric: Chinese streets full of popular electric bicycles (AP, 7/23/2009) China, the world's bicycle kingdom — one for every three inhabitants — is going electric. Workers weary of crammed public transport or pedaling long distances to jobs are upgrading to battery-powered bikes and scooters. Even some who can afford cars are ditching them for electric two-wheelers to avoid traffic jams and expensive gasoline.

Dams threaten “millions of Mekong livelihoods” (IRIN, 7/22/2009) Seventeen dams recently built on the Mekong and its tributaries in China, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as 11 more in the planning process, are threatening Mekong fisheries – and thereby the food security they have provided for millions, critics warn.

Asia, rain, and pollution obscure the eclipse of the century (AsiaNews, 7/22/2009) Rain, pollution and the death of a woman in India have ruined the party tens for millions of Asians, who today experienced the longest eclipse of the sun this century.

Chinese villagers flee county in radiation scare (AP, 7/21/2009) They fled in droves, terrified by rumors of a radiation leak, with many jumping empty-handed into motorcycle taxis and farm trucks they hoped would take them out of harm's way.

Will global warming melt the permafrost supporting the China-Tibet railway? (Scientific American, 7/21/2009) This crucial line of transportation crosses the Tibetan Plateau, parts of which are barely below freezing. Will any added warmth--either from climate change or the railway itself--destabilize the track's frozen foundation?

China dust cloud circled globe in 13 days – study (Reuters, 7/20/2009) Dust clouds generated by a huge dust storm in China's Taklimakan desert in 2007 made more than one full circle around the globe in just 13 days, a Japanese study using a NASA satellite has found.

More rural areas turn to biogas (China Daily, 7/20/2009) Wu Ailing, a 45-year-old farmer living in the village of Xiguan in Qixian county, near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, has been using self-generated biogas for cooking for eight years.

Rare gazelles at risk despite help (Shanghai Daily, 7/20/2009) Ge, 55, a veteran and an environmentalist, was among the first to call for protection of the animal. When he took his first picture of the gazelles in 1996, only 300 were left in the world, all scattered about the grasslands around Qinghai Lake.

In the same year, the Przewalskii gazelle was added to the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world's largest global environmental network headquartered in Gland, Switzerland.

Activists defend China’s Huai river (Radio Free Asia, 7/20/2009) China's Huai River basin—an intricate network of rivers, lakes, and fishing villages—has been the subject of poetry and music for generations, stimulating the popular imagination with scenes of rural peace and plenty by its rippling shores.

China jails environment activists – rights group (Reuters, 7/17/2009) A Chinese environmental activist and his daughter have been jailed for leaking state secrets and endangering national security related to a uranium mine, a human rights group said.

CORPORATIONS

British Petroleum, alternative energy and lessons from China (Seeking Alpha, 7/23/2009) Oil major British Petroleum (BP), following a leadership succession reportedly cancelled its renewable energy program and withdrew from its joint venture with the company D1 on biodiesel production. The joint venture was set to utilize the oil crop jatropha (Jatropha curcas) as feedstock.

China Bio Energy holdings announces acqusition of gas station in the city of Xi’an (PRNewswire-Asia, 7/23/2009) China Bio Energy Holdings Group (Nasdaq: CBEH), a leading manufacturer and distributor of bio-diesel and distributor of petroleum-related products including gasoline, diesel, and heavy oil in China, today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire, through a thirty-year lease, all of the assets of a gas station located in the city of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, PRC.

ABB, Siemens boosted by China’s demand for green power (Bloomberg, 7/23/2009) Three years after passing the U.S. to become the world’s biggest air polluter, China’s investments in green energy technology are boosting orders for Western power-grid builders like ABB Ltd. as their home markets slump.

China to buy into Canadian potash projects in Africa (BNW News Wire, 7/23/2009) In recent months, plenty of headlines have been garnered by several intrepid and well-financed potash exploration juniors that are vying to muscle-in on Saskatchewan’s lucrative potash mining industry. That uber-financier Robert Friedland is now the chairman of one of these mining juniors adds further sizzle to the emerging Prairie Potash Rush.


China Industrial Waste Management, Inc. retains CCG Investor Relations (PRNewswire Asia, 7/22/2009) China Industrial Waste Management, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CIWT) ("China Industrial Waste Management" or the "Company"), a PRC-based industrial waste processor and provider of environmental protection, pollution treatment and waste management design services, announced today that it has retained CCG to design and execute its investor relations campaign.

Thousands flee homes after chemical leak in China (The Nation, 7/20/2009) More than 1,000 people fled their homes and businesses and four factory workers were sent to the hospital after a chemical leak at a shoe factory in eastern China over the weekend, according to a statement posted on the local government Web site Monday.

China, CNPC aims to double gas production by 2015 (Reuters, 7/17/2009) State-owned CNPC, China's leading oil and gas company, aims to double its natural gas production in seven years, according to a newsletter published by the company on Friday.

China iron-ore output soars, steel at record (Reuters, 7/17/2009) China's monthly iron ore output leapt by a quarter to the second highest ever in June as demand for steel strengthened and prices rose, while steel production hit an all-time peak, official data showed on Friday.

Shanghai Chaori IPO Application rejected on environmental record (Caijing, 7/17/2009) Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co.'s IPO application was rejected by regulators because of the company's record of environment penalties, a source from a securities firm told Caijing.

GOVERNMENT

Hong Kong proposes new air quality targets (AFP, 7/23/2009) Hong Kong on Thursday laid out a series of proposals to tackle the city's poor air quality, but the move drew criticism from environmental groups who said new targets did not go far enough.

Zijin mountain – enormous outdoor nature museum (Xinhua, 7/23/2009) There are few cities in China that can boast of an enormous outdoor nature museum smack in the center of the city, home to a stunning range of beautiful butterflies, beetles and crickets - and also a scorpion, sans sting.

India and China give US a clean energy lesson (The National, 7/23/2009) Top US officials have been travelling to China and India to urge those countries to do more to curb carbon emissions. But they may be preaching to the converted.

China to build stronger telescope network in south pole: astronomer (Xinhua, 7/23/2009) Chinese astronomers will set up a stronger telescope network on Dome A, the top of the south pole, after the initial success in January, 2008, an astronomer said at a symposium that concluded here Thursday.

China blacklists eight cities, five power plans for environmental problems (Xinhua, 7/23/2009) China's environmental watchdog blacklisted Thursday eight cities for outdated sulphur removal processes at municipal sewage treatment plants and five power plants for fabricating smoke-gas monitoring data.

Climate Change – China: Reluctance to curb emissions (IPS, 7/22/2009) China has welcomed Obama administration's efforts to lead a global movement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, but it has spawned concerns in Beijing that international pressure to cap emissions could mount, thus slowing the pace of its economic growth.

New report on China’s packaging recycling master-plan (Recycling Portal, 7/22/2009) A new report has been published on China's Packaging Recycling Master-plan. It analyses and comments on more than 15 new leglislative changes affecting the packaging industry introduced by China's administration since 1 January 2008.

China expects more cooperation with World Water Council (Xinhua, 7/22/2009) China is ready to increase cooperation with the World Water Council (WWC) to jointly cope with water-resource challenges, said Vice Premier Hui Liangyu here on Wednesday.

Auditors concerned over China hydropower shortcuts (AP, 7/21/2009) China’s national auditors are concerned that developers of a controversial dam on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river are taking shortcuts that may endanger the project and send costs spiraling.

China offers big solar subsidy, shares up (Reuters, 7/21/2009) China has launched an unprecedented and long-awaited plan to offer subsidies for utility-scale solar power projects, sparking a rally in shares of Chinese solar panel makers on Tuesday.

China to boost subsidies for solar power (Wall Street Journal, 7/21/2009) The Chinese government will boost subsidies for solar power in a bid to juice the development of about 500 megawatts of solar energy in the next two or three years. That’s about the size of an average coal-fired power plant.

Chinese Vice Premier stresses environmental protection, energy conservation (Xinhua, 7/21/2009) Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday called for efforts to intensify energy conservation, emission reduction and environmental protection to ensure clean, safe and sustainable development.

Outpacing its green due, China pursues leadership in new energy solutions (Xinhua, 7/21/2009) As Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chinese diplomats sat in a spacious hall in Beijing over the weekend to discuss diplomatic projects, they sacrificed the formality of suits and ties in favor of white dress shirts to better weather the warm temperatures inside the building -- a measure taken to help conserve energy.

Weaknesses in Chinese wind power (Forbes, 7/20/2009) Seeking to rein in its emissions of greenhouse gases, China is on an ambitious spending spree in wind power. The government is working on plans to shell out 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) to build seven massive wind farms with a combined capacity of more than 120 gigawatts, roughly equal to the world's total installed wind power plants last year.

China concerned about mine safety as economy grows (Bloomberg, 7/17/2009) China, the world’s third-largest economy, said ensuring mining safety in the second half will be more difficult as a potential recovery from a slowdown boosts demand for energy and raw materials.