By: Robert J Collopy
The rate at which carbon dioxide is emitted from the rapidly developing China is unquestionably unsustainable over the next one-hundred years. The latest modeled statistic has China in 2007 at 6.5 billion metric tons of carbon emitted per year, more than doubling its rate from that of just thirteen years prior (Inter-Agency and Export Group on MDG Indicators). MDG Indicator 7.2 examines total CO2 emissions both per capita and per $1 GDP in order to reverse the loss of environmental resources and reduce the loss of biodiversity. In order for this goal to be satisfied in any reasonable scope of time, China must make changes to its emissions regulations and to its type of fuel used in general.
To see the both the problem and its solutions clearly, this paper deductively proceeds from a microcosmic view to a macrocosmic one. China’s industrial Jiangsu Province is a useful thumbnail from which to project a general picture of the problem in China. Solid fuel usage prevails across the country despite that this is the most harmful type of energy consumption. Moreover, both international and national restrictions in addition to a dearth of clean energy incentives currently allow the problem to persevere. Solutions to combat these problems follow rather linearly from the problems themselves. Ultimately, it will be evident that China must pursue an alternate course of action in both energy type and usage, and that the options are actually quite abundant at this point in time.