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WE have had a terrible reminder of just how disastrous weather events can be. I watched the events of last week from China, where I was attending an investment conference.
While the two might appear to be quite disconnected events, in fact I sat through four days of presentations where climate change, energy efficiency targets and reduced carbon emissions were mentioned in every single session.
What science is telling us is the frequency and severity of extreme climate events will increase as the planet warms.
China is now the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and it is seriously worried. Worried about its climate, pollution, water supplies and also it’s international reputation.
Without waiting for the rest of the world, it has voluntarily adopted a target to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced per unit of GDP by 2020, by 40 to 45 per cent from 2005 levels.
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But it is a demanding target and will require some very major changes in energy use in China. It is also likely to have profound impacts for Australia.
Over the past five years China has already reduced its emissions per unit of GDP by around 15 per cent. But the easy gains from closing down terribly inefficient old power stations and the like have already been had.
The new five-year plan has not yet been finalised but is expected to seek a targeted further 15 to 20 per cent improvement in carbon efficiency.
The problem is that China, like us, it is very much a coal dependent economy.
Despite having the world’s fastest growing wind, hydro and nuclear programs, none of these can be expected to significantly help China meet its target.
Rather, the most likely solution to China’s carbon problem is lying in deep coal beds in central Queensland and off WA’s North-West Shelf
Related posts:
- UK: Government set tough new target for cutting carbon emissions by 2020
- Carbon emissions to fall in 2010, but Britain could miss target by 2020
- World Bank: China could cut 55% of its carbon emissions by 2020
- China tells rich nations to cut 2020 emissions by 40%
- World CO2-Emissions Growth Keeps Focus on Coal, China (Update5)