David Attenborough warning on climate change

Originally posted by Just_Westy ↑

Originally posted by madamswer
"The argument that China and India are the greatest culprits is also a fallacy.
Take a moment to read the below article or do your research. Australia will be left behind with our antique coal power plants and a burning bushlands .

"China is on a mission to become the next green superpower. The country is the largest investor in renewable energy, sinking $126.6 billion into the industry in 2017, a 30% increase from the year prior."

I have to concede to not having fully established the credentials of the organisation called CoalSwarm , but if the following article is anything to go by, it looks as if China is currently developing 250 GW of new coal fired power generation, to add to its 1,000 GW of existing capacity (*).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...show-runaway-expansion-of-coal-power-in-china

Hardly the sort of action one would normally associate with a "green superpower" now, is it?

I wonder how come the school kids aren't marching to the Chinese embassy in protest, and getting their [arents to embark on a full boycott of Chinese-sourced products, such as electronic goods, clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, homewares, cars, etc. etc.

(*) For context, Australia's fleet of coal fired power generation amounts to 25 GW, meaning that the increase alone, in Chinese coal-fired capacity is tentimes larger than Australia's total installed capacity
It's a bit hard to deny developing nations who are trying to drag their populations out of poverty their industrial revolution.

As well as using coal China are the world leaders in utilising green energy and will make the most out of the EV revolution as they have no other choice. The're adding nearly 2k EV buses per week to their national fleet and will be banning the sale of ICE vehicles in the future, 2030 maybe.

In 2016 China produced 75gw of electricity from solar and I expect it's well over 100gw now, they produce over 25% of their power needs from renewable energy alone.

I personally have nothing against coal as long as development of renewables continues.

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It's a bit hard to deny developing nations who are trying to drag their populations out of poverty their industrial revolution."

Of course not.

How can we in the West possibly say to people in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South and Latin America. "Sorry folk, we know you want to live like we do, but you can't because the planet won't be able to handle it."

We can't.

And that's exactly what I'm saying: the inexorable modernisation of these economies will lead to increased carbon emissions on a per capita basis.

Add rapidly-rising populations to that rising per capita dynamic, and you've got a mathematical tsunami of additional carbon emissions.

"As well as using coal China are the world leaders in utilising green energy and will make the most out of the EV revolution as they have no other choice. The're adding nearly 2k EV buses per week to their national fleet and will be banning the sale of ICE vehicles in the future, 2030 maybe.

In 2016 China produced 75gw of electricity from solar and I expect it's well over 100gw now, they produce over 25% of their power needs from renewable energy alone. "

This is a problem determined by thousands of variables.
Quoting just two of them doesn't instil me with much confidence, at the margin, I'm afraid

Does that mean China's carbon emissions on a per capita basis are going to reduce as its citizens continue to urbanise and its economy continues to industrialise?

Because, when I see stuff like this, I very much doubt it:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...show-runaway-expansion-of-coal-power-in-china