Environment China

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 Stu

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 event

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, ta

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 Columb

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 educat

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

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

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

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.y

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

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 disc

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 Interna

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

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？