Chinese Updates: China's First CCS Project Captures 40,000 Tonnes of CO2

China's First CCS Project Captures 40,000 Tonnes of CO2
2012-08-07

China's first carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration project sealed off more than 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the past 15 months in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, operators told Xinhua Monday.

As an environmental protection project of China's megaton direct liquefaction coal project, the CCS project was listed as a national key technology project and was implemented by China's leading coal company Shenhua Group Corporation Ltd, located in Wulanmulun, Erjinhoro Banner, Inner Mongolia.
The project proved China as the first country able to realize the entire process of capturing carbon dioxide and sealing it in saline aquifers, said Shu Geping, general engineer of China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Co., Ltd.

Experiments and research are still underway and the goal of sealing 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide is expected to be realized in June 2014, Shu said.

The underground saline aquifers in Ordos Basin in Inner Mongolia can store tens of billions of carbon dioxide, and this kind of basin is quite common in China, which means the demonstration project will greatly contribute to reducing China's carbon emissions, said Zhang Dongxiao, dean of the Clean Energy Research Institute of Peking University.

About 80 percent of China's carbon dioxide emissions come from coal burning. China made a promise to the United Nations that by 2020 the country would reduce carbon dioxide emissions per gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent, based on levels observed in 2005.

Researchers with Shenhua said the current CCS technology only stores carbon dioxide but can not generate profits. To popularize the technology, carbon dioxide needs to become a resource that can be utilized, and Shenhua has started relevant research, Shu said.

Source: http://english.mep.gov.cn/News_service/media_news/201208/t20120807_234453.htm

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New Book: Doing Environmental Ethics by Robert Traer

Doing Environmental Ethics

2nd Edition

Robert Traer (Author)

July 2012
Trade Paperback · 400 Pages
$40.00 U.S. · $46.00 CAN · £26.99 U.K. · €28.99 E.U.
ISBN 9780813347417

Description

Doing Environmental Ethics faces our ecological crisis by drawing on environmental science, economic theory, international law, and religious teachings, as well as philosophical arguments. It engages students in constructing ethical presumptions based on arguments for duty, character, relationships, and rights, and then tests these moral presumptions by predicting the likely consequences of acting on them. Students apply what they learn to policy issues discussed in the final part of the book: sustainable consumption, environmental policy, clean air and water, agriculture, managing public lands, urban ecology, and climate change. Questions after each chapter and a worksheet aid readers in deciding how to live more responsibly.

The second edition has been updated to reflect the latest developments in environmental ethics, including sustainable practices of corporations, environmental NGO actions, and rainforest certification programs. This edition also gives greater emphasis to environmental justice, Rawls, ecofeminists, and collective rights to clean air, water, and land. Revised study questions concern application and analysis, and new “Decision” inserts challenge students to analyze current environmental issues.

For more information: http://www.westviewpress.com/book.php?isbn=9780813347417#

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New book: Environmental Ethics by Andrew Kernohan

Environmental Ethics

An Interactive Introduction

Written by: Andrew Kernohan

Publication Date: August 30, 2012
368pp • Paperback
ISBN: 9781554810413 / 1554810418


This book explains the basic concepts of environmental ethics and applies them to global environmental problems. The author concisely introduces basic moral theories, discusses how these theories can be extended to consider the non-human world, and examines how environmental ethics interacts with modern society's economic approach to the environment. Online multiple-choice questions encourage the reader's active learning.

Comments:

"Andrew Kernohan's Environmental Ethics: An Interactive Introduction is a fantastic text. Among its many strengths is the fact that it goes deeper into the intersection of environmental ethics, public policy, and economics than any other introductory text I have seen, and makes the important but often difficult ideas that lie in that intersection clear and accessible to complete newcomers. Additionally, its online component is ample and well-constructed, and a terrific resource for instructors and students alike." - Craig Duncan, Ithaca College

"It is high time that philosophers do more than speculate amongst themselves about issues of environmental ethics. Andrew Kernohan not only provides an interactive teaching tool, but equally importantly, he invites the reader to do environmental ethics. This engaging volume shows how philosophy can be vital to matters of environmental decision making and public policy." - Ingrid Leman Stefanovic, University of Toronto

 
Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I: Ethical Theory

Chapter 1: Introduction to Environmental Ethics
Chapter 2: Metaethics
Chapter 3: Ethical Analysis
Chapter 4: Ethical Egoism
Chapter 5: Utilitarianism
Chapter 6: Virtue Ethics
Chapter 7: Rights
Chapter 8: Justice

Part II: Environmental Ethics

Chapter 9: Obligations to Distant People
Chapter 10: Future Generations
Chapter 11: Animal Welfare
Chapter 12: Animal Rights
Chapter 13: Biocentric Ethics
Chapter 14: Ecocentric Ethics
Chapter 15: Ecofeminism
Chapter 16: Deep Ecology

Part III: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment

Chapter 17: Ethics and Economics
Chapter 18: Free-Market Environmentalism
Chapter 19: External Costs and Public Goods
Chapter 20: Cost-Benefit Analysis
Chapter 21: Precautionary Principles
Chapter 22: Pollution Control
Chapter 23: Sustainable Development
Chapter 24: The Market Worldview

Glossary
References
Index

For more information about the book:  http://www.broadviewpress.com/product.php?productid=1116&cat=0&page=1

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New Book: China's Environmental Challenges By: Judith Shapiro (American University)

China's Environmental Challenges

By: Judith Shapiro (American University)

 

Description

China’s huge environmental challenges are significant for us all. They affect not only the health and well-being of China but the very future of the planet.

In this trailblazing book, noted China specialist and environmentalist Judith Shapiro investigates China’s struggle to achieve sustainable development against a backdrop of acute rural poverty and soaring middle class consumption. Using five core analytical concepts to explore the complexities of this struggle - the implications of globalization, the challenges of governance; contested national identity, the evolution of civil society and problems of environmental justice and equity - Shapiro poses a number of pressing questions: Do the Chinese people have the right to the higher living standards enjoyed in the developed world? Are China's environmental problems so severe that they may shake the government's stability, legitimacy and control? To what extent are China’s environmental problems due to patterns of Western consumption? And in a world of increasing limits on resources and pollution "sinks," is it even possible to build an equitable system in which people enjoy equal access to resources without taking them from successive generations, from the poor, or from other species?

China and the planet are at a pivotal moment; the path towards a more sustainable development model is still open. But - as Shapiro persuasively argues - making this choice will require humility, creativity, and a rejection of business as usual. The window of opportunity will not be open much longer.

Chapter 1 - 'The Big Picture' - is available online.

Table of Contents

Map Chronology
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter One: Introduction: The Big Picture
Chapter Two: Environmental Challenges: Drivers and Trends
Chapter Three: State-led Environmentalism: The View from Above
Chapter Four: Sustainable Development and National Identity
Chapter Five: Public Participation and Civil Society: The View from Below
Chapter Six: Environmental Justice and the Displacement of Environmental Harm
Chapter Seven: Prospects for the Future
References

For more information:  http://www.polity.co.uk/book.asp?ref=9780745660912

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New Publication: Making the Case for Environmental Education in China by Li, Wanxin and Graeme Lang

Making the Case for Environmental Education in China

We examine the effects of schools and parents, the two of the most important sources of influence, on views of human-nature relationship of 6th grade primary school children in China.

Adopting five items of the modified new ecological paradigm scale, we measured both child and his/her parent’s views on human-nature-relationship (HNR). On average, children score higher on the HNR indicators than their parents but both are correlated. Attending a green school and parents’ HNR scores are positively associated with children’s HNR scores. Furthermore, obtaining higher education is associated with parents’ HNR scores, which can be transmitted to children. Thus, the study makes a strong case for more equitable education, and environmental education in particular, that nurtures environmentally friendly worldviews among the future generations in China.

FILES

• Link to pdf   135.7 kB 

TYPE OF PUBLICATION

• Discussion paper

REFERENCE

Li, Wanxin and Graeme Lang, 2012. Making the Case for Environmental Education in China, Working Paper, Department of Public and Social Administration, City University of Hong Kong, and Tsinghua University.

For more info: http://www.efdinitiative.org/centers/china/the-environment-for-development-initative?uid=5c801e46aaf3ef27b6bbd03dd2a7c324

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Chinese Updates: Carbon credit program launched in Shanghai

Carbon credit program launched in Shanghai

2012-08-02

Shanghai municipal government issued guidelines for a pilot carbon trade market that will allow companies to buy and sell carbon credits. The guidelines, which were posted on the government website on Tuesday, said the program will have a trial period from 2013 to 2015. About 200 firms from industries such as steel, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals and power, plus non-industrial fields, such as airlines, ports, airports and hotels, will join the program. 　　The authority said companies with large carbon emissions, like Baosteel and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical will be included in the scheme. 　　The carbon dioxide emission of these 200 companies reached 110 million tons last year, accounting for almost half of the city's total emissions. 　　The carbon trade platform will be based at the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange. 　　Shanghai's move comes on the heels of a decision by the National Reform and Development Commission earlier this year to call on seven cities and provinces, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, to set up carbon trade markets. 　　The policy aims to encourage the development of a low carbon economy nationwide. Companies who keep their emissions below their targets can sell their carbon credits to those exceeding their limits and profit from the trade. Source: http://english.mep.gov.cn/News_service/media_news/201208/t20120802_234261.htm

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S. Korean Updates: KECO to support medium and small-sized companies preparing for cap-and-trade system

KECO to support medium and small-sized companies preparing for cap-and-trade system

Korea Environment Corporation (KECO) under the Ministry of Environment announced on the 7^th that KECO is pursuing a project supporting medium and small-sized companies that are willing to participate in greenhouse gas reduction activity. KECO will support companies in establishing and evaluating greenhouse gas inventory and verifying the inventory by a third party.

The project is to support companies that are not subject to target management system. KECO will provide consultation for establishing the greenhouse gas inventory, support constructing and evaluating greenhouse gas inventory and assist a third party verification on the greenhouse gas inventory.

First, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Certification Center of KECO will select companies among the applicants and conclude contract for project implementation. Then, KECO will support establishing and evaluating inventory or provide the third party verification on the emissions of existing inventory.

Education and fee for verification & certification will be supported by KECO.  

〈Process of Project〉

		Receive application from companies
	Companies with existing inventory			Companies without existing inventory
					Select companies and notify
					Conclude agreement for the project
					a. Consultation on greenhouse gas inventory establishment b. Greenhouse gas inventory construction
Verification on greenhouse gas emissions by a third party					Evaluation on greenhouse gas inventory

  

As designation standard for target management system is strengthened and cap-and-trade system will be put into effect from 2015, KECO’s intention is to provide support in advance to the medium and small-sized companies where they have difficulties in preparing for the greenhouse gas emissions, prior to the cap-and-trade system.

To improve the capabilities of domestic companies and local governments against the climate change, KECO had performed and completed support & evaluation and verification & certification on greenhouse gas inventory of six companies and two local governments (2099-2011).     

Application for the project is possible via e-mail or (hessall@keco.or.kr) or by sending mail to GHG Certification Center by August 31.

More information on the project is available at KECO website (http://www.keco.or.kr) or the center website (http://doe.keco.or.kr).  

KECO expects the project of establishing greenhouse gas inventory will help save a great deal of expense in the future for the companies that are entitled to target management system.

Source: http://eng.me.go.kr/board.do?method=view&docSeq=10665&bbsCode=new_news

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