In November, Bloomberg New Energy Finance held its first APAC Summit on the future of energy, covering three main themes: trade, technology, and the transition to a lower-carbon energy system. It was attended by industry, finance and policy thought-leaders, with Collective Responsibility having the opportunity to participate. Here are some of the insights from the first day: China’s new normal:…
With the recent news that China’s domestic coal consumption was understated by up to 17%, a renewed debate has begun about China’s data quality and ability to keep its commitments to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). A debate that is only intensified by the fact that China has been trying to proactively position itself as a leader at the World Climate Summit in Paris. For us though,…
As Beijing tallies the costs of the smog that inundated the city this week, economic and social, I thought I would highlight a recent lecture I gave that explored the "Big 4" questions that people are asking these days when wondering when action will be taken. How big is the problem faced? What is the timeline? Who is responsible? How much will it cost to fix? Meant to create a fr…
The morning while havinga coffee with the CSR manager of a large retailer, he mentioned the fact that on a semi-frequent basis he would find himself going around the office shutting off computers. After working hours. That while his firm, in his opinion, had done a good job of developing and communicating a framework for sustainabilty, there were still some (large) gaps. One of them be…
Last month while being interviewed for the New York Times piece China's City of the Future Rises on a Wasteland, I was asked about the importance of planning China's eco-cities... What should be the goal of an eco-city and why are they important to China? To me, this was perhaps one of the more important and interesting questions I have been asked on the topic, a topic I have been interviewe…
If you have been following China for any amount of time, then you will know that China is good for a chart that will shock and awe readers. Few, if any, in the cleantech space have as much power as the one above, from the Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP study China’s Promotion of the Renewable Electric Power Equipment Industry (download here), and why I chose to pull it out is twofold. First, just loo…
Fresh off several conferences and meetings where discussions centered around smart grid, wind power, and other renewable energies, yesterday's tour of the Shanghai Municipal Waste Facility proved to be a very interesting site visit. Operational for three years now, this facility (one of two facilities in Shanghai) incinerates about 1,500 tons of trash a day from five districts of Shanghai (Shangha…
Regardless of whether you believe COP15 still has hope, or is a predetermined failure, the fact is that in about 3 weeks a large number of scientists, environmentalists, policy makers, and cleantech funds are going to be in Copenhagen... and the world will be watching. Even prior to the recent announcements from Singapore though, many had already begun gaming the outcomes, and hyping the need f…
