china posts, articles, and infographics

The Water Sector

March 10, 2012 by Rich Maltzman
with 819 views

We’d like to start you off here with some statistics about China. And H2O. China accounts for 30% of the world’s population but has only 7% of the world’s freshwater supply. Since 2008, China has added more than 50 million people. Stop for a moment and think about that. That’s like adding two Australias. Or ten... [read more]

Rather Than Compete With China on Solar, U.S. Should Incentivize Demand

January 5, 2012 by Jim Pierobon
with 570 views

Conversations with analysts and advocates on both sides of SolarWorld’s anti-dumping suit against China lead me believe the U.S. cannot beat its communist counterparts on cost. What it CAN do is set policies that convince U.S. financiers that solar energy is worth investing in. This way, fresh capital can flow to U.S. companies so they can better compete on their own. [read more]

Meet a Cleantech VC Who is Unconvinced of Man-Made Climate Change

January 3, 2012 by David Gold
with 627 views

Go ahead -- call me a hypocrite. I claim to be a cleantech venture capitalist yet I tell you here and now that I am not convinced of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change (aka global warming). And I will audaciously tell you that my convictions on climate change in no way run contrary to my strong belief in the need for a cleantech revolution. [read more]

Why I’m (Still) An Optimist

January 2, 2012 by Marc Gunther
with 441 views

Happy New Year! And good riddance to 2011, a year during which we made little or no progress on some of the issues that I care most about: climate change, the long-term federal debt, social mobility (aka the American dream), and our dysfunctional Congress. Yet I remain an optimist. Texas drought 2011 I could write many words about our... [read more]

Was the Kyoto Protocol a Failure?

December 29, 2011 by Silvio Marcacci
with 889 views

Almost 15 years ago, the world gathered in Japan to negotiate the Kyoto Protcol, a landmark international treaty to limit greenhouse gases. As the expiration date of the world’s first carbon cutting treaty draws closer, energyNOW! asks – was Kyoto a success or a failure? [read more]

Predictions, Speculations, & Random Ideas for 2012

December 27, 2011 by Dan Yurman
with 1,295 views

Another fearless look ahead Each year this blog posts its fearless outlook for the coming year. For 2012 I will add the caveat that while no one can predict the future, there are plenty of pointers to how things might work themselves out over time. That's what this blog is reporting here. Japan A... [read more]

Grading My Predictions for 2011

December 26, 2011 by Robert Rapier
with 146 views

In my list of Top 10 Energy Related Stories of 2010, I made three predictions for 2011. Those predictions were: I believe high oil prices will continue to put a strain on the economies of oil-importing nations. I expect that we will see oil prices once again head above $100 per barrel, although I expect the annual average... [read more]

Offshore Wind Gets Its Bearings After NRG's Project Collapses

December 20, 2011 by Jim Pierobon
with 415 views

“Financially untenable” is how NRG Energy updates its outlook for what was a planned array of wind turbines offshore Delaware. And with that prognosis, the future of wind energy off the U.S. East Coast is very much in doubt. While the project’s fate may have been cast when the U.S. Department of Energy rejected its application for a... [read more]

Residential Solar Costs Decline, Installations Rise, Report Confirms

December 17, 2011 by Chip Gaul
with 888 views

As we near the end of a tumultuous year for solar PV, the latest report from GTM/SEIA indicates there is more momentum that ever for residential solar. A number of factors - the growth in solar leases, the glut in global panel production, and the complex web of economic incentives - have already made this the strongest year in US... [read more]

Utilities Getting More Engaged With Solar

December 15, 2011 by Benjamin Lack
with 239 views

Julia Hamm, Executive Director of the Solar Electric Power Association, discusses the current status of the solar industry and why the uility’s role in the growth of the solar industry is growing. Full Transcript:Ben lack:What is SEPA’s stance with regards to China’s involvement to generate additional solar capacity and trying to... [read more]

As the Durban Smoke Clears, We See Mirrors

December 12, 2011 by Lou Grinzo
with 105 views

After a Herculean effort by Durban negotiators to clean the climate change Aegean Stables, we have… what, exactly? I don’t think we’ll know for sure for a while, and it will take years, possibly decades, to see how the entire process plays out. Remember, there was a time when the whole world was excited because the US had agreed to be... [read more]

A Surprise Ending for Durban

December 11, 2011 by Shira Honig
with 190 views

The Durban conference on climate change ended on a much better note than many expected, but continued to delay the toughest questions for at least three years.The final outcome of the conference, COP-17, is a two-page, breakthrough document called the “Durban Platform for Enhanced Action” that commits all countries to a legally binding... [read more]

Is The End of Durban Also The End of Kyoto?

December 9, 2011 by Shira Honig
with 269 views

The end of the Durban conference is approaching, and in all likelihood, the end of the Kyoto Protocol along with it.Developments in the last few days indicate the outcome is more likely to confirm a global disagreement, rather than agreement, over the idea of a second Kyoto commitment period, or “Kyoto II,” for all countries, both... [read more]

Durban: Putting the Dust into the Dustbin of History?

December 8, 2011 by A Siegel
with 146 views

This guest post, from Heather Libby in Durban, South Africa, provides a window in thinking as to the gap between the negotiating halls and people suffering from climate chaos a few miles away, the gap between putting happy faces on a problem and choosing to address climate change in a way to reduce its catastrophic impacts.... [read more]

Do Countries at COP17 Have a Mandate to Negotiate a Climate Agreement?

December 5, 2011 by Jake Schmidt
with 189 views

For the last two global warming negotiations – in Copenhagen and Cancun – there were serious efforts by countries to get a “mandate” to negotiate a new legal agreement that would strengthen international efforts to address global warming. Before this meeting this issue – “where we are headed” – was shaping up to be the key political decision at this year Ministerial meeting in Durban, South Africa. [read more]