Top Stories
2,100 enterprises with dated production
capacity to close.—reliability high.
"A total of nearly 2,100 enterprises must eliminate backwards
production capacity in 18 different industries before September 2010 or
face closure, according to a public announcement released by the
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Aug. 8. The
enterprises mainly involved are 760 cement plants, 280 paper mills, 200
printing and dyeing mills, 175 coke factories, 175 ironworks, 140
ferroalloy works and 80 tanneries." See People's
Daily Online.
However:
Devil is in the details of China's new energy-cutting drive.—reliability
high.
"On paper, the order given on Sunday raises the specter of a sharp cut
in industrial output growth, even as the robust economy shows modest
signs of cooling. In practice, several firms on the government's black
list said they had either already shut the offending facilities or were
planning new, bigger replacements." Several examples, and discussion of
difficulties the central government faces in controlling growth of
polluting industries. From Reuters.
[Welcome to
capitalism, comrade. The five year plan meets the business cycle.]
E.P.A. Cracks Down on Cement Pollution.—reliability
high.
The U.S. EPA "put 100-plus cement kilns on notice that they will have
to spend almost $1 billion annually to clean up the pollution they put
into the atmosphere. ... The E.P.A. estimates that the new rules will
eliminate 92 percent of the mercury and fine-particulate emissions from
cement kilns (more than 10 percent of the national total). The rule
will also save somewhere from 960 to 2,500 lives annually starting in
2013, not to mention avert hundreds of cases of bronchitis and 1,500
heart attacks, the agency said." The rules will raise the cost of
cement. See New
York Times Green blog. [EPA continues to
get serious.]
Rice yields falling under global warming.—reliability
high.
"Global warming is cutting rice yields in many parts of Asia,
according to research, with more declines to come. Yields have fallen
by 10-20% over the last 25 years in some locations. The group of mainly
US-based scientists studied records from 227 farms in six important
rice-producing countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, India and China.
... 'We found that as the daily minimum temperature increases, or as
nights get hotter, rice yields drop.'" Story at BBC News.
Abstract of paper here.
"Looking ahead,
[these results] imply a net negative impact on yield from moderate
warming in coming decades. Beyond that, the impact would likely become
more negative, because prior research indicates that the impact of
maximum temperature becomes negative at higher levels." [The question
is
whether rice research can keep ahead of the yield-reducing effects of
continued warming.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Hyundai CEO John Krafcik commits to 50 mpg
fleet average by 2025.—reliability medium.
"Hyundai America CEO John Krafcik became the first executive to commit
to a 50-mile-per-gallon fleet average and plans to achieve that goal by
2025. That goes well beyond the 35.5 mpg already mandated under
corporate average fuel economy rules for 2016. ... To get to 50 mpg in
2025, Krafcik plans to ramp up hybrid availability with as much as 20
percent of the lineup being partially electrified. Another five percent
will be either full battery or fuel cell electric vehicles." From Autoblog
Green. [Betting
there will be a lot of buyers for efficient vehicles, and that Hyundai
can succeed by specializing in serving them.]
Monitoring Greenhouse Gases.—reliability
high.
"companies face a dilemma on how they will gather the data [to comply
with EPA GHG monitoring requirements next year]. Broadly speaking, they
can choose between GHG-monitoring instruments and software that
generates estimates based on energy consumption. Given the regulatory
uncertainty of GHG regulation, most firms are in a quandary over the
best way to proceed." More about the market for GHG monitoring
equipment. See Chemical
and Engineering News.
Government and
Regulation
Portugal Gives Itself a Clean-Energy
Makeover.—reliability high.
"Nearly 45 percent of the electricity in Portugal's grid will come
from renewable sources this year ... 'The experience of Portugal shows
that it is possible to make these changes in a very short time.'"
Portugal has high electricity rates and little domestic fossil fuel.
More on Portugal's experience. From The
New York Times.
Science and
Economics
Analysis: Pakistan floods, Russia heat fit
climate trend.—reliability high.
"Devastating floods in Pakistan and Russia's heatwave match
predictions of extremes caused by global warming even though it is
impossible to blame mankind for single severe weather events,
scientists say. ... 'We will always have climate extremes. But it looks
like climate change is exacerbating the intensity of the extremes,'
said Omar Baddour, chief of climate data management applications at WMO
headquarters in Geneva. ... Reinsurer Munich Re said a natural
catastrophe database it runs 'shows that the number of extreme weather
events like windstorm and floods has tripled since 1980, and the trend
is expected to persist.'" See Reuters
story. [Not
news, but worth a reminder.]
Russia's fires cause 'brown cloud,' may hit
Arctic.—reliability high.
"Smoke from forest fires smothering Moscow adds to health problems of
"brown clouds" from Asia to the Amazon and Russian soot may stoke
global warming by hastening a thaw of Arctic ice, environmental experts
say. ... For the climate, 'the main concern ... is what impact the
Russian smoke would have on the Arctic, in terms of black carbon and
other (particles) in the smoke settling on the sea ice,' Ramanathan
said." More on knock-on effects of fires. Another Reuters
article. [Potential
positive feedback: soot melts ice, ice-free sea absorbs more solar
heat, warming causes more fires.]
