In The News

US and China to Unveil Joint Plan to 'Take Over' Cleantech Market

Jonathan Watts September 11, 2009
China and the US have finalized a plan to dominate the world market in low carbon technology. While the details will be revealed later, the plan includes investment in wind, solar and carbon capture technology and infrastructure mainly in China. But with any comprehensive plan, the devil is in the details. Patent rights remain an open issue especially as many believe that China simply uses...

What Gorgon Means for Australia

Robert Gottliebsen August 27, 2009
China’s near insatiable hunger for natural resources appears to be dwarfing political concerns for the moment. Witness the final stages of approving the “Gorgon” project – the deal in which Australia will supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China valued at $50 billion – amid the downgrading of a diplomatic visit because Australia granted a visa to Uighur leader Rebiya Qadeer. Perhaps more...

China’s Incinerators Loom as a Global Hazard

Keith Bradsher August 13, 2009
China’s garbage-burning incinerators have become a contentious issue not just for local residents in an uproar over the smoke, but also for communities and lakes halfway across the world. China’s gigantic economic growth has spawned a monumental garbage problem. And with China’s landfills nearing capacity, the alternative has been to employ incinerators. But the incinerators across China and even...

Developing Responsibility

Nayan Chanda August 7, 2009
The two-pronged solution to climate change proposed by the G-8 at the summit in L’Aquila has left much to be desired. First, it calls for an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050. While the proposed reduction seems encouraging at first glance, the reality is that it lacks a concrete plan to get to the target. Second, the G-8 agrees on a two-degree warming target for the planet. Yet, if...

Dams in China Turn the Mekong Into a River of Discord

Michael Richardson July 16, 2009
The Mekong, one of the world’s major rivers, starting in Tibet and flowing through south China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, provides sustenance through irrigation and fishing to those living in its basin. But it also provides hydroelectric power through dams, three of which were built in China and with more planned. And it is precisely these dams that are now threatening the...

Europe Looks To Africa For Solar Power

Tom Zeller Jr. July 6, 2009
With the demand for renewable energy rising, a European project is applying innovative means to harvest energy in Africa. The project known as Desertec will seek to produce power through large fields of solar collection mirrors in North African deserts and then deliver that power back to Europe as electricity. Critics have called the plan inefficient and exploitative given that solar energy can...

Oil or Trees? Germany Takes Lead in Saving Ecuador's Rainforest

Jess Smee July 1, 2009
Yasuni National Park protects the Ecuador’s rainforest and is one of the most bio-diverse places on earth. Ecuador’s largest known oil reserves, worth an estimated $6 billion, also happen to lie underneath the park. Oil is a key product for Ecuador, producing around a third of the nation’s income. The Ecuadorian government has pledged to leave the oil untapped if the international community...