Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
late 1980s onwards first an accelerating and then
from 2000 onwards a dramatic increase of China's
CO2 emissions. The challenge this poses for the
global climate system seems obvious and clearly
identifiable. China's increasing industrialization,
its incredible economic success and energy needs
fundamentally contribute to domestic and global
emission, thereby fuelling the processes of climate
change. However, we will reach a rather different
assessment, when taking into consideration the
data provided in Figure 8, which compare China's
CO2 emission with leading industrialized coun-
tries on a per capita basis. Here the ranking order
changes dramatically, with the United States far
in the lead, followed by other highly industrial-
ized countries and China ranking far below them,
albeit one also can identify China's upward trend,
but this trend is less dramatic when compared to
the data in Figure 7.
11
Making a comparison on
a per capita basis is essential especially when
considering that leading industrial countries not
only highlight their economic and social success,
which is based on their specific economic and
consumption model, but also encourage other
countries to follow their model. Yet, one has to
take into consideration the environmental impact
this would generate and the future, potential dra-
matic, implications if developing countries would
follow their examples. However, as indicated be-
fore, it is critical to acknowledge, that increasing
environmental damage should not be accepted
as an unavoidable element of economic growth,
instead it rather reflect a political choice regarding
the selection of a specific development strategy.
There are increasing indications for a change
of mind within the Chinese leadership as China's
White Paper on Climate Change emphasizes that
developing renewable energy resources and op-
timizing the energy mix representing critical issues
in addressing the environmental challenge it
faces. Increasing and upgrading China's wind-
power potential at an industrial level constitutes
such an important goal (China's Policies and Ac-
tion for addressing Climate change). The 'Renew-
able 2007 Global Status Report' also indicates
that China has already become a leading pro-
Figure 7. Data from: Energy Information Administration-Official Energy Statistics from the US Govern-
ment (http://www.eia.doe.gv/environment.html)
