Environment China

In this episode of Environment China, we are talking about China's long-term pathway to carbon neutrality and, in particular, about the recent publication of the China Energy Transformation Outlook, or CETO, which provides two scenarios of China's clean energy transition. We talk to Kaare Sandholt, International Chief Expert for the China Energy Transformation Programme. The programme is run by the Energy Research Institute  of the NDRC. Topics we address include: The importance of long-term modeling, and its contribution compared to five-year plans or other policy planning How CETO's two main scenarios compare: both assume carbon neutrality by 2060 and similar GDP growth, but differ in terms of energy mix and technology progress The role of electrification and energy efficiency: starting with transport, but also in industry, which requires both a cleaner grid and lower direct combustion of fossil fuels, which wastes huge amounts of energy through waste heat The importance of structural economic transformation: CETO assumes China makes substantial progress transitioning away from heavy manufacturing The reforms that CETO anticipates, including especially in power markets (merit-order dispatch, cross-regional electricity trading, and price signals), but also in carbon markets and industry standards The role of gas: gas will rise rapidly in relative terms, with 50-50 growth between power sector and industry; in coastal provinces gas is for flexibility in the power sector, and inland provinces gas is for industry; but it will not become a major transition fuel that takes the place of coal The amount of wind and solar capacity that will be needed: while the RE capacity requirement has risen due to faster electricity demand growth, the annual additions needed are roughly in line with present wind and solar additions The report is available in English here: https://www.cet.energy/ And Kaare Sandholt has an excellent article in a recent issue of Carbon Brief, published together with Wang Zhongying: https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-china-will-need-10000gw-of-wind-and-solar-by-2060/    Executive Producer of this episode: Anders Hove  

According to a recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), by sustaining its current expansion rate of renewable energy, China could cut 30% of power sector emissions & increase non-fossil energy share to over 40%. This would require renewable capacity of 5,000 GW by 2035 (roughly 3x current renewable capacity, or 4x current wind and solar capacity) and halting approvals of all new unabated coal power plants. CREA's report argues these goals can only be achieved through robust national targets, such as through the forthcoming Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets.  In this podcast, we speak with CREA's Belinda Schäpe about the details of this analysis, which was reported on in detail in Reuters, Bloomberg, and AFP.  Belinda is a China Policy Analyst with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) where she analysis China's decarbonisation journey and advises policymakers on their diplomatic engagement with China. Previously, Belinda worked on climate diplomacy with China at the climate change think tank E3G, at the European Commission, Dialogue Earth, and a number of organisation working on economic cooperation between Europe and China. Belinda holds a double master's degree in International Affairs from the London School of Economics and Peking University and a bachelor's degree in Chinese Studies and Business Administration from Tübingen University.  The full report from CREA is available here: https://energyandcleanair.org/publication/chinas-clean-energy-trends-could-cut-emissions-by-30-in-2035-if-sustained/ 

Dear listeners, we hope you missed us during the long summer break! Now, we're back, and hope you'll join us again for another in-depth episode dealing with a rapidly expanding element of China's energy transition: offshore wind. Today, we're talking about China's offshore wind sector and how it compares to the strategies pursued by Western countries, typified perhaps by the example of Norway. Our guest is longtime Beijing Energy Network member Erlend Ek, who was posted to Beijing and lived in China for over 15 years. He is now senior research strategy and energy lead with China Policy. Erlend has over this time headed a long list of commissioned research projects across a diverse range of topics, including China's industrial development, trade policy, regional economic coordination, and the economic zones system. His master's thesis is entitled: "China and Norway: who leads in offshore wind energy and why? A study in motivation." Key points addressed in the podcast: How China's offshore wind industry started out, and how it compares to the rest of the world. (It started late, but is now largest in the world by far.) How China's offshore wind compares technologically. (China has mastered almost the complete supply chain, but so far mainly competes for domestic projects.) The role of policy versus markets in China in offshore wind. Erlend points out that the Chinese state plays an important coordinating role, and a very active role in setting objectives, but relies heavily on the market for efficient outcomes within that context. How China's strategy differs from that of Norway and other countries more focused on "technology neutral" or "low cost" approaches to the energy transition. The two main critiques of China's energy transition and whether they are valid: (1) that subsidies have declining effectiveness and rising costs, meaning they are ultimately unsustainable in bringing about a transition and overly costly, and (2) that the private sector is inherently better at deciding where society should invest than the public sector or policy makers. How China localized the wind industry and whether its criticisms of industrial policies in Europe make sense. Whether other countries can compete with China in these fields, even with the best policies, given its scale and other advantages. Episode produced by: Anders Hove (This episode is a re-post of yesterday's episode, which was missing around 1 minute of content towards the end.)  

Dear listeners, we hope you missed us during the long summer break! Now, we're back, and hope you'll join us again for another in-depth episode dealing with a rapidly expanding element of China's energy transition: offshore wind. Today, we're talking about China's offshore wind sector and how it compares to the strategies pursued by Western countries, typified perhaps by the example of Norway. Our guest is longtime Beijing Energy Network member Erlend Ek, who was posted to Beijing and lived in China for over 15 years. He is now senior research strategy and energy lead with China Policy. Erlend has over this time headed a long list of commissioned research projects across a diverse range of topics, including China's industrial development, trade policy, regional economic coordination, and the economic zones system. His master's thesis is entitled: "China and Norway: who leads in offshore wind energy and why? A study in motivation." Key points addressed in the podcast: How China's offshore wind industry started out, and how it compares to the rest of the world. (It started late, but is now largest in the world by far.) How China's offshore wind compares technologically. (China has mastered almost the complete supply chain, but so far mainly competes for domestic projects.) The role of policy versus markets in China in offshore wind. Erlend points out that the Chinese state plays an important coordinating role, and a very active role in setting objectives, but relies heavily on the market for efficient outcomes within that context. How China's strategy differs from that of Norway and other countries more focused on "technology neutral" or "low cost" approaches to the energy transition. The two main critiques of China's energy transition and whether they are valid: (1) that subsidies have declining effectiveness and rising costs, meaning they are ultimately unsustainable in bringing about a transition and overly costly, and (2) that the private sector is inherently better at deciding where society should invest than the public sector or policy makers. How China localized the wind industry and whether its criticisms of industrial policies in Europe make sense. Whether other countries can compete with China in these fields, even with the best policies, given its scale and other advantages. Episode produced by: Anders Hove

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Maggie Yao. Maggie is a Senior Consultant at CCaSS EY Netherlands, primarily focusing on EU environmental policy, ESG due diligence, ESG strategy, and CSRD implementation. Prior to EY, she worked as an Associate at RMI China, where she conducted research on coal transition, renewable energy integration and system impact, and power market analysis. She also worked as a Senior Analyst for Coho Climate Advisors, a DC-based energy consulting firm and an ERM Group company. There, she engaged with multiple corporate and industrial companies to help them procure large-scale renewable energy in the United States. Maggie obtained her Bachelor's degree in Political Economy from UC Berkeley, and her Master's degrees from Yale School of the Environment and Johns Hopkins University.   This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer 袁小丹 Yuan Xiaodan (Joyce)    

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast series on Young Professionals in Sustainability, we speak to UB Qiu. UB is a sustainability professional with diverse, international, cross-sector experiences, including in ESG consulting, in-house corporate sustainability, partnership development at a plant-based protein startup, and multiple internships and projects at climate-tech startups/social enterprises in the U.S., China, Kenya, and India. Additionally, she was part of Antler's inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence cohort in Saudi Arabia in 2023. UB holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Management from Yale University and a B.S. in Psychology and Environmental Policy from the College of William and Mary. She was an honoree of GreenBiz 30 Under 30 in 2021.   This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer Xiaodan Yuan.   在环境中国最新一期的环境能源可持续圈打工人系列播客中，我们邀请到了邱洋圣菁 UB —— UB 在可持续发展领域拥有多年的国际化经验，特别是在 ESG 咨询和企业可持续发展管理领域。她也曾在一家植物蛋白初创企业负责企业的合作伙伴拓展。过去两年，她在肯尼亚、印度、及中美参与多个气候科技创业公司、社会企业和碳金融方面的实习和研究项目。2023年底，她入驻新加坡早期创投资本公司 Antler 在沙特阿拉伯的首个驻场创业项目。UB 拥有耶鲁大学的环境管理硕士，及威廉玛丽学院的心理学和环境政策学士。播客文字版记录请查看北京能源网络公众号。   播客制作人：袁小丹

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Ruixin Li as part of our Young Professionals in Sustainability series. Ruixin currently works as the lead climate specialist at ICF International Consulting (Beijing). He has eight years of experience working on climate change issues and more than four years of experience implementing international cooperation projects. His focuses include carbon market, green finance, and sustainable aviation. Previously, Ruixin worked for Greenovation Hub and China Youth Climate Action Network. He has also assisted several international NGOs in climate communication and local climate action. Since 2014, he has been tracking international climate negotiations under the UNFCCC and witnessed the reach of the Paris Agreement and the Paris Rulebook. His negotiation tracking articles can be found in several media, such as China Economic Herald, Caixin Globus News, and Ming Pao. This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer Xiaodan Yuan. Support us on Patreon!  https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina 

Today, we have a special cross-over episode with the podcast called Preparing for AI, which is hosted by Matt Cartwright and Jimmy Rhodes. The guest for this episode is Anders Hove, long-time host of the Environment China podcast, and Beijing-based Matt Cartwright interviews him about the impact of AI on the clean energy transition. Anders ‘references several points related to China, such as efforts to locate data centers in colder regions, and the results of experiments seeking to make data centers respond to the output of renewables. We hope you enjoy it! You can read a full transcript of the episode on the Preparing for AI website here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2320704/14945514

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Zhinan Chen as part of our Young Professionals in Sustainability series. Zhinan is a senior associate with Rocky Mountain Institute's India Program, based in Oakland, California, United States. She collaborates with national and state-level partners in India to accelerate the country's transition to zero-emission trucking. At RMI, she also helped shape the concrete and cement initiative as one of the founding members, where she designed net-zero strategies for the global concrete and cement industry through thought leadership and stakeholder engagement. Zhinan has worked in the non-profit sector for four years, mainly covering heavy industry, transportation decarbonization in Asia, and US-China climate cooperation. Zhinan holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Management from Yale University and a Bachelor's Degree in Arabic and Economics from Peking University. This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer Xiaodan Yuan.   Support our podcast on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina 

Today's episode looks at the complex topic of corporate climate disclosures. Our guests today are Erica Downs, Ned Downie, and Lou Yushan. They are the authors of a recent report, published by the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), entitled “China's Climate Disclosure Regime: How Regulations, Politics, and Investors Shape Corporate Climate Reporting.” Erica Downs is senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University; Edmund Downie is PhD Candidate in Public Affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs; and Yushan Lou is Research Associate at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. In the podcast we discuss: How disclosures on ESG and carbon emissions differ in Hong Kong versus the mainland, and for listed versus unlisted firms The differing incentives SOEs have for making public climate disclosures The value of such disclosures for policy, given that policy-makers have so many other command-and-control instruments on climate policy and ways of obtaining emissions or climate-related information from the largest emitters The ways investors can and do influence Chinese firms, including SOEs, to improve climate disclosures For further reading: Edmund Downie, Erica Downs, Yushan Lou, “China's Climate Disclosure Regime: How Regulations, Politics, and Investors Shape Corporate Climate Reporting," Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy, 29 November 2023, at https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/publications/chinas-climate-disclosure-regime-how-regulations-politics-and-investors-shape-corporate-climate-reporting/. Edmund Downie, Erica Downs, Yushan Lou, "Better disclosure rules can help China's financial markets work for the climate," China Dialogue, 4 January 2024, at https://chinadialogue.net/en/climate/better-disclosure-rules-can-help-chinas-financial-markets-work-for-the-climate/.  Episode produced by: Anders Hove Buy us a nice chocolate chip cookie on our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina     

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Wen Yi as part of our Young Professionals in Sustainability series. Wen Yi is a doctoral graduate in Transportation Engineering from the University of Tennessee in the United States and a master's degree in statistics. He previously received a master's degree in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Wen Yi has been deeply involved in the environmental field since his undergraduate degree. During his PhD, Wenyi's main research area was micro-mobility, especially the study of the impact of bike-sharing on the transportation system, environmental ecology, and personal health.  Episode production: Joyce Yuan Support Environment China on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina  

This is an emergency podcast about the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis, which was released just a day ago. Top US and China climate negotiators Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry have held several days of talks at the Sunnylands estate near Palm Springs in California, and released this joint US-China statement in the lead-up to COP28 in Dubai. Just a few months ago, Kerry had visited BJ to negotiate similar topics, and President Xi had used the occasion to emphasize that China would set its own path on climate, and not give in to pressure. So this joint statement comes as a bit of a positive surprise. Topics we discuss: The top highlights of the announcement, especially economy-wide emissions cuts and addressing all GHGs. The meaning of "meaningful post-peak reductions in power sector emissions." The importance of the phrasing around tripling renewable capacity. What this means (or doesn't mean) for global stock taking. How the issue of trade policy will play at the COP. China's potential contribution to loss and damage funds. Further reading:  Li Shuo, "What Does China Want From COP28?" Asia Society Policy Institute, November 2023, at https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/what-does-china-want-cop28.  This episode was produced by Anders Hove. Contribute to our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina 

In the latest episode of Environment China's Young Professionals in Sustainability Series, we talk with Qiwen Cui, the China editor at China Dialogue, which in 2024 will launch its new flagship website called Dialogue Earth. Qiwen has worked in various media outlets covering climate action, technology, and entrepreneurship. Her focuses at Dialogue Earth are biodiversity, food systems, energy and climate change. Before moving to London, Qiwen worked at Shanghai-based sustainable social enterprise BottleDream and Curiosity Daily, among others. In the podcast, we will discuss Qiwen's early academic and work background, career planning path, a day at Dialogue Earth's London office, and sustainable societies and events in London. This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer Xiaodan Yuan Please consider supporting us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina  我们一生中有将近三分之一的时间都在工作中度过，所以我们要的不仅仅只是一份工作，而是一个与我们的目标、优势和价值观相一致的职业。2022年我们发起了“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”圆桌并邀请了来自环境、能源和可持续发展领域的小伙伴们分享他们的工作机构和内容、职业发展规划及在工作上遇到的挑战。在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以环境能源可持续圈打工人系列播客诞生了！ 在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了Dialogue Earth的中文编辑崔绮雯——绮雯在伦敦以写作为生，主要关注生物多样性，食物系统，能源和气候变化等议题。搬来伦敦前，绮雯在上海的可持续社会企业 BottleDream 和好奇心日报等机构任职。我们在播客中将探讨绮雯早期的学业和工作背景、职业规划路线、在 Dialogue Earth 伦敦办公室的一天，和伦敦的可持续社团和活动等。 您可以在各大播客平台、小宇宙上、和北京能源网络公众号收听环境中国播客。本集播客制作人：Xiaodan Yuan

Coal in China is seeing a multi-year resurgence after years in which the government seemed ready to dial back and ultimately halt coal power construction. Indeed, just months after the 2020 announcement by Xi Jinping on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, in early 2021 a Central Environmental Inspection Team report criticized the National Energy Administration for approving too much coal and ignoring environmental policy goals (albeit on air quality, not carbon). The report stated that NEA had ‘built what shouldn't be built (coal, coal power lines), and not built what should be built.' China also committed internationally to ‘strictly control' new coal capacity through 2025, after which coal power should decline. Ironically, that CEIT report was just months before a major new coal boom in China began, which kicked off even before power shortages in late 2021 that were caused by high coal prices and then further power cuts in 2022 caused by hydro shortfalls in some regions.  Our guest for this episode is Sam Clissold, analyst with Carbon Tracker. Sam has deep expertise and experience looking at the pipeline of coal power projects in China and analyzing the potential economic risks of stranded assets they pose. Topics we discuss: China's coal plant pipeline and what's driving the increase. What happened to the plan to 'strictly control' new capacity? The geography of new coal - where is new coal being built? What are the economics of making coal more flexible to balance renewables, and does this cost potentially lead to asset stranding? Why is coal booming in Guangdong? To replace gas?  Plans to introduce a capacity payment scheme to subsidize coal power. The overall scale of the coal power stranded asset risk and its size relative to China's economy. For further reading: Sam Clissold, ‘Balancing Act: Stranded Assets and Flexibility in China's Power Sector,' Carbon Tracker, 30 March 2023, at https://carbontracker.org/reports/balancing-act-stranded-assets-and-flexibility-in-chinas-power-sector/. Episode producers: Joyce Yuan (production) and Anders Hove (host) Join us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina   

The Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) has reached the ripe old age of 10 this month. Those 10 years have seen a lot of change, including on topics like the relative focus on clean energy versus fossil fuels and the interest in and incentives for applying ESG criteria to BRI investments. Today we are joined by frequent guest and longtime friend of the pod, Professor Christoph Nedopil-Wang. This year he became the Director Griffith Asia Institute and is also Professor at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Previously, he was Associate Professor and Director of the Green Finance & Development Center, Fudan University. He previous worked in Beijing at the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF), as well as at GIZ. Cheat sheet: Q: Was the 1H 2023 really the greenest ever, as Reuters summarized? (A: Reuters focused on energy sector, where change most evident, though oil & gas investments are big and lumpy, so can't just look at 1H. "Small and beautiful" green investments becoming more common.) Q: Is energy becoming greener just because fossils falling, but renewables not picking up as much? (A: Both declining coal share and growing renewables, but renewables need much stronger growth.) Q: Why is state-owned sector declining and private sector going up? Is that due to SOEs focusing on domestic investment to respond to downturn? (A: Perhaps, but also because private firms now much stronger, and battery-related giants investing in big projects.) Q: What about mining for battery materials, is there more investment in value-creating parts of that supply chain in Africa, or is it all being processed elsewhere? (A: Yes, but need to be cautious on environmental impact of local processing and whether local firms or communities actually capture value.) Q: What is the situation with Chinese basic ESG principles (disclosure, community involvement) being applied on the BRI, as opposed to just meeting minimum local standards? (A: Not so good, for the power sector case studies they looked at.) For further reading: Christoph Nedopil Wang, ‘China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2023 H1,' Green Finance & Development Center, Fudan University, 1 August 2023, at https://greenfdc.org/china-belt-and-road-initiative-bri-investment-report-2023-h1/ Cecilia Springer et al., ‘Elevating ESG: Empirical lessons on environmental and social governance implementation of Chinese projects in Africa,' Boston University, 30 August 2023, at https://www.bu.edu/gdp/2023/08/30/elevating-esg-empirical-lessons-on-environmental-social-and-governance-implementation-of-chinese-projects-in-africa/ Andrew Hayley, 'China's Belt and Road energy projects set for "greenest" year, research shows,' Reuters, 2 August 2023, at https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-belt-road-energy-projects-set-greenest-year-research-2023-08-02/ 

In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we are speaking again with Dr Liu Xiao about marine waste and the broader topic of waste and recycling in general. We talk with Dr Liu about a typical day at work on her projects at GIZ. Dr Liu is Project Manager at GIZ of the Rethinking Plastic-Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter (China), Integrated Waste Management NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) Project, and Textile Compass Project. She is also a member of Recycling and Waste Minimisation Committee of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). She has more than 15 years' experience on municipal solid waste (MSW) management and sustainable development especially on policy research and technology consulting. Her research is mainly about integrated waste management and low carbon transition, plastic waste management and pollution control, with a special focus on sustainable business model establishment in the waste sector. 我们一生中有将近三分之一的时间都在工作中度过，所以我们要的不仅仅只是一份工作，而是一个与我们的目标、优势和价值观相一致的职业。2022年我们发起了“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”圆桌并邀请了来自环境、能源和可持续发展领域的小伙伴们分享他们的工作机构和内容、职业发展规划及在工作上遇到的挑战。在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以“环境能源可持续圈打工人”系列播客诞生了！ 在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了刘晓博士——刘晓是德国国际合作机构（GIZ）的项目执行主任，她主要负责城市生活垃圾综合管理、循环经济与海洋垃圾、和纺织行业绿色转型这三个项目。她在城市生活垃圾管理领域有15年的政策及技术咨询经验，并关注废弃物管理及可持续商业模式的建立。我们在播客中将探讨刘晓早期的学业和工作背景、加入德国国际合作机构的契机、在德国国际合作机构工作的一天等。 Episode producer: Joyce Yuan Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina 

In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we are talking about the evolution and underpinnings of China's climate diplomacy. Our guest is Taylah Bland, Schwarzman Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. She specializes in China's domestic climate politics and international environmental law. She is a graduate of New York University, Shanghai and Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar. In this episode we cover: China's tendency to boost domestic policy first, before making climate commitments. China's signing on to climate agreements in the early phases, such as the Kyoto Protocol and Clean Development Mechanism The importance of China's domestic policy leading up to its Paris commitment Whether China's climate diplomacy commitments lag domestic trends so much, such as on renewables, that they are more for splashy announcements and soft power What further domestic policy steps are needed before China can enhance its ambitions for the next round of climate talks Further reading: Taylah Bland, "Key Factors Shaping China's Engagement With International Environmental Law," Asia Society Policy Institute, April 2023, at https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/key-factors-shaping-chinas-engagement-international-environmental-law.  Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina Episode produced by: Anders Hove

Today's episode looks at the topic of electric vehicles and their impact on both carbon emissions and urban air quality. China has the world's largest market for electric vehicles, and it is the largest maker of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles manufactured worldwide. Hence, the environmental impact of EVs, even outside of China, often goes back upstream to China. Our guest is Zhang Shaojun, Associate Professor at the Tsinghua University School of the Environment. His research examines the environmental impacts of emissions from road transportation systems on air quality, climate and public health. Before joining Tsinghua University, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at University of Michigan and Atkinson Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Cornell University.  Shaojun and his colleagues have published two important papers on these topics this year. The first, in the journal PNAS Nexus, looks at the upstream greenhouse gas emissions from battery manufacturing as well as a regional breakdown of power sector emissions from EV charging. The second paper, in Environmental Pollution, looks at the impact of EVs on air quality, employing Tsinghua's CMAQ model to look at how EVs affect ozone and PM2.5, in particular considering the seasonal effects on air chemistry, which relates to the formation of secondary pollution. (Primary emissions refer to pollutants directly emitted from vehicles or power plants, whereas secondary pollutants are formed in the atmosphere through mixing of chemical precursors.) For further reading: Fang Wang, Shaojun Zhang, Yinan Zhao, Yunxiao Ma, Yichen Zhang, Anders Hove, and Ye Wu, “Multisectoral drivers of decarbonizing battery electric vehicles in China,” PNAS Nexus, Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2023, https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/5/pgad123/7159885. Yiliang Jiang, Xinyu Liang, Shaojun Zhang, Zechun Hu, Anders Hove, and Ye Wu, “The future air quality impact of electric vehicle promotion and coordinated charging in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region,” Environ Pollut., 1 September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121928. Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina Episode Executive Producer: Anders Hove

Today's podcast looks at the topic of sustainable forestry and the role of China, particularly at the role of Chinese banks. Our guest is Beibei Yin, who researches the intersection of China's policies on forestry practices abroad and policies on green finance. Two years ago she founded her own consultancy called Bambu Consulting. Previously, she served for many years as Senior Policy Advisor at Global Witness based in London, where she researched topics such as addressing financing from China that leads to deforestation in Southeast Asia, stopping illegal timber trade, and the role of global supply chains in addressing deforestation and illegal timber. She previously joined the podcast in May 2018 to talk about her research following the 9000-mile path of illegal timber from Papua New Guinea to markets.  For further reading: Beibei Yin, "China's new green finance guidelines have a deforestation blind spot," 1 August 2022, at https://chinadialogue.net/en/business/chinas-new-green-finance-guidelines-have-a-deforestation-blind-spot/.  Beibei Yin, "Who is Who No. 3 - Chinese Commercial Banks: an NGO Guide," Urgewald, January 2023, at https://www.urgewald.org/sites/default/files/media-files/WhoIsWho-No3-ChineseCommercialBanks.pdf.  Support us on Patreon - by becoming our very FIRST supporter! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina Episode Executive Producer: Anders Hove

Last week, China came out with a dramatic new policy on green certificates, radically reforming what had been a sleepy aspect of the clean energy transition in China. We don't usually do breaking news here on Environment China, but it happens that our co-producer, Anders Hove, has just published a paper on the topic as well as a short reaction article to the new policy. (Links below.) The new green certificate policy, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, and National Energy Administration, expands China's domestic renewable energy certificate scheme from onshore wind and solar to all types of renewables. The expansion means that all renewable projects will now be able to generate Green Electricity Certificates, or GECs, though only some will be traded. The policy reforms how GECs are priced and it also bans domestic generators from selling international renewable energy certificates to prevent double counting.  Further reading: Anders Hove and Gary Sipeng Xie, "Green certificates with Chinese characteristics: Will green certificates help China's clean energy transition?" Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, 8 August 2023, at https://a9w7k6q9.stackpathcdn.com/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CE9-Green-certificates-with-Chinese-characteristics.pdf. Anders Hove, "After China's new green certificate policy, major questions remain," Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (LinkedIn article), 11 August 2023, at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/after-chinas-new-green-certificate%3FtrackingId=ZOupiyoVR1GeYGktG%252BCJjw%253D%253D/?trackingId=ZOupiyoVR1GeYGktG%2BCJjw%3D%3D. 

In this latest installment in our Young Professionals in Sustainability series, we talk with Minjie LU, Energy Advisory Consultant at S&P Global Commodity Insights consulting group. He has six years of experience in the energy industry. His technical expertise includes oil and gas field development, project economics, and investment valuation. Prior to joining S&P, Minjie was a reservoir engineer at Totalenergies' Geoscience Centre in Scotland. He holds an MSc in petroleum engineering from Imperial College London and an ME in structural engineering and a BSc in engineering science from University College Dublin.   In this episode we'll explore:  His academic and work background Career change: research-oriented work to consulting S&P Global Commodity Insightsw's energy upstream research business A Day in the Life of an Energy Advisory Consultant Interesting energy consulting projects Recent major industry events and changes in the energy market     2022年我们萌生了一个想法：为什么不把北京能源网络的职场青年人聚起来，做一系列“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”的圆桌，一起来聊一聊环境和能源圈独特又好玩的工作经历，探一探大家所在行业的新鲜事呢？在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以“环境能源可持续圈打工人”系列播客诞生了！ 在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了陆旻杰——旻杰是标普全球的大宗商品能源咨询师，他在能源上游、油气田勘探开发、项目评估等领域有超过6年的经验。在加入标普前，他在道达尔能源苏格兰科研中心任职。旻杰在英国帝国理工学院获得石油工程的硕士学位，在爱尔兰都柏林大学获得土木与环境工程的硕士和学士学位。请下滑查看播客文字版记录。 1. 旻杰最初是怎么对环境能源领域的学习和工作感兴趣的？可以和我们具体分享一下你在英国和爱尔兰的学业和工作背景吗？ 我一直比较喜欢理科类的学科，所以本科就选择了在爱尔兰都柏林大学就读土木与环境工程专业。那段时间爱尔兰正在大力发展海上和陆上风电，所以在学习中我也接触到了很多能源相关的话题。同时，那段时间也是美国“页岩油气”发展的高峰，凭借“页岩油气革命”，美国从全球“第一大能源进口国”变成了“能源出口国”。“非常规油气”的开发也成为了一个全球热议的话题，其中，「水力压裂」对环境的影响也是我们专业学习的一个重要部分，我也开始研究更多关于能源开采的内容。 之后我在英国帝国理工大学就读了石油工程研究生课程。其实在更多深入学习了这个专业之后，我曾经对于石油天然气的刻板印象也发生了改变，当然，或许现在仍然有很多人对于石油天然气这些传统的化石能源持有着很大的反对意见，但我认为在人类能源需求不断攀升的情景下，如何合理的使用石油天然气作为一个“过渡能源”，来帮助人们从高污染高排放的煤炭能源消耗过渡到新能源，是一个相当重要的话题。 毕业后， 我加入了法国道达尔能源在苏格兰的研发中心，主要负责油气工程建模的研究工作，这也让我对国际大型油气公司的运营模式和企业战略有了更多的了解。 2. 旻杰刚刚提到「水力压裂技术」对环境的影响，知乎上有一个帖子名字叫做“你所不知道的水力压裂技术（知识量巨大、烧脑、慎入！）”，你可以用最简单的语言和我们科普一下这个技术，以及它对环境的影响吗？ 简单来说，“水力压裂法”指的是在页岩层注入高压的液体，使页岩层产生裂缝，好让我们获得油气的一种技术。在压裂之后，一般会在裂缝中继续注入支撑剂和化学物质，能使地下的裂缝保持张开，这样石油和天然气就可以从这些裂缝中释放出来。“非常规油气”的开采是近几年的事情，所以很多人认为“水力压裂法”是一项新技术，但其实早在70年前在常规油气开发中就有应用了。 环境影响方面的话，目前来看，水力压裂可能造成的环境影响主要问三大类：一是压裂活动需要消耗大量的淡水，那样会对周边群众日常生产活动所需的淡水资源消耗产生竞争或者是占用。二是如果压裂液或者支撑剂泄漏，可能会对地下和地表水资源造成污染，但其实压裂的页岩油气层往往在地下两千米甚至更深以下，除了地上的设备造成的泄漏之外，其实水力压裂可能对地表水资源造成环境影响的可能性很小。第三就是可能会引发小型的地震，但目前来看记载的相关地震影响都很小，尚未有过因为水力压裂引发人员或者财产损失的地震的相关报道。 3. 从苏格兰回国之后，你是怎么加入到标普全球的北京团队的呢？ 我是在2019年的下半年加入埃信华迈（IHS Markit）亚太区能源咨询团队的。当时团队的主要负责人还是在美国和新加坡，所以面试基本在线上进行。面试筛选还是挺严格的，公司对我们行业洞察和咨询分析能力都有着非常高的要求，而我也很幸运通过层层筛选加入了团队。2022年，标普全球（S&P Global）和埃信华迈（IHS Markit）合并，我们也从此加入了标普全球的大家庭，另外标普全球大宗商品普氏能源资讯（Platts）所提供的市场信息、基准价格服务等可能大家也都比较耳熟能详了。 4. 旻杰可以和我们分享一下公司在能源上游的业务吗？ 我们公司的能源上游业务主要分为三大板块： 第一是研究团队，他们主要负责定期发布一些行业的研究洞察，能源公司战略研究报告及能源收并购相关的研究； 第二是数据团队，主要负责收集全世界各地的上游勘探开发数据，包括油气田、油气井及生产平台的相关数据等等； 第三个就是我所在的能源咨询板块，我们的工作主要是为客户提供一些定制化的能源咨询服务，依靠我们公司能源上游其他两个板块所提供的公司内部数据的支撑，加上额外的数据搜集及研究分析给客户提供油气田勘探开发、项目评估、能源项目收并购技术尽调及目前比较新的“碳捕集、利用和封存技术CCUS”相关的研究工作。 5. 你在标普的职称是“大宗商品能源咨询师”，你可以具体地和我们科普一下你的工作内容吗？ 我是在2019年下半年加入公司的，我记得我参与的第一个项目是“深海油气田勘探开发方式及成本”的研究，这也是我们团队一般承接的典型项目类型。我们在项目开展之前就会与客户确定好研究的大纲、内容、方法和项目时间线，从而根据计划逐步开展项目。 在项目开展过程中，我平时主要的工作内容就是搜集研究所需的数据。之前我也提到过，我们数据的主要来源还是我们公司内部的数据库。在信息数据搜集的过程中，我们会随时与公司的研究和数据团队联系，同时也会从外部专家的交流中获取更多的洞察和信息，然后融入到我们的报告中。对于部分需要更深入研究的内容，我们则会进行额外的调研和数据搜集，从而确保研究内容的完整及深度。 在过去四年中，我参与的咨询项目周期从3个月到半年不等，我们也会定期的与客户召开周会及月会来汇报我们的工作进展，也同时获取客户的反馈，对我们的研究内容进行调整和完善。 6. 要不要和我们分享一个最近你觉得比较有趣的项目？ 我想和大家分享的是我最近参与的一个项目——随着疫情的放开，我们与客户的交流和分享也得以更多的以线下的方式开展，在最新的这个项目中，我以驻场办公的方式在东南亚某国的客户公司工作了两个多月。 在这期间和客户开展了很多非常高效的互动和交流，一方面我们可以实时的与客户交流项目进展，另一方面客户也可以随时与我们反馈他们的需求，我们可以及时的帮助客户解决很多棘手的问题。我觉得后疫情时代，可能这类的项目会越来越多，我个人感觉很多时候面对面的交流确实会高效许多。 7. 对比之前在道达尔的研究型工作经历，你觉得现在在标普做咨询，工作内容上的主要变化是什么？ 我在道达尔研发中心的主要工作是油气工程建模相关的研究，可以说是相当的专业和“定制化”。往往几个月中，我的研究对象就是一个单一的油气藏。主要的工作内容就是编写程序，根据很多的流体公式编制自动化的油气藏模型流体模拟实验。而且因为主要还是以研发为主，一般项目也没有严格的时间线和deadline。 7.1. 要不和我们迅速简单地科普一下“油气藏”吧？ 简单来说，“油气藏”就是油气聚集的一个封闭空间，你可以把它想象成一个装着油或者天然气“房子”。油气藏往往会有一个渗透率很低的岩石盖层，你可以把它想象为“屋顶”，他们的作用是阻止油气的流失，把他们妥善的保存起来。 那我现在接着回答之前的问题。相比来说，在标普能源咨询团队的工作就会更偏向能源行业的宏观层面一些，我们会随时追踪全球的能源发展趋势、油气勘探开发新项目和能源转型发展。需要实时的掌握能源行业的动态，挖掘潜在的咨询项目需求，而且与此同时也需要完成手头的咨询项目。正如之前提到的，咨询项目往往都有着严格的时间线规定和研究大纲，因此项目管理也是一门必不可少的技能。 相比之前在道达尔从事比较单一的油气藏建模研究而言，我在标普全球能源咨询团队所涉及的研究内容也更为丰富一些，近些年来我们的研究内容包含了深水油气田勘探开发研究、前沿油气勘探开发技术调研、数字油气田、能源投资决策尽调、能源市场收并购调研及“碳捕集、利用和封存技术CCUS”的调研，等等。 8. 听你分享感觉在咨询行业的工作会更加丰富有趣些，但是consulting总归是consulting，你觉得做咨询比较苦恼的地方在哪里？ 因为咨询项目往往需要紧跟客户当下的需求，或许也是因为一般的现成的研究报告已经无法满足客户的要求和定制化解决方案，所以咨询项目有时候需要研究和分析的数据往往难以简单的获得，很多时候需要通过其他相关联的的数据或者信息进行推算或者加入很多合理假设，所以有时候会信息或者数据的获取比较棘手。 另外，咨询项目往往和客户需要开展的某项业务平行的进行，例如客户可能正在着手开展某项投资项目的可行性研究，而请到我们做技术相关的尽调研究。所以客户的需要往往也会随着时间发生改变，有时候可能会提出一些他们看似简单但确需要我们投入很多人力和时间要求，如何最好的满足客户的额外需求但是同时保证项目内原定工作量的完成也是往往需要面对的棘手问题。 但是其实在完成一个个咨询项目的过程中也会有很多rewarding的瞬间，例如我们在咨询项目中给客户提出的建议被他们采纳并付诸现实，并且帮助客户取得了很好的收益汇报。我们往往也会在咨询项目中帮助客户建立一些解决问题的流程和方法，也经常会被客户采纳并融入到他们日常的业务流程之中。 所以怎么说呢，咨询其实是一个令人爱恨交加的行业或者工作吧。 9. 最后和我们分享一下你们行业近期的大事件吧？ 去年俄乌冲突的爆发，我们看到了世界能源转型的进程的加速，许多国家开启了加强支持可再生能源的政策，包括欧盟委员会提出“REPowerEU”计划，美国提出的“通胀削减法案（Inflation Reduction Act）“等等都推动了全球新能源产业链发展的进程。 但是与此同时，大家可能忽略了另外一个能源行业大事件：2022年全球煤炭消费和燃煤发电均创历史新高。据国际能源署（IEA）和标普全球大宗商品的研究调查，俄乌战争极大地改变了2022年煤炭市场的价格水平以及供需格局，2022年全球煤炭的总体需求将增长超过1%，达到历史新高。 欧洲是受能源危机影响最严重的地区之一。由于天气条件，水力和核电产量下降，也给欧洲的电力系统带来了额外的压力。作为应对，部分欧洲国家增加了煤炭发电，一些已关闭或处于备用状态的煤炭厂重新进入市场。与此同时，中国、印度、印度尼西亚等煤炭生产、消费大国也创下历史新高。举个例子，自2007年以来，印度的煤炭消费量翻了一番，年增长率达到了惊人的6%，并将继续成为全球煤炭需求的增长引擎。再举个例子，印尼作为全球第三大煤炭生产国，2022年的煤炭的产量也创下了历史新高。 10. 播客开头你也提到自己之前对化石能源的刻板印象。虽然现在全球能源转型加速，但也因为种种原因我们对化石能源的依赖居高不下。我身边很多在传统能源领域工作的朋友们总是自嘲自己在“夕阳行业”，尽管他们完全不需要担心失去工作的问题，这一点你是怎么想的呢？ 正如我在播客一开始提到的那样，全球的发展是必然趋势，在因此带来的能源需求不断攀升的情景下，如何合理的使用石油天然气作为一个“过渡能源”，来帮助人们从高污染高排放的煤炭能源消耗过渡到新能源，是一个相当重要的话题。 能源转型需要循序渐进，新能源的投入不但要满足能源需求的增长，也需要填补逐步被淘汰的传统化石能源需求的空缺。因此，个人认为，在新能源尚未形成安全可靠的替代态势之前，传统化石能源仍将占据重要位置。合理地利用石油和天然气资源作为“过渡燃料”，加上科学、适当的开展一些碳捕集、利用和封存项目，是完成全球碳中和事业必不可少的一部分。

In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we're talking with the Grantham Institute's Chunping Xie, looking at the topic of China's carbon neutrality from a wider economic perspective. Specifically, we discuss a paper published earlier this year by the Grantham Institute entitled: "Embracing the new paradigm of green Development: China Carbon Neutrality Policy Framework research report." One of the report's several authors, Chunping Xie is a Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, a programme to inform decision-making about China's policies on climate change, energy, economics and development. She holds a PhD in Energy Economics, and her research interests focus on promoting clean energy transition and sustainable economic development. She has multidisciplinary expertise in economics, energy technologies and energy/climate policy. The report we discuss today also builds on a report from 2022 entitled, "China's New Growth Story: Linking the 14th Five-Year Plan with the 2060 Carbon Neutrality Pledge." We discuss both reports in the episode. Topics we discuss are: Why carbon neutrality implies a comprehensive and profound change in China's development strategy. Whether the idea of a more profound change is recognized widely in China. The need to focus on the individual well-being as opposed to standard GDP measures. Achieving social consensus on carbon neutrality, and why it's important even though policy drives most change. Whether the present focus on coal hinders public awareness of climate change. On policy recommendations in transport, why it's important that China set a date for phasing out fossil fuel internal combustion vehicles. For cities, the relative importance of building retrofit versus new styles of urbanization versus developing cities outside the largest metropolitan areas of E. China. How cities can break free of the need to sell more land for fiscal budget revenue. Who should coordinate the overall economic paradigm shift they recommend, and whether this is happening already. Further reading: Min Zhu et al., “Embracing the new paradigm of green development China Carbon Neutrality Policy Framework research report,” Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, February 2023, at https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Embracing-the-New-Paradigm-of-Green-Development-in-China.pdf. Nicholas Stern & Chunping Xie, "China's new growth story: linking the 14th Five-Year Plan with the 2060 carbon neutrality pledge," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, 2022, at https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/chinas-new-growth-story-linking-the-14th-five-year-plan-with-the-2060-carbon-neutrality-pledge-2/.  

In this latest installment of our Women in Sustainability series, we talk with Yuan LIN,  Senior Specialist in Institutional Carbon Management at Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). She works closely with climate initiatives toward the Bank's green mission as embraced in AIIB's corporate strategy. She has 15 years of experience in Environmental Impact Assessments, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), carbon trading, and corporate carbon emission management. Before joining AIIB, she worked at the London Stock Exchange, the World Bank China office, and the Energy Foundation. She graduated from Imperial College London with an MSc in Environmental Technology and from the University of Cambridge with an MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development.   In this episode we'll explore:   Her academic and work background Trends in the '碳圈 - tanquan', aka carbon circle in the past ten years Chinese carbon market development from 2015 to 2023 A day in the life of an Institutional Carbon Management Senior Specialist at AIIB

Today we will be talking about China's efforts to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCS), a class of refrigerant with huge impacts on the climate. Our guest today is an expert on the topic, Prof Hu Jianxin. Professor Hu holds bachelor's and masters degrees in Chemistry from Peking University. He has been on the faculty at Peking University since 1986, and is currently professor at the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, and also the Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Peking University. He has published numerous academic studies of HFCs, focusing on potential emissions reductions pathways as well as the cost of mitigation in various sectors. He was involved in the negotiations leading up to the Kigali Amendment as well as several other international agreements. Topics addressed in this episode: How Prof Hu got started investigating HFCs Who needs to take action to reduce emissions of HFCs: chemical manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, consumers and repair/maintenance industry Near-term strategies for reducing and recycling HFCs Substitutes for HFCs (HFOs) - their costs, efficiencies, and timelines What does it mean when your air conditioner breaks and the repair person says you need more refrigerant For further reading: Fuli Bai et al., “Pathway and Cost-Benefit Analysis to Achieve China's Zero Hydrofluorocarbon Emissions,” Environmental Science and Technology 57(16), April 2023, at https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c00166.  Liya Guo et al., "Projected increases in emissions of high global warming potential fluorinated gases in China" Communications Earth & Environment, June 2023, at htttps://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00859-6.  Lisha Liu et al., “Historical and projected HFC-410A emission from room air conditioning sector in China,” May 2019Atmospheric Environment 212(4), May 2019, at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.05.022. Feng Hao, "Chinese manufacturers under pressure to phase out HFCs," China Dialogue, 28 November 2016, at https://chinadialogue.net/en/pollution/9426-chinese-manufacturers-under-pressure-to-phase-out-hfcs/.  Some useful acronyms: HFCs: Hydrofluorocarbons (replacement for CFCs but a dangerous greenhouse gas and hence targeted for reduction under the Kigali Amendment) HCFCs: hydrochlorofluorocarbons (an ozone-depleting refrigerant) CFCs: Chlorofluorocarbons (ozone-depleting refrigerant phased out by the original Montreal Protocol) HFOs: Hydrofluoolefins (current and future substitute for HFCs) UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme, pronounced "you-nep" EPA: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  

In this episode, we talk about China's carbon emissions and go in for a detailed mid-2023 update, thanks to the data compiled from various Chinese statistical sources by the analysts at CREA, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. We're talking to Qin Qi, an analyst at CREA and the co-author with Lauri Myllivirta of a recent Carbon Brief article on this subject.  Qin Qi recently joined CREA as an analyst. Before joining CREA she was at the UN Environment Programme for three years, and before that she was in Chinese state media for about 10 years, mainly serving at overseas bureaus in Nairobi and Washington, DC. She graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University in the field of simultaneous interpretation.  For further reading: Qin Qi and Lauri Myllyvirta, "Analysis: China's CO2 emissions hit Q1 record high after 4% rise in early 2023," Carbon Brief, 12 May 2023, at https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chinas-co2-emissions-hit-q1-record-high-after-4-rise-in-early-2023/. 

Today, we're coming back to the power sector to discuss a new report about the pathways for scaling up renewables as China pursues its policy to peak CO2 emissions by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060. The report is entitled Renewable Energy Pathways to Carbon Neutrality in China, and it's the fruit of a collaboration between scholars at Tsinghua School of the Environment, California China Climate Institute at Berkeley Law, Power Transformation Lab hosted at the UCSD. The report was released in May 2023. Michael Davidson is an assistant professor joint with the School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of California, San Diego, where he leads the Power Transformation Lab. Dr. Davidson's teaching and research focus on the engineering implications and institutional conflicts inherent in deploying low-carbon energy at scale to mitigate environmental harms, specializing in applications to China, India, and the U.S. Zhenhua is a PhD Student in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California in San Diego, and he is focusing on power systems modeling, electricity markets, and energy policy issues. We address: What makes this forecast and model different from others, in terms of methods and also results. What its forecast for renewable capacity and renewable share is, out to 2060. What the relative role for distributed energy is, compared to current trends. What the model assumes for the cost of transmission, and how it models transmission compared to present policy, which considers mainly utilization in considering the costs and benefits of new lines. What the role of power market reform is. What we expect for power outages this summer. Further reading: Michael Davidson et al., “Renewable Energy Pathways to Carbon Neutrality in China,” Tsinghua School of the Environment, Berkeley Law-California China Climate Institute, Power Transformation Lab, May 2023

In this latest instalment in our Young People in Sustainability series, we talk with with Chen Zhibin, senior manager at Adelphi and ICAP, the International Carbon Action Partnership. Zhibin has also engaged in carbon market policy research and corporate carbon asset management at the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) and at Sino-Carbon Investment. He is also a member of the expert pool of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Zhibin participated in the system design and management of China's national carbon market and carbon trading pilots, and provided carbon emission management consulting services for major companies. In this episode we'll explore: Opportunities to work in the carbon market Relevant academic and work background Zhibin's work at the early team at Sino-Carbon Investment His work at Adelphi in Berlin, and the work style in Germany, including at the German Federal Ministry of the Environment A day in the life of a senior carbon market manager Recent major industry events and changes in the carbon markets

Starting from 2020, Beijing Energy Network has held an offline second-hand swap market in Beijing every quarter. In the fifth podcast of our Sustainability Professionals series, Joyce discusses the BEN swap market with Nina Ning, senior researcher at the Global Energy Interconnection Development Corporation (Geidco).  Nina is currently working as a senior researcher at GEIDCO, and her main research areas include energy transition, power system transition and carbon neutrality. She received a Ph.D. in Economics from Peking University in 2016 and is currently the head of the Beijing Energy Network. Topics discussed in the episode include: the origin of the BEN swap market, what makes swap markets important as compared to online markets for used items, and how BEN organizes swap events.

In today's episode we're talking about hydrogen development in China, and its potential – or not – for helping with the country's dual carbon goals: carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Our guest is Arabella Miller-Wang, recently an Aramco fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and also a Research Assistant at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. She has recently published a paper entitled, "China's Hydrogen Development: A Tale of Three Cities," which discusses the issue of China's hydrogen strategy based on the experiences and plans of the pilot hydrogen clusters located in Datong, Shanxi province, Chengdu in Sichuan province, and Zhangjiakou in the northern part of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing. The paper can be found here: https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/chinas-hydrogen-development-a-tale-of-three-cities/ 

Building on our 2022 series of Beijing Energy Network roundtables on young professionals in the field of sustainability and sustainable energy, Environment China has been interviewing various sustainable energy young professionals about their experiences and outlooks. In this episode of the series, we talk to Lai Shengling of Vestas. Shengling is a wind resources and micro-site selection engineer for the Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas in the Asia-Pacific region. He is mainly responsible for the pre-sales technical support of Vestas, including wind resource and climate condition assessment of the wind farm, calculation of power generation, load verification and safety. In this episode of our podcast we'll explore: A day in the life of a renewable energy engineer Differences between the Australian and New Zealand markets and the Chinese market The dilemmas Vestas faces in the Chinese market Renewable energy and renewable engineering jobs  

In the third episode of our Women in Sustainability podcast series, we speak to Yang Yifan, the sustainability manager of Oatly. Yang Yifan is concerned about the sustainable development of Oatly's entire value chain in the Asia-Pacific region, meaning she is responsible for the company's sustainable procurement, operations and carbon emission management.  In this Chinese language program we will explore: The Sustainability Department of Oatly Global and China A day at work in Oatly's sustainable sector Oatly's factory in Ma'anshan, Anhui Oatly's recent big moves Sustainable job hunting tips 第三期播客系列我们邀请到了”Oatly“的可持续经理人一帆——她是Oatly中国区可持续发展经理，关注Oatly亚太区全价值链的可持续发展。一帆主要负责公司的可持续采购、运营和碳排放管理等。我们在节目中将探讨： Otaly在中国区的第六个年头 Otaly全球和中国区的可持续部门 在Otaly可持续部门工作的一天 可持续打工人内卷吗？ Otaly在安徽马鞍山的工厂 Otaly近期大动作剧透 可持续求职tips

Today, we're talking about China's low-carbon energy transition and the unique role of State Owned Enterprises, or SOEs. Our guest is Erlend Ek, Lead Analyst for Energy at China Policy. From 2018-2022 Erlend served as advisor for energy affairs at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in BJ. Prior to that role, he served in various consulting roles at China Policy. He has degrees from the University of Oslo, he studied Chinese at Xiamen University, and he is now at Stavanger University. You can find his content at China Policy. As sometimes happens, Erlend and I ended up having a longer conversation after I shut off the recording, and I took a few notes from that conversation and I'm inserting it here as an intro to our talk: First, Erlend is optimistic on SOEs being able to lead the energy transition, because he sees the central govt moving away from "project economy" (where the key performance indicator is how many projects are completed) to a performance evaluation system based on contribution to low-carbon, tax revenue, innovation. In terms of its low-carbon policy, Erlend considers that China is more transparent than the West, and more consistent. He thinks carbon peaking / neutrality is a clear path, the purpose of the 1+n docs is to get everyone aligned, not to make new policy. Nothing about energy security is against that, it's more of a short-term push for coal ... which he says is also mainly about substituting gas and China moving away from gas, to collect the revenue from reselling gas to Europe right now. Erlend is paying close attention to the new policy on Sci-Tech innovation, the list of 12 sectors. He thinks digital innovation is going to be big in the energy space, and there are all sorts of companies, including private ones, being subsidized to do digital energy transition projects. Finally, Erlend thinks the speech by the NEA head on making the demand side the main focus (and energy efficiency as the main fuel) was significant, though it's unclear if NEA has much influence on the demand side.

In this episode, we're continuing on the theme of food sustainability, this time looking at the huge topic of the food system and climate change. It's a topic that gets a lot less attention than emissions from industry and the energy sector, but, as we shall see, food system emissions are significant, and the task of addressing those emissions quite challenging.  We're speaking with Sally Qiu and David Sandalow, and again starting with the Guide to Chinese Climate Policy, which we also covered in episode 116. This time, we're narrowing in on one chapter in the Guide: Chapter 22 on the food system. Sally Qiu is a research associate at the Center on Global Energy Policy of Columbia University. Most recently, she is the co-author of the 2022 version of the Guide to Chinese Climate Policy. Her research focuses on issues related to U.S.-China Climate Collaboration as well as the Food Systems. Professor David Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Prior to Columbia, David served in senior positions in the US government – at the White House, State Department and US Department of Energy. He is the author of numerous reports and articles about China energy and environmental policies and trends. He is the lead author of the Guide to Chinese Climate Policy.

Today, we're speaking about the topic of sustainable fishing, and especially the role of finance, with Alice Chen. Qianming (Alice) Chen is a researcher at the International Institute of Green Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing. She and colleagues at IIGF and WWF recently authored a series on Financing Sustainable Seafood, and she is also the author of a column summarizing the report's findings and other related ideas in China Dialogue. For further reading: https://chinadialogueocean.net/en/fisheries/finance-is-crucial-to-making-fishing-and-aquaculture-sustainable/ https://iigf-china.com/financing-sustainable-seafood-a-baseline-study-of-sustainable-seafood-finance-in-china https://iigf-china.com/financing-sustainable-seafood-a-study-of-environment-related-financial-risks-in-chinas-seafood-sector 

In today's episode, we are looking at Shanxi province, known as the country's most coal-intensive provincial economy. Over the past several years, various research cooperation efforts have looked at how Shanxi could transition away from its heavy emphasis on coal, and eventually phase down coal in line with China's 2030-2060 goals. Today, we are talking to Zhou Yang, Advisor at Agora Energiewende's China programme, which has just published a Chinese-language report, Experience and Lessons learned from Regional Coal Transitions in Germany. A link to the report is below. In the podcast, we will discuss a few of the potential lessons described in the report, namely (1) the importance of breaking energy monopolies and diversifying energy supply and markets to include regular citizens, (2) ways to diversify the local economy away from resource-intensive sectors, including tourism, drawing on the example of Lusatia in eastern Germany, and (3) reducing the cultural emphasis on the resource economy by boosting education and innovation in non-resource-intensive industries, drawing on the example of the Ruhr Valley economic transformation. Zhou Yang is based in Beijing and works as Advisor China at Agora Energiewende. She manages Agora's projects on regional energy transition and power sector decarbonization. Before joining Agora, Zhou worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council Beijing Office for three years on the Oil Cap Project and Coal Cap Project. Prior to joining NRDC, Zhou was with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C., where she conducted research and prepared publications on China's energy-water nexus issues. Report link: Zhou Yang, “Low-Carbon Energy Transition in Shanxi: Experience and Lessons from Regional Coal Transitions in Germany,” Agora Energiewende, 2022, at https://www.energypartnership.cn/fileadmin/user_upload/china/media_elements/publications/2022/Agora/Low-Carbon_Energy_transition_in_Shanxi_and_lessons_from_Germany_CN.pdf.

Today, we're discussing the newly released Guide to Chinese Climate Policy, published by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. The book is available for free download at https://chineseclimatepolicy.oxfordenergy.org/. We are welcoming two past guests back onto the podcast: David Sandalow and Michal Meidan, who co-authored the Guide along with Anders Hove (OIES), Philip Andrews-Speed, Edmund Downie (Princeton), and Sally Qiu (Columbia). In our discussion, we touch on the following: China's emissions trends The main drivers of emissions for each fossil fuel Whether China is committed to its climate goals, given near-term economic issues Why China is still building coal Trends in nuclear power The role of market reforms And lastly, David reports on his main takeaways from COP27 in Egypt   Professor David Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Prior to Columbia, David served in senior positions in the US government – at the White House, State Department and US Department of Energy. He's also served in various roles at the Brookings Institution, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the World Wildlife Fund. He is the author of numerous reports and articles about China energy and environmental policies and trends, and he's very knowledgeable about China. He joined us on episode 62, to talk about the 2019 version of the Guide. Dr Michal Meidan is Director of the China Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Before joining OIES in July 2019, she headed cross-commodity China research at Energy Aspects. Prior to that, she headed China Matters, an independent research consultancy providing analysis on the politics of energy in China. She is the author of numerous academic papers, articles, and books related to China, energy, and political economy.

Today, we're coming back to the topic of China's power system, the recent power outages in Sichuan, and the role of flexibility. Our guest today is Professor Yuan Jiahai of North China Electric Power University. Professor Yuan a Professor of Management Science at the North China Electric Power University, where his research focuses on the low-carbon transition of China's power sector, with a particular emphasis on coal power. He has published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is listed in Scopus 2020 and 2021 Highly Cited Chinese Researchers. Professor Yuan received his PhD in 2006, and since then has been active as an independent Chinese energy policy analyst, publishing not only academic journal articles, but also influential policy reports and media articles on the low-carbon transition. On that note, Prof Yuan has recently published two very interesting items: The first is a report published by NCEPU and NRDC on power system flexibility, and the second is an article in Caixin about the Sichuan power shortages. In this episode, we discuss both the Sichuan power shortages as well as the report.  The references are here: Yuan Jiahai et al., “四川高温限电痛点在何处，如何防止重演？[What are the pain points of Sichuan's power supply under the heat wave and how to prevent them recurring?], Ciaxin, 6 September 2022, at http://zhishifenzi.blog.caixin.com/archives/260319. Yuan Jiahai and Zhang Jian, “电力系统灵活性提升：技术路径、经济性与政策建议” [Improving power system flexibility: technology pathways, economic analysis, and policy suggestions], Natural Resources Defense Council, July 2022, at http://www.nrdc.cn/Public/uploads/2022-07-18/62d4c2e313df1.pdf.

Today, we're talking about China's evolving market for green energy and renewable power purchases, with Sharon Feng, at Director of Advisory Services and Research at Azure International. Sharon is an expert in China's power markets, including renewables, energy storage, power trading, and clean energy procurement. She has worked in previous roles at GE, Siemens, and the philanthropy Save the Children, and holds degrees from Peking University and the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Not least, she has spoken at several Beijing Energy Network events and is based in the lovely Ditan Park of Beijing. In today's podcast we cover: What has changed in China's green power markets in the past few years leading to growing interest in this type of power? How is green power priced, and is it always priced at a premium? What are the volumes like? What provinces are most active, and what is happening on inter-provincial trading of renewables? How the market is likely to develop in the future, including integration with carbon markets. Whether requirements that wind and solar projects install energy storage are hurting the competitiveness of renewables. Whether distributed solar can participate in green power markets. Whether energy storage makes sense for corporate buyers on a stand-alone basis. The role of time-of-use pricing for retail power customers and wholesale spot markets for generators. For further reading: https://www.azure-international.com/

Today, we're going back to the hot topic of the past two years, namely the energy transition away from coal and how it relates to energy security concerns, especially the recent power outages that have affected parts of the country. Our guest is Xi Xi, an analyst at the innovative Green Development Program, or iGDP, based in Beijing. At iGDP she works on energy modeling with the Energy Policy Simulator (EPS), an energy systems model that informs policy makers on decarbonization pathways. She also assists in low carbon development strategy for provincial governments, while also researching energy and electricity investment in Belt and Road Initiative Countries. Previously, Xi Xi was a consultant for the U.S. EPA at Abt Associates, and she also served as an investment analyst at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, where she looked at cleantech startups for investment and grant opportunities. In addition, Xi Xi is executive director of the BJ Energy Network!

Today, we're going to discuss the huge problem of marine plastics. Millions of tons of pastic waste enter the world's oceans every year, and according to the UN Environmental Programme, 85% of marine litter is plastic. Plastic in the ocean is everywhere, and it has consequences for all life at sea, and on land ecosystems and climate as well. Our guest is Dr LIU Xiao, the Project Manager at GIZ. She is in charge of the GIZ China implemented Rethinking Plastic-Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter. She is a Member of Recycling and Waste Minimization Committee, and she has more than 15 years of experience on municipal solid waste management and sustainable development, especially on policy research and technology consulting. Her work mainly focuses on the integrated waste management and low carbon transition, plastic waste management and pollution control, and sustainable business models in the waste sector. For further reading: https://rethinkingplastics.eu/ About the project (video series): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ11NCNYupw 

可持续女性系列第二期 - Eco Buyer创始人思晴 实在是听过到太多次"环保和可持续圈还是女生多”（也确实是事实），我们萌生了一个想法：那为什么不干脆做一系列在"可持续议题工作的女性”播客，一起来聊一聊她们独特又好玩的经历和故事，探一探她们所在行业的新鲜事呢？ 第二期播客系列我们邀请到了”一棵Eco Buyer“的联合创始人思晴。Eco buyer是一家关心身体健康、动物福祉和地球环境的纯素、纯净美妆和植物基美食的集合店。店里只提供和推荐不含动物成分、不做动物测试的可持续纯素产品。我们在节目中将探讨： Eco Buyer的成立契机 两位创始人的日常 赛道转型：专攻纯素化妆品和植物基美食 Eco Buyer到底是怎么赚钱的 节目的最后，两位主播和嘉宾将共同探讨作为”可持续资深人士“的糟心瞬间和怨念；以及作为三档不同播客的主理人她们的播客制作经验分享。赶紧收听吧！ You've likely heard there are more and more women in environmental and sustainability circles, which is indeed the case! This is the topic of Environment China's podcast series, Women in Sustainability, where we talk with unique and interesting experiences and stories of women across the sustainability field, and what's new in their industries. For the second podcast in the series, we invited Si Qing, co-founder of Eco Buyer. Eco Buyer is a collection of vegan, pure beauty and plant-based food that cares about health, animal welfare and the planet. The store only offers and recommends sustainable vegan products that are free of animal ingredients and not tested on animals. In the show we will explore: The establishment of Eco Buyer The daily life of the two founders Track transformation: specializing in vegan cosmetics and plant-based cuisine How exactly does Eco Buyer make money? At the end of the show, the two hosts and our guest discuss their experiences of being eco-friendly human beings, as well as their podcast production experience as the hosts of three different podcasts. 

In this episode, we discuss the important topic of green finance in China, especially as it relates to China's investments abroad on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Our guest today is Christoph Nedopil-Wang, Associate Professor and Director of the Green Finance & Development Center, Fudan University, where he works on green finance. Christoph also previous worked in Beijing at the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF), as well as at GIZ. He also joined us here at Environment China in December 2020 to introduce the traffic light system of evaluating BRI projects. One of the reasons we're coming together to talk today is the recent publication of an article in the Asia Pacific Policy Studies journal, which Christoph wrote together with Mathias Lund-Larson, Mengdi Yue and Yao Wang. You can find a link to the article in the show notes, but the full title is “Prospects of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) to catalyse infrastructure financing.” Other topics we discuss are: whether the traffic light system for evaluating BRI project impacts on the environment has had any impact, why China decided tProspects of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) to catalyse infrastructure financingo ban financing for new coal plants overseas, whether the recent policy to make BRI projects apply international ESG standards is having an effect, and why it was adopted now, instead of earlier, and whether the MCDF is really resulting in actual benefits in terms of project preparation. Other links: Christoph Nedopil, et al., "Prospects of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) to catalyse infrastructure financing," Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 27 April 2022, at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/app5.345. 

Today, we're looking at the topic of environmental standards for different industries in China, and in particular talking to Prof. Yixian Sun of the University of Bath in the U.K. about the findings of his new book published by MIT Press: Certifying China: The Rise and Limits of Transnational Sustainability Governance in Emerging Economies The book explores the potential and limits of transnational eco-certification in moving the world's most populous country toward sustainable consumption and production. Dr Sun identifies the forces that drive companies from three sectors—seafood, palm oil, and tea—to embrace eco-certification. The success of eco-certification, Dr Sun writes, will depend on the extent to which it wins the support of domestic actors in fast-growing emerging economies. Yixian Sun is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in International Development at the University of Bath, UK. He has a Ph.D. and Master's degree in International Relations / Political Science, from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva. He's a Research Fellow of the Earth System Governance (ESG) Project and a co-convener of the ESG taskforce on SDGs. He studies transnational governance, environmental politics, and sustainable consumption, and his research seeks to explain the changing role of China in global environmental governance, including sustainability transitions within China as well as sustainability impacts of China's overseas engagement.   For further reading: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/certifying-china https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5271/Certifying-ChinaThe-Rise-and-Limits-of

Today, we're looking at the issue of phasing out coal power in China, looking at a report issued recently by scholars at the University of Maryland Center for Global Sustainability and the California-China Climate Initiative at UC Berkeley. Our guest is Dr. Ryna Cui, who is an expert in global coal transition and climate and energy policies in China. Her research focuses on climate change mitigation, and sustainable energy transition, and she is experienced in global and national integrated assessment modeling of China, India and the United States. She is a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report on the topic of global coal transition. And notably, she joined us on Podcast 84 in November 2019! The report we're discussing today is: "A Decade of Action: A Strategic Approach to Coal Phase-Down for China." It discusses a strategic plan to retire China's old or outdated capacity even as the country builds new coal plants. This is in line with government strategies, which posit that new coal should help meet peak loads and ensure stable electricity supplies even as clean energy should supply most incremental energy or electricity overall. The report has three recommendations: 1. Conduct a plant-level review to identify an early retirement schedule and strategy. 2. Combine this strategy with an analysis of renewable energy, grid, storage and transmission investment to fund these investments and to replace any lost tax revenues. 3. Evaluate the job losses and their composition at the county level, and provide support for job training. Questions we cover: How does this study build on the work we discussed two years ago, with the five criteria for prioritizing retirements? How do carbon prices and water come into the calculation? How do you quantify/assess the benefits of the retirements, especially those related to human health? How are the retirements distributed across provinces? Are flexibility retrofits really necessary and economical? Are you assuming that provinces will do a lot more trading of electricity? How do you think the present push for energy security will affect coal plant retirements? What types of jobs are lost when coal plants retire? What types of jobs would they qualify for retraining on? Or do they mostly end up taking buy-outs and just moving to completely different industries? Do coal industry workers generally move in search of new work? What's new in the latest IPCC chapter you co-authored on energy systems?     For further reading: Ryna Cui et al., “A Decade of Action: A Strategic Approach to Coal Phase-Down for China,” Center for Global Sustainability, 2022, at https://cgs.umd.edu/research-impact/publications/decade-act-policy-opportunities-china-begin-coal-phase-down-while. Jiang Lin et al., “Large balancing areas and dispersed renewable investment enhance grid flexibility in a renewable-dominant power system in China,” Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, February 2022, DOI:10.1016/j.isci.2022.103749, at https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/publications/large-balancing-areas-and-dispersed. IPCC AR6 Chapter 6 (Energy Systems): https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg3/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FinalDraft_Chapter06.pdf.

In today's Chinese language Environment China podcast episode, we turn to the topic of women working in environmental and sustainability fields. We join two professionals to talk about their unique and interesting experiences and stories, and explore what's new in their particular fields. Today's guests are Si Jialing, who works on green finance at the British Embassy, and Zhang Miao, founder of R Cubic, who is sometimes known as the Walking Wastepedia. In terms of career paths, the two represent the extremes of having entered the field by chance, or having  cultivated a topic on a straight line from academic study to professional career. We ask what challenges they face in their respective fields, and what advice they have for newcomers to the workplace.  实在是听过到太多次"环保和可持续圈还是女生多”（也确实是事实），我们萌生了一个想法：那为什么不干脆做一系列在"可持续议题工作的女性”播客，一起来聊一聊她们独特又好玩的经历和故事，探一探她们所在行业的新鲜事呢？ 于是「环境中国」便有了个这期节目，在这次初尝试中，我们请到了在英国大使馆做绿色金融的佳灵和行走的“垃圾百科”张淼。她们或误打误撞入了圈，或从读书到工作一直在这个领域深耕，都逐渐在可持续议题的工作中找到了自己所关注和热爱的地方。她们在各自领域都有着什么样的挑战？对初入职场的小伙伴又有着什么样的建议呢？欢迎收听本期「环境中国」播客。  

In today's episode of Environment China, we bring you up to date on recent climate and energy developments in China, especially how the renewed quest for energy security affects clean energy and carbon goals. We also address how coal price reforms affect renewables, and the situation of green power trading and corporate renewable energy procurement. We'll also briefly touch on the results of the Two Sessions of the National People's Congress. Today our guests are Liu Yujing, China Power Manager at RMI China, and Caroline Zhu, Senior Low Carbon Electricity Analyst at S&P Global, and a past colleague of Yujing's at RMI.

Today we're speaking to Andy Klump, the CEO and Founder of Clean Energy Associates, a company that provides services in the field of solar PV and battery storage quality assurance, supply chain management, and engineering. He founded the company in 2008 after working for several years at Trina, in an era before China was even a leader in solar manufacturing. Andy is an expert in world solar supply chains who is frequently quoted in publications such as PV Tech / PV Magazine, as well as in mainstream media.   In today's episode, we cover: The scale of the largest solar players The upcoming solar and battery technologies and whether China is a tech leader The overall health of the Chinese solar industry The main challenges in the industry right now Whether other countries have the chance to compete with China on solar given its leading position now The relative complexity of he solar supply chain compared to the battery supply chain The extent to which materials supply bottlenecks will continue in both industries How clean energy will evolve—will it still be central plants, or will distributed RE plus storage play more of a role in China than it has so far?

In today's episode of Environment China, host Anders Hove hosts a special, work-related talk with Ye Ruiqi (Angel) of Greenpeace East Asia, Prof Zhang Sufang of North China Electric Power University, and Katerina Simou of the German Energy Agency (dena) about the topic of data centers, which are having an increasing effect on the environment and climate due to their rapidly rising energy consumption. In this episode, we talk not only about how data center operators are trying to go green (a topic we discussed with Angel on Environment China back in November 2019), but also the related topic of flexibility. Data center flexibility is potentially important because it enables data centers to modulate their load to better meet the needs of the grid, which in turn would enable greater uptake of renewable energy such as wind and solar. Since data centers in China are now considered one of the energy-intensive industries subject to the Dual Control policies—which limit energy consumption and energy intensity of production—data centers are already facing pressure to become more efficient. In the future, China's carbon neutrality policies will undoubtedly push data centers to adopt renewable energy to support their growing energy loads—which, in turn, will require more flexible operations. In this podcast, Anders and his guests discuss their joint research of data center flexibility in China and Europe. The research was performed under the Sino-German Energy Transition Project, which is implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, in partnership with the China National Energy Administration, and German and Chinese implementation partners including the report's lead author, dena. The research includes interviews with industry experts and companies on topics such as time-shifting of data and cooling loads, real-time geographic shifting of loads, the pros and cons of relocating data centers to colder climates for greater cooling efficiency, and using on-site energy storage to participate in power markets. They also discuss whether the many obstacles data center operators currently see to becoming more flexible are likely to be overcome—and what policies would help. Links: “China 5G and Data Center Carbon Emissions Outlook 2035,” Greenpeace East Asia, 2021, at  https://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/press/6608/electricity-consumption-from-chinas-digital-sector-on-track-to-increase/. “Clean Cloud 2021, Greenpeace East Asia, 2021, at https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-eastasia-stateless/2021/04/03a3ce1a-clean-cloud-english-briefing.pdf.

Today, for the BEN 2021 Year-in-Review Podcast, the core Beijing Energy Network team discusses the most exciting events and learnings from 2021. The Beijing Gang includes Alice, Cale, Cecilia, Florent, Hailey, Helena, Joyce, Li, Nick, Nina, Richard, Sally, and Xi Xi. In this podcast we discussed: - What brought each of us to the Beijing Energy Network - Our picks for most informative 2021 BEN events - Interesting people we met at BEN - The biggest change BEN brought to our life in 2021  

By popular request, the podcast turns to the topic of electric vehicles and trying to look at this from a market perspective instead of a policy perspective, and really examine how the market works and how it breaks down in terms of EV characteristics and market shares. Today we are speakng to two EV experts: Tu Le of Sino Auto Insights, a mobility consultancy, and of China Evs and More podcast; and James Gao (Gao Tianjian) of Mercedes and the Beijing Energy Network. In this podcast we discuss: Why EV sales in China are surging What types of vehicles are seeing the most growth, and how similar Chinese vehicles are to EVs abroad How the market breaks down in terms of foreign vs domestic How China is able to scale up manufacturing of potentially globally competitive products, and which EVs have the most export potential The situation with battery swap, which is now expanding from NIO and BAIC to new players The charging situation for China's apartment dwellers We end the podcast with a game of buy-sell-or-hold, where we challenge our guests to identify the probability of different future EV scenarios, such as whether a Chinese EV will be a top seller worldwide (outside of China) in 2025. China EVs and More is available on all the finest podcasting platforms. You can follow Sino Auto Insights and listen to their live podcasts on Twitter Spaces here: https://twitter.com/SinoAutoInsight

https://twitter.com/derznovich Access our Live event on the link above!! Just a short teaser to tell you about an experiment we are planning to try on Monday morning BJ time, Sunday night U.S. time. Joyce and I will be hosting a Twitter Live interview with James Gao of BEN and Tu Le of Sino Auto Insights and the China EVs and More podcast. If we manage to figure out the technical stuff, it will start at 8:00 am Monday China time, and that's 7 pm Eastern, 4 pm Pacific on Sunday. In this upcoming episode, we are going to talk about the China EV market, which is poised to surpass 3 million vehicles this year and 5 million next year. We're going to talk about China's EV startups, international brands, and what makes China so disruptive in the EV space. We'll touch on some issues like range, design, battery size, and charging. We'll bring it back to the issue of emissions and the environment, and take your questions. If all goes well, we'll play a game of buy-sell-or-hold with our esteemed guests, and our audience will get to play too! So looking forward to seeing you there with us, LIVE, on the Environment China podcast on Twitter Spaces, Sunday night US time, Monday morning China time! You can access the Live event on the link above.