China considers energy cap

China may attempt to cap the amount of energy the nation uses, to address reliance on foreign energy sources and address its carbon dioxide emissions. The plan has apparently been nutted out over the last two years and provincial governments are aboard. All that the remains is for the State Council, China’s “highest executive …

[Dr Stephen Jones]

The Tooth Fairy is real

"China understands that capping energy use may cause its economy to slow, but is apparently willing to take that hit in order to preserve its own, and the world’s, environment.

And if you believe that, you believe anything.

Two new coal power stations are being built in China every week, and it isn't going to slow its economy for Simon, the Earth Goddess Gaia, or anyone else.

[Yag]

Re: The Tooth Fairy is real

However, it may be going to slow its economy due to bleak exportations and late overexpansion. Maybe saying it's for ecological reason is a nice way to find a justification...

[Dr Stephen Jones]

Re: The Tooth Fairy is real

China's property bubble has now burst and the economy is slowing down as global demand for its exports falls, particularly from Europe. But China is still growing at 8-10pc a year not 10-20pc a year. Not exactly a contraction. So China still needs more energy YoY and this will come from fossil fuels.

With stories like this The Register Australia is a branch of Greenpeace. Facts please Simon not eco-propaganda.

[Mips]

Re: The Tooth Fairy is real

As China has discovered, everything else that sucks in all around, be it fuel, materials, people money, turns into a black hole.

[Muckminded]

Keeping the nutted-out organs of power in-house

The emphasis is likely on "reliance on foreign energy sources", not tree hugging.

[Scott 19]

Signed

So they signed one of the documents demanding justice for Gaia then? the one they put foward in Durban that stated:

*"Rights of Mother Earth”: The draft talks of “The recognition and defence of the rights of Mother Earth to ensure harmony between humanity and nature”. Also, “there will be no commodification [whatever that may be: it is not in the dictionary and does not deserve to be] of the functions of nature, therefore no carbon market will be developed with that purpose”.

*War and the maintenance of defence forces and equipment are to cease.

*The new CO2 emissions target, for Western countries only, will be a reduction of up to 50% in emissions over the next eight years and of “more than 100%” [these words actually appear in the text] by 2050. So, no motor cars, no coal-fired or gas-fired power stations, no aircraft, no trains. Back to the Stone Age

[Scott 19]

Re: Signed

Sorry link to doc http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2011/awglca14/eng/crp38.pdf

[Yag]

"So, no motor cars, no coal-fired or gas-fired power stations, ..."

You should not imply the most important and overlooked one : No modern agriculture.

So back to the substainable population of the stone age. Heck, it have "substainable" in it, it's good! :)

[NomNomNom]

Re: Signed

uh “more than 100%” doesn't make sense, unless this is about reductions to eg 1990 levels.

Such reductions will only slow down the CO2 rise, they won't stop it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Er, no.

They will only cap the amount of energy the people use. The government, and its subsidiaries, will carry on using as much energy as they like.

Expect to see lights burning all night in empty offices, while in rural areas the people burn pig shit to keep warm.

[AndrueC]

I can see the slogan now: "One child, one kilowatt"

[mhenriday]

What ! Are Chinese officials utterly unaware of the important scientific work

of such Reg contributers as Lewis Page and A O ? Can't Reg posters who reside in the neighbourhood present the relevant peer-reviewed papers to the Chinese, so they come to the realisation that concerns about global warming are merely the improductive fantasies of hippies and people of that ilk and something serious policy makers can safely ignore ?...

Henri