The World in 2030

114 The World in 2030
Touching on some Less Well-Known Causes
of Climate Change
Much has been written on the causes of climate change and
I do not intend to describe in this section details about the
number of new power stations being built in China every
year, nor the USA’s growing appetite for coal as a powergeneration
resource. Suffice to say that the majority of
human-produced carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere
is produced by electricity power generation and transport
(road, rail, shipping and aviation).
Before examining some lesser known sectors that emit
carbon – in particular aviation and shipping, two forms of
transport that because of their international nature makes it
convenient for domestic politicians to overlook – it is worth
noting that China, in particular, is a rapidly emerging economy
which clearly understands how critical it is to reduce carbon
output even as it ramps up its power generation capacity. The
following article was published by the Ethical Corp think
tank in February 2007:
One recently completed ‘supercritical’ coal-fired plant
in Shanghai shows the way forward. Phase two of the
Waigaoqiao plant, which has two 900 MW generating
units and uses turbines made by Siemens, is one of the
most advanced coal-fired plants operating in China.
With a net efficiency of more than 42 per cent – significantly
higher than the worldwide average of 31 per
cent for hard coal-fired units – it will save an annual
one million tonnes of coal and cut carbon dioxide