Supplier of 130m-high turbine pulls out, saying it cannot comply with new health and safety regulations by games' opening
• London Olympics could flunk chance to be green
• Blog: ArcelorMittal's emissions make a monumental joke of Olympic park tower
Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 June 2010 18.10 BST
Plans to build a 130 metre-high wind turbine to provide 5% of the energy needed to run the Olympic park have been scrapped, according to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).
Dubbed the Angel of Leyton, the turbine had been hailed as a green beacon. It was said to be key to the ODA's commitment to deliver 20% of the park's legacy energy needs from renewable sources from 2014 onwards.
The scheme, however, is "no longer feasible", said David Higgins, chief executive of the ODA, which is building the infrastructure for the games.
Higgins said that construction of the turbine became unfeasible after new safety legislation forced substantial design changes under a "challenging" delivery timetable. After the preferred bidder's turbine supplier had pulled out – citing inability to comply with the new regulations in time for the opening of the games – there had been little commercial interest elsewhere.
The turbine, which was to be built in Eton Manor in the north of the Olympic park, was planned as a visible symbol of London 2012's commitment to deliver a sustainable games.
Higgins, an Australian project management fixer, said: "We have a strong track record in sustainability and we remain committed to meeting the challenging renewable energy targets we have set ourselves," he added.
"Our focus is now on researching a number of alternative renewable energy options across the Olympic park site to help contribute to these targets and complement the other state-of-the art new energy infrastructure we are building."
The ODA has 7,500 people working on the Olympic site and is on schedule to complete by mid-2011.
The sustainability watchdog for the 2012 games, the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 (CSL), said that it backed the decision to scrap the turbine.
Shaun McCarthy, who chairs the watchdog, said the ODA must still meet the agreed carbon emission reduction targets by alternative means.
"The symbolic power of a wind turbine at the park, whilst valuable, does not outweigh the considerations of the optimal use of resources," he said.
Hackney council said that it was proceeding with a plan to erect a second turbine on a nearby site at East Marsh.
It said in a statement: "The decision not to have a turbine on Eton Manor does not affect the viability of the proposal for East Marsh although there will be a reduction in the potential amount of power available overall. East Marsh is a different site to Eton Manor and does not present the issues that have, in part, prompted the ODA's decision."
Hackney's plans are still at an early stage and it is still in talks with potential turbine suppliers. Any scheme would have to be the subject of a planning application.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
DOE Announces $11M for Biofuels Technology Development
SustainableBusiness.com News
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $11 million in funding over three years for research and development in the area of thermochemical conversion of biomass into advanced biofuels that are compatible with existing fueling infrastructure.
The objective of this funding is to improve the conversion of non-food biomass to liquid transportation hydrocarbon fuels via pyrolysis, a process that decomposes biomass using heat in the absence of oxygen to produce a bio-oil that can be upgraded to renewable diesel, gasoline, or jet fuel.
Previous research has shown the potential of upgrading biomass pyrolysis oil to a form that is stable for six months under ambient conditions. DOE is seeking projects that will further upgrade stabilized bio-oil into a refinery-ready intermediate, and demonstrate production of a final hydrocarbon fuel.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is requesting applications for projects that will:
Demonstrate the capability of long-term processing to address the corrosivity issues associated with stabilized bio-oil
Catalytically de-oxygenate the many molecular fragments that collectively comprise bio-oil
Demonstrate the ability to produce a final liquid transportation hydrocarbon fuel that can be blended at up to 30% by weight with petroleum fuels, or produce an upgraded bio-oil compatible with existing petroleum refining unit operations
Provide extensive supporting data on the physical and chemical property requirements of the petroleum operations to demonstrate the compatibility of the resulting liquid hydrocarbon product with petroleum refining unit operations.
DOE anticipates selecting three to four projects under this announcement and will require a minimum of 20% cost share from applicants. Selected projects will also be required to include an analysis of greenhouse gas reductions as compared with petroleum fuels. Eligible applicants are universities, national laboratories, or companies that have capabilities uniquely suited to the objectives of this FOA.
Applications for this funding opportunity are due July 9, 2010.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $11 million in funding over three years for research and development in the area of thermochemical conversion of biomass into advanced biofuels that are compatible with existing fueling infrastructure.
The objective of this funding is to improve the conversion of non-food biomass to liquid transportation hydrocarbon fuels via pyrolysis, a process that decomposes biomass using heat in the absence of oxygen to produce a bio-oil that can be upgraded to renewable diesel, gasoline, or jet fuel.
Previous research has shown the potential of upgrading biomass pyrolysis oil to a form that is stable for six months under ambient conditions. DOE is seeking projects that will further upgrade stabilized bio-oil into a refinery-ready intermediate, and demonstrate production of a final hydrocarbon fuel.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is requesting applications for projects that will:
Demonstrate the capability of long-term processing to address the corrosivity issues associated with stabilized bio-oil
Catalytically de-oxygenate the many molecular fragments that collectively comprise bio-oil
Demonstrate the ability to produce a final liquid transportation hydrocarbon fuel that can be blended at up to 30% by weight with petroleum fuels, or produce an upgraded bio-oil compatible with existing petroleum refining unit operations
Provide extensive supporting data on the physical and chemical property requirements of the petroleum operations to demonstrate the compatibility of the resulting liquid hydrocarbon product with petroleum refining unit operations.
DOE anticipates selecting three to four projects under this announcement and will require a minimum of 20% cost share from applicants. Selected projects will also be required to include an analysis of greenhouse gas reductions as compared with petroleum fuels. Eligible applicants are universities, national laboratories, or companies that have capabilities uniquely suited to the objectives of this FOA.
Applications for this funding opportunity are due July 9, 2010.
Apollo Solar To Collaborate on Solar Development in China
SustainableBusiness.com News
Apollo Solar Energy, Inc. (OTCBB: ASOE) a refiner and producer of tellurium-based compounds and other metals for the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry, announced a non-binding collaboration agreement to build scaled thin-film solar power plants in China.
Apollo Solar signed the agreement with state-owned China Energy Conservation Solar Energy Technologies, Inc. (CECS). China's government has charged CECS with responsibility for constructing and operating scaled solar power stations in China. CECS is currently the largest investor and systematic operator of solar photovoltaic technology in China.
According to the agreement, the collaboration will work in three ways: first, Apollo Solar intends to provide CECS with thin film solar panels, upon request, on a long-term basis; second, the parties intend to work jointly to construct thin film solar energy power stations; and third, CECS intends to acquire the thin film solar energy power stations that may be built independently by Apollo Solar through its separate financing and technology.
Renyi Hou, CEO of Apollo Solar said CECS is the only solar energy oriented company currently funded by the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation, a state-owned company responsible for leading the new renewable energy industry by directing development throughout China.
Mr. Zhao Youmin, senior vice president of CECS, said: "The Chairman of China's State Electricity Corporation, in a recent interview on CCTV News, announced that according to the Chinese government's recent promise to limit emissions, the State Electricity Corporation intends to accelerate the pace of construction of renewable energy sources, including solar power stations and photovoltaic grid-connected systems. The Chairman also estimated that, in his opinion, renewal energy sources, including wind and solar energy, will capture about a 20% share of nationwide energy demand in China by the year 2020."
Apollo Solar Energy, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Sichuan Apollo Solar Science and Technology Co., Ltd, is primarily engaged in refining and producing tellurium (Te) and high-purity tellurium-based metals for specific segments of the electronic materials market. The Company's products include CdTe thin-film compounds, CIGS thin-film compounds, ultra-high purity metals and commercial-purity metals. Apollo Solar also expects to be a constructor and operator in future government-funded solar farm projects in China, including a possible 10 gigawatts (GW) solar community in Anhui province, China.
Website: www.apollosolar.com
Apollo Solar Energy, Inc. (OTCBB: ASOE) a refiner and producer of tellurium-based compounds and other metals for the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry, announced a non-binding collaboration agreement to build scaled thin-film solar power plants in China.
Apollo Solar signed the agreement with state-owned China Energy Conservation Solar Energy Technologies, Inc. (CECS). China's government has charged CECS with responsibility for constructing and operating scaled solar power stations in China. CECS is currently the largest investor and systematic operator of solar photovoltaic technology in China.
According to the agreement, the collaboration will work in three ways: first, Apollo Solar intends to provide CECS with thin film solar panels, upon request, on a long-term basis; second, the parties intend to work jointly to construct thin film solar energy power stations; and third, CECS intends to acquire the thin film solar energy power stations that may be built independently by Apollo Solar through its separate financing and technology.
Renyi Hou, CEO of Apollo Solar said CECS is the only solar energy oriented company currently funded by the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation, a state-owned company responsible for leading the new renewable energy industry by directing development throughout China.
Mr. Zhao Youmin, senior vice president of CECS, said: "The Chairman of China's State Electricity Corporation, in a recent interview on CCTV News, announced that according to the Chinese government's recent promise to limit emissions, the State Electricity Corporation intends to accelerate the pace of construction of renewable energy sources, including solar power stations and photovoltaic grid-connected systems. The Chairman also estimated that, in his opinion, renewal energy sources, including wind and solar energy, will capture about a 20% share of nationwide energy demand in China by the year 2020."
Apollo Solar Energy, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Sichuan Apollo Solar Science and Technology Co., Ltd, is primarily engaged in refining and producing tellurium (Te) and high-purity tellurium-based metals for specific segments of the electronic materials market. The Company's products include CdTe thin-film compounds, CIGS thin-film compounds, ultra-high purity metals and commercial-purity metals. Apollo Solar also expects to be a constructor and operator in future government-funded solar farm projects in China, including a possible 10 gigawatts (GW) solar community in Anhui province, China.
Website: www.apollosolar.com
US Tidal Power Company To Develop Projects in China
SustainableBusiness.com News
US tidal power company Verdant Power, Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop projects with China's state-owned renewable energy developer--the China Energy Conservation Environment Protection Group (CECEP).
The MOU is the first of its kind between China and the US involving marine and hydrokinetic power projects. It will provide a framework for the collaboration of siting and operating tidal and river power systems.
CECEP is responsible for the investment of RMB 23 billion yuan in national energy conservation capital construction projects. It is the only national-level state owned enterprise, specializes and focuses in energy conservation and environmental protection in China.
US Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, and US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, were on hand to witness the signing. The MOU marked a stop on Secretary Locke's three-day clean energy trade mission in China last week. Secretary Locke traveled with several US businesses to focus on opportunities for renewable energy technology developers in China's growing energy market.
The US contingency hopes the MOU establishes tidal and river power devices as a new stream of US exports to international markets, while spurring economic development and renewable energy jobs in the US.
The US Department of Energy estimates that the undeveloped hydropower potential of the US is more than 250,000 megawatts (MW). China's Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power estimates that the undeveloped hydropower potential of China is nearly double that of the US at more than 475,000 MW.
Verdant Power is currently developing sustainable tidal power projects in the US and Canada. In New York City's East River, the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project will be the first grid-connected project that will provide New York City and the metropolitan area with up to 500 MW of electricity from a field of underwater turbines.
Website: www.verdantpower.com
US tidal power company Verdant Power, Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop projects with China's state-owned renewable energy developer--the China Energy Conservation Environment Protection Group (CECEP).
The MOU is the first of its kind between China and the US involving marine and hydrokinetic power projects. It will provide a framework for the collaboration of siting and operating tidal and river power systems.
CECEP is responsible for the investment of RMB 23 billion yuan in national energy conservation capital construction projects. It is the only national-level state owned enterprise, specializes and focuses in energy conservation and environmental protection in China.
US Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, and US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, were on hand to witness the signing. The MOU marked a stop on Secretary Locke's three-day clean energy trade mission in China last week. Secretary Locke traveled with several US businesses to focus on opportunities for renewable energy technology developers in China's growing energy market.
The US contingency hopes the MOU establishes tidal and river power devices as a new stream of US exports to international markets, while spurring economic development and renewable energy jobs in the US.
The US Department of Energy estimates that the undeveloped hydropower potential of the US is more than 250,000 megawatts (MW). China's Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power estimates that the undeveloped hydropower potential of China is nearly double that of the US at more than 475,000 MW.
Verdant Power is currently developing sustainable tidal power projects in the US and Canada. In New York City's East River, the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project will be the first grid-connected project that will provide New York City and the metropolitan area with up to 500 MW of electricity from a field of underwater turbines.
Website: www.verdantpower.com
SEADOG Pump wave energy technology to tap ocean for renewable power
Posted by: Anupam | Jun 1 2010
Eco Factor: SEADOG to generate renewable energy from ocean waves.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted permission to Independent Natural Resources to install a commercial wave-powered demonstration facility a mile off Freeport, Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. The permit signifies that ocean water and waves off the coast of Freeport will soon generate electricity and produce fresh, desalinated water through the new infrastructure operated by Texas Natural Resources, LLC.
The project will use the SEADOG pump system, which uses no blades or turbines to extract power from the waves. The installation is designed to use clean, renewable energy to power a desalination plant. The lack of sufficient fresh water is a growing concern in Texas and in many regions of the world, and seawater desalination is increasingly essential. While traditional desalination typically requires significant amounts of electricity, the SEADOG Pump is powered solely by the wave energy it harnesses.
Eco Factor: SEADOG to generate renewable energy from ocean waves.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted permission to Independent Natural Resources to install a commercial wave-powered demonstration facility a mile off Freeport, Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. The permit signifies that ocean water and waves off the coast of Freeport will soon generate electricity and produce fresh, desalinated water through the new infrastructure operated by Texas Natural Resources, LLC.
The project will use the SEADOG pump system, which uses no blades or turbines to extract power from the waves. The installation is designed to use clean, renewable energy to power a desalination plant. The lack of sufficient fresh water is a growing concern in Texas and in many regions of the world, and seawater desalination is increasingly essential. While traditional desalination typically requires significant amounts of electricity, the SEADOG Pump is powered solely by the wave energy it harnesses.
Skyonic Pioneers Carbon Capture Mineralization Process With First U.S. Patent
Safely and Profitably Removes CO2 from Industrial Manufacturing Sites, Converting Gases into Stable Solids
AUSTIN, Texas, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Skyonic Corporation today announced it has been granted a U.S. patent (patent number 7,727,374) that relates to the company's SkyMine® technology, an environmentally-safe, clean technology process proven to profitably capture and mineralize carbon into marketable byproducts. Based on proven scientific methods, SkyMine® uniquely combines gas handling, absorption and electrochemical production to reduce the amount of harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from flue gas stacks. Power-generation plants, refineries, distilleries and other industrial manufacturers have the potential to become carbon-neutral with SkyMine®.
"By turning carbon dioxide into minerals that can be sold on the open market, Skyonic gives utilities and manufacturers a way to recover the costs associated with storing carbon," said Michael Kanellos, Greentech Media editor-in-chief and senior analyst. "It also potentially lets them avoid regulatory battles: voters are likely going to object far more to an underground facility designed to store billions of cubic feet of gas under high pressures for hundreds of years than equipment that makes baking soda. Skyonic is onto something important here."
Skyonic's patented SkyMine® technology removes CO2 from industrial waste streams through co-generation of saleable carbonate and/or bicarbonate minerals. In addition to capturing and mineralizing CO2, SkyMine® cleans SOX and NO2 from the flue gas, and removes heavy minerals such as mercury. SkyMine® plants can be retrofitted to existing power plants and industrial plants, and provide pathways for mitigating CO2 in areas where geologic storage, the predominant competing CO2 sequestration technology, is not an optimal solution. Skyonic is piloting its first commercial-scale project at the largest cement plant in Texas operated by Capitol Aggregates, Ltd.
"Skyonic's innovative for-profit approach to CO2 removal has the capability to radically change the industrialized world's view of carbon emissions, and this patent is recognition of that potential," said Joe Jones, founder and CEO of Skyonic Corporation. "SkyMine® combines three proven and independent technology processes to bring the chemistry to life. Large stationary emitters have the ability to not only remove CO2, but recycle it into marketable products, which will help stimulate a greater response by the private sector to reduce its carbon impact."
Greenhouse gases (GHG) are predominately made up of CO2 and the highest concentration exists at power-plants, making reduction or removal of CO2 from those fixed sites an ideal application for SkyMine®. SkyMine® not only provides power producers the ease to scale CO2 removal configurations to better meet aggressive carbon reduction goals but recycles pollutants into marketable byproducts.
Power producers and some companies operating in the manufacturing and refining sectors across the globe are expected to adopt these types of technologies more aggressively in the near future, based on pending legislation in various regions. U.S. Senators Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Lieberman (I-Connecticut) released this month a draft of the American Power Act (APA), which sets a mandatory 17 percent reduction in GHG emissions below 2005 levels by the year 2020 with an overall goal to cut GHG emissions 83 percent by 2050.
More information on Skyonic patent issued today for "Removing Carbon Dioxide from Waste Streams through Co-Generation of Synthetic Carbonate Minerals" can be found here.
About Skyonic Corporation
Founded in 2005, Skyonic Corporation developed the first carbon capture technology designed to profitably capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by mineralizing the gas into baking soda. Developed by inventor and CEO, Joe Jones, SkyMine® is a patented green technology process that enables power-generation and industrial manufacturing plants to cost-effectively produce energy and products in a cleaner way. Skyonic has conducted field trials and pilot projects at power plants throughout Texas. Skyonic is currently designing a commercial-scale SkyMine® plant and expects to begin construction in San Antonio, Texas in late 2010. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is backed by venture capital. To learn more about Skyonic visit http://www.skyonic.com.
Skyonic Contacts
Stacy MacDiarmid
stacy@skyonic.com
AUSTIN, Texas, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Skyonic Corporation today announced it has been granted a U.S. patent (patent number 7,727,374) that relates to the company's SkyMine® technology, an environmentally-safe, clean technology process proven to profitably capture and mineralize carbon into marketable byproducts. Based on proven scientific methods, SkyMine® uniquely combines gas handling, absorption and electrochemical production to reduce the amount of harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from flue gas stacks. Power-generation plants, refineries, distilleries and other industrial manufacturers have the potential to become carbon-neutral with SkyMine®.
"By turning carbon dioxide into minerals that can be sold on the open market, Skyonic gives utilities and manufacturers a way to recover the costs associated with storing carbon," said Michael Kanellos, Greentech Media editor-in-chief and senior analyst. "It also potentially lets them avoid regulatory battles: voters are likely going to object far more to an underground facility designed to store billions of cubic feet of gas under high pressures for hundreds of years than equipment that makes baking soda. Skyonic is onto something important here."
Skyonic's patented SkyMine® technology removes CO2 from industrial waste streams through co-generation of saleable carbonate and/or bicarbonate minerals. In addition to capturing and mineralizing CO2, SkyMine® cleans SOX and NO2 from the flue gas, and removes heavy minerals such as mercury. SkyMine® plants can be retrofitted to existing power plants and industrial plants, and provide pathways for mitigating CO2 in areas where geologic storage, the predominant competing CO2 sequestration technology, is not an optimal solution. Skyonic is piloting its first commercial-scale project at the largest cement plant in Texas operated by Capitol Aggregates, Ltd.
"Skyonic's innovative for-profit approach to CO2 removal has the capability to radically change the industrialized world's view of carbon emissions, and this patent is recognition of that potential," said Joe Jones, founder and CEO of Skyonic Corporation. "SkyMine® combines three proven and independent technology processes to bring the chemistry to life. Large stationary emitters have the ability to not only remove CO2, but recycle it into marketable products, which will help stimulate a greater response by the private sector to reduce its carbon impact."
Greenhouse gases (GHG) are predominately made up of CO2 and the highest concentration exists at power-plants, making reduction or removal of CO2 from those fixed sites an ideal application for SkyMine®. SkyMine® not only provides power producers the ease to scale CO2 removal configurations to better meet aggressive carbon reduction goals but recycles pollutants into marketable byproducts.
Power producers and some companies operating in the manufacturing and refining sectors across the globe are expected to adopt these types of technologies more aggressively in the near future, based on pending legislation in various regions. U.S. Senators Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Lieberman (I-Connecticut) released this month a draft of the American Power Act (APA), which sets a mandatory 17 percent reduction in GHG emissions below 2005 levels by the year 2020 with an overall goal to cut GHG emissions 83 percent by 2050.
More information on Skyonic patent issued today for "Removing Carbon Dioxide from Waste Streams through Co-Generation of Synthetic Carbonate Minerals" can be found here.
About Skyonic Corporation
Founded in 2005, Skyonic Corporation developed the first carbon capture technology designed to profitably capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by mineralizing the gas into baking soda. Developed by inventor and CEO, Joe Jones, SkyMine® is a patented green technology process that enables power-generation and industrial manufacturing plants to cost-effectively produce energy and products in a cleaner way. Skyonic has conducted field trials and pilot projects at power plants throughout Texas. Skyonic is currently designing a commercial-scale SkyMine® plant and expects to begin construction in San Antonio, Texas in late 2010. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is backed by venture capital. To learn more about Skyonic visit http://www.skyonic.com.
Skyonic Contacts
Stacy MacDiarmid
stacy@skyonic.com
China's first carbon capture plant to start operation by year-end
19:45, June 02, 2010
China's first commercial carbon capture and storage plant is expected to be operational by the end of the year as construction of the plant's liquidification facility has started, company managers said Wednesday.
The environmentally-friendly plant is being built by Shenhua Group - China's top coal producer - in Ordos City on the steppes of northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The 210 million yuan (30.8 million U.S. dollars) project is expected to capture 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year, Wang Heming, a senior manager in Shenhua Group's Ordos division, said.
China heavily relies on coal to sustain its economy, the world's third largest. But authorities have pledged to slash the carbon intensity of its gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 to 2020. Carbon capture technology has been identified as key to reaching the goal.
Wang said Shenhua is also conducting a feasibility study into a second liquidification facility that will be capable of handling 1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
He said a third -- and much larger -- facility capable of handling 3 million tons annually is being planned. But no timetable for its construction has been set.
Wang said tests show Shenhua's liquidification facilities pose no harm to the environment, with carbon dioxide being compressed, liquified and pumped into rocks about 1,000 - 3,000 meters beneath the earth's surface.
A surveillance network will be set up to monitor leaks, Wang said, adding that the storage facility "is tested not to leak for 1,000 years."
But he said the commercial viability of the project is not yet clear.
Standards for the carbon capture industry internationally have not yet been set, and the Chinese government has yet to give companies in the industry favorable treatment, Wang explained.
He said the operating costs of the 100,000-ton facility are estimated at around 50 U.S. dollars per ton.
Source: Xinhua
China's first commercial carbon capture and storage plant is expected to be operational by the end of the year as construction of the plant's liquidification facility has started, company managers said Wednesday.
The environmentally-friendly plant is being built by Shenhua Group - China's top coal producer - in Ordos City on the steppes of northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The 210 million yuan (30.8 million U.S. dollars) project is expected to capture 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year, Wang Heming, a senior manager in Shenhua Group's Ordos division, said.
China heavily relies on coal to sustain its economy, the world's third largest. But authorities have pledged to slash the carbon intensity of its gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 to 2020. Carbon capture technology has been identified as key to reaching the goal.
Wang said Shenhua is also conducting a feasibility study into a second liquidification facility that will be capable of handling 1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
He said a third -- and much larger -- facility capable of handling 3 million tons annually is being planned. But no timetable for its construction has been set.
Wang said tests show Shenhua's liquidification facilities pose no harm to the environment, with carbon dioxide being compressed, liquified and pumped into rocks about 1,000 - 3,000 meters beneath the earth's surface.
A surveillance network will be set up to monitor leaks, Wang said, adding that the storage facility "is tested not to leak for 1,000 years."
But he said the commercial viability of the project is not yet clear.
Standards for the carbon capture industry internationally have not yet been set, and the Chinese government has yet to give companies in the industry favorable treatment, Wang explained.
He said the operating costs of the 100,000-ton facility are estimated at around 50 U.S. dollars per ton.
Source: Xinhua
Gulf oil spill: Will Deepwater sink the 101-year-old BP?
Mud-smeared BP logos, boycotts, and an almost halved market value indicate deep disgust over the handling of the oil slick
Andrew Clark in New York guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 June 2010 17.37 BST
At a BP service station in downtown Manhattan, the British company's green and yellow logo has been defaced with huge brown smears of mud. Protesters clad as oil-soaked mermaids have occupied garage forecourts, anti-BP demonstrations are taking place from Los Angeles to Florida, and a boycott BP campaign is creating a buzz on the internet.
BP's name is, quite simply, dirt. Americans are disgusted with the once proud London-based energy company.
As political leaders threaten criminal prosecution and possible seizure of the company's assets, and environmentalists bay for blood, BP's stock is plummeting: it has fallen by a third since the Deepwater Horizon rig caught fire on 20 April, causing the worst oil slick in US history. In financial circles, questions are growing about whether BP can salvage its reputation in the US and whether the company can survive as an independent entity at all.
"Ultimately, we've got no idea how much this accident is going to cost," said Dougie Youngson, an energy analyst at Arbuthnot Securities. "People have been throwing around numbers like $10bn, $15bn, $20bn, but the reality is we just don't know. They've made five attempts to plug this leaking well and they've all failed."
Youngson believes there is a real possibility the Deepwater disaster could destroy BP, leading to a break-up of the 101-year-old company, which employs 80,000 people, operates 22,400 petrol stations and generated $239bn of revenue last year. He said: "The longer this situation goes on, the more realistic that becomes."
The US interior secretary, Ken Salazar, has warned that BP's "life is very much on the line". The company's market value has dropped from $122bn to barely $80bn. John Kilduff, an energy analyst turned hedge-fund manager at Round Earth Capital, told CNBC television: "It's questionable whether they can continue to do business in the United States."
Seemingly aware of its rock-bottom public image, BP this week hired Anne Womack-Kolton, once press secretary to the former vice-president Dick Cheney, to bolster its public relations effort in the US. A CBS poll found that 70% of Americans disapprove of the way BP has handled the oil spill. And the worst has yet to come: so far relatively little oil has washed up on the US coast; in the weeks ahead, images of stricken birdlife, clogged marshland and blackened beaches are likely to be ubiquitous.
James Hoopes, a professor of business ethics at Babson College, in Massachusetts, said it was hard to imagine a worse public relations fiasco. "This has to be one of the all-time disasters for corporate reputation. The most graceful course of action for BP would be to hang its head for a very long time and admit it has some deep issues to deal with."
The company's predicament is far worse than Exxon's battering in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez tanker hit a reef off Alaska. Not only is BP a foreign company with little claim to US loyalty but it is a repeat offender: memories are raw of BP's Texas City refinery blast in 2005 which killed 15 workers after serious safety lapses, and of the damage caused to the Alaskan wilderness in 2006 by leaking BP pipelines which, the firm admitted, had not been maintained adequately.
"Is BP dishonest, is it ill-intentioned?" Hoopes asked. "I don't think there's any evidence to suggest those things. But the ethical lapse concerns a lack of caution and lack of responsibility in handling what is an inherently risky business. Accidents happen but there is evidence to suggest that BP is unusually accident prone."
As of Tuesday, some 257,000 people had signed up to a Facebook page advocating a boycott of BP. Additionally, a consumer advocacy group, Public Citizen, is calling for Americans to avoid filling up at BP petrol stations for three months to punish the company.
Tyson Slocum, director of the Public Citizen's Energy Program, pointed out that BP had pleaded guilty to two environmental charges arising from its Texas City and Alaskan difficulties, before the Deepwater spill took place.
With valuable, tangible, property around the world, BP is not in danger of simply evaporating like Enron, Arthur Andersen or Lehman Brothers – all asset-poor business that had little left after they lost their reputations. Theoretically, the collapse in BP's share price could make the firm cheap. Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell have been mooted as possible eventual purchasers.
The Obama administration, which wants to cut US dependence on foreign oil money, would have a significant say; it hands out exploration licences and is unlikely to be keen on Russian, Chinese or Middle Eastern control of strategically important American resources.
Not everybody thinks BP is doomed. Charles Maxwell, an energy analyst at the US broker Weeden & Co, says he does not consider Deepwater Horizon fatal for BP. "While you're right in the melee, the battle rages harsh and hot and fierce around you, but there will come an end to it. They'll drill a relief well and it will work, I'm sure."
Maxwell said reputational damage would fade since consumers barely distinguished between brands. He said that BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward, who succeeded Lord Browne of Madingley as chief executive in 2007, had not had enough time to repair the damage wreaked by his predecessor.
To start regaining consumer trust, BP needs to show a more human face to America, said Dan McGinn, a communications expert at TMG Strategies, who suggested Hayward and his colleagues should "emote" more freely. "Don't make it so technical, so mechanical. Give us a sense of passion, that you feel people's suffering."
Corporate giants have rebounded from catastrophes before. The tyre maker Firestone, which seemed terminally tarnished in 2000 when it was accused of covering up flaws in products linked to hundreds of deadly accidents, turned around its reputation. And General Motors, which filed for bankruptcy just a year ago, is back on its feet, winning market share and praise for new models. "What we do know … is that you can suffer extraordinary damage in a short period of time but you can also recover," said McGinn. He added that the worst sins, in the eyes of the public, were not accidents themselves but a sense of gross incompetence, a perception of cruelty or veneer of sheer arrogance. "If it comes across that you not only don't understand but don't care about the consequences of your actions, that's unforgivable to Americans."
Andrew Clark in New York guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 June 2010 17.37 BST
At a BP service station in downtown Manhattan, the British company's green and yellow logo has been defaced with huge brown smears of mud. Protesters clad as oil-soaked mermaids have occupied garage forecourts, anti-BP demonstrations are taking place from Los Angeles to Florida, and a boycott BP campaign is creating a buzz on the internet.
BP's name is, quite simply, dirt. Americans are disgusted with the once proud London-based energy company.
As political leaders threaten criminal prosecution and possible seizure of the company's assets, and environmentalists bay for blood, BP's stock is plummeting: it has fallen by a third since the Deepwater Horizon rig caught fire on 20 April, causing the worst oil slick in US history. In financial circles, questions are growing about whether BP can salvage its reputation in the US and whether the company can survive as an independent entity at all.
"Ultimately, we've got no idea how much this accident is going to cost," said Dougie Youngson, an energy analyst at Arbuthnot Securities. "People have been throwing around numbers like $10bn, $15bn, $20bn, but the reality is we just don't know. They've made five attempts to plug this leaking well and they've all failed."
Youngson believes there is a real possibility the Deepwater disaster could destroy BP, leading to a break-up of the 101-year-old company, which employs 80,000 people, operates 22,400 petrol stations and generated $239bn of revenue last year. He said: "The longer this situation goes on, the more realistic that becomes."
The US interior secretary, Ken Salazar, has warned that BP's "life is very much on the line". The company's market value has dropped from $122bn to barely $80bn. John Kilduff, an energy analyst turned hedge-fund manager at Round Earth Capital, told CNBC television: "It's questionable whether they can continue to do business in the United States."
Seemingly aware of its rock-bottom public image, BP this week hired Anne Womack-Kolton, once press secretary to the former vice-president Dick Cheney, to bolster its public relations effort in the US. A CBS poll found that 70% of Americans disapprove of the way BP has handled the oil spill. And the worst has yet to come: so far relatively little oil has washed up on the US coast; in the weeks ahead, images of stricken birdlife, clogged marshland and blackened beaches are likely to be ubiquitous.
James Hoopes, a professor of business ethics at Babson College, in Massachusetts, said it was hard to imagine a worse public relations fiasco. "This has to be one of the all-time disasters for corporate reputation. The most graceful course of action for BP would be to hang its head for a very long time and admit it has some deep issues to deal with."
The company's predicament is far worse than Exxon's battering in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez tanker hit a reef off Alaska. Not only is BP a foreign company with little claim to US loyalty but it is a repeat offender: memories are raw of BP's Texas City refinery blast in 2005 which killed 15 workers after serious safety lapses, and of the damage caused to the Alaskan wilderness in 2006 by leaking BP pipelines which, the firm admitted, had not been maintained adequately.
"Is BP dishonest, is it ill-intentioned?" Hoopes asked. "I don't think there's any evidence to suggest those things. But the ethical lapse concerns a lack of caution and lack of responsibility in handling what is an inherently risky business. Accidents happen but there is evidence to suggest that BP is unusually accident prone."
As of Tuesday, some 257,000 people had signed up to a Facebook page advocating a boycott of BP. Additionally, a consumer advocacy group, Public Citizen, is calling for Americans to avoid filling up at BP petrol stations for three months to punish the company.
Tyson Slocum, director of the Public Citizen's Energy Program, pointed out that BP had pleaded guilty to two environmental charges arising from its Texas City and Alaskan difficulties, before the Deepwater spill took place.
With valuable, tangible, property around the world, BP is not in danger of simply evaporating like Enron, Arthur Andersen or Lehman Brothers – all asset-poor business that had little left after they lost their reputations. Theoretically, the collapse in BP's share price could make the firm cheap. Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell have been mooted as possible eventual purchasers.
The Obama administration, which wants to cut US dependence on foreign oil money, would have a significant say; it hands out exploration licences and is unlikely to be keen on Russian, Chinese or Middle Eastern control of strategically important American resources.
Not everybody thinks BP is doomed. Charles Maxwell, an energy analyst at the US broker Weeden & Co, says he does not consider Deepwater Horizon fatal for BP. "While you're right in the melee, the battle rages harsh and hot and fierce around you, but there will come an end to it. They'll drill a relief well and it will work, I'm sure."
Maxwell said reputational damage would fade since consumers barely distinguished between brands. He said that BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward, who succeeded Lord Browne of Madingley as chief executive in 2007, had not had enough time to repair the damage wreaked by his predecessor.
To start regaining consumer trust, BP needs to show a more human face to America, said Dan McGinn, a communications expert at TMG Strategies, who suggested Hayward and his colleagues should "emote" more freely. "Don't make it so technical, so mechanical. Give us a sense of passion, that you feel people's suffering."
Corporate giants have rebounded from catastrophes before. The tyre maker Firestone, which seemed terminally tarnished in 2000 when it was accused of covering up flaws in products linked to hundreds of deadly accidents, turned around its reputation. And General Motors, which filed for bankruptcy just a year ago, is back on its feet, winning market share and praise for new models. "What we do know … is that you can suffer extraordinary damage in a short period of time but you can also recover," said McGinn. He added that the worst sins, in the eyes of the public, were not accidents themselves but a sense of gross incompetence, a perception of cruelty or veneer of sheer arrogance. "If it comes across that you not only don't understand but don't care about the consequences of your actions, that's unforgivable to Americans."
Underground green economy employing millions
The major driver of growth in the the twenty-first century will be "restoration economy" that is redeveloping nations, revitalising cities, and expanding ecosystems
Glenn Hurowitz for Grist, part of the Guardian Environment Network guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 June 2010 10.39 BST
There's a new economy springing up around the country -- but it's operating almost entirely in secret. It's called "the restoration economy" and it's remaking America's landscape while putting millions of people to work.
This economy is devoted to restoring what's been lost: degraded forests, watersheds, oceans, cities, communities, buildings, transit -- and it's the product of a major turning point in our history that's been almost entirely missed by the press and politicians.
I recently had the opportunity to learn about this stealth green economy when I participated in a panel at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference about land and water-based jobs. In a telling sign, this panel (organized by The Wilderness Society's relentless JP Leous, one of the brightest rising stars in the environmental movement) was apparently the first in the history of the conference to focus on forest, land, and water based jobs (or as I like to think of them, the ultimate green jobs).
One of my co-panelists was Storm Cunningham, who in his seminal book, The Restoration Economy, revealed this major shift for the first time:
...But then, in the late 90's, I began noticing a miraculous new trend: a number of places -- both ecosystems and communities -- were actually getting better, some spectacularly so. Rivers that had been devoid of fish were teeming with them. Blighted industrial waterfronts were becoming gorgeous, lively, economically thriving public areas. Devastated, clear-cut hills were becoming forests again -- real forests, not just the typical tree farms that are devoid of wildlife. ...
During the last two decades of the twentieth century, we failed to notice a turning point of immense significance. New development -- the development mode that has dominated the past three centuries -- lost significant "market share" to another mode: restorative development.
Despite the fact that restorative development will dominate the twenty-first century, its phenomenal rate of growth has gone largely undocumented. This is hardly an unimportant transition: economic growth based primarily on the exploitation of new resources and territories is giving way to economic growth based on expanding our resources and improving our existing assets..
Why is it happening? Primarily, it's because we've now developed most of the world that can be developed without destroying some other inherent value or vital function of that property. The major driver of economic growth in the the twenty-first century will thus be redeveloping our nations, revitalizing our cities, and rehabilitating and expanding our ecosystems. We'll be adding health and wealth in a way that doesn't cause a corresponding loss of wealth elsewhere.
To put it in other words, today's economic potential isn't in the exploitation of untapped resources, but rather in the restoration of wealth (natural, infrastructural, community and otherwise).
For that reason and others, the restoration economy is dollar-for-dollar by far the best job creator of any economic activity. As I discussed in this post at Grist, investments in forest, wetland, and other land and water restoration creates 74 percent more jobs than ANY other economic activity -- more even that energy wind or solar, and more than five and a half times as much as investments in dirty energy sources like oil, coal, and nuclear. These are the ultimate shovel-ready jobs: for many of them, you really don't need much more than a shovel to get to work. Mother Nature provides all the capital you need.
You can see this restoration economy at work across America and around the world: in the
Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State, people are finding
work tearing down dams and restoring streams, in the Chesapeake Bay, out-of-work watermen are restoring oyster beds to clean the water, and in Indonesia, people are returning destroyed rainforest to orangutan habitat.
At the panel, we delved into the politics of the restoration economy -- you can watch highlights from the discussion in this excellent brief video:
In summary, politicians are making a huge electoral blunder when they perpetuate low jobs creating activities
like oil drilling and coal mining. One of the most important determinants of an incumbent politician's success is the health of the economy and
the availability of jobs (others include whether a politician is
perceived as being a strong leader and having integrity). Weakening a cap on carbon or diverting funds away from wildland restoration may please a few lobbyists, but as incumbents like Bob Bennett, Arlen Specter, and Blanche Lincoln learned recently, even establishment campaign donations will be far outweighed by voter anger fueled by a poor economy and a lack of jobs.
Of course the inverse is true too: because the restoration economy provides such a huge jobs bang for the buck, it's a Godsend for politicians. The more they invest in restoring forests, streams, and oceans, the better the economy will be and the more likely they are to get reelected.
In other words, green is the new electoral gold.
Glenn Hurowitz for Grist, part of the Guardian Environment Network guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 June 2010 10.39 BST
There's a new economy springing up around the country -- but it's operating almost entirely in secret. It's called "the restoration economy" and it's remaking America's landscape while putting millions of people to work.
This economy is devoted to restoring what's been lost: degraded forests, watersheds, oceans, cities, communities, buildings, transit -- and it's the product of a major turning point in our history that's been almost entirely missed by the press and politicians.
I recently had the opportunity to learn about this stealth green economy when I participated in a panel at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference about land and water-based jobs. In a telling sign, this panel (organized by The Wilderness Society's relentless JP Leous, one of the brightest rising stars in the environmental movement) was apparently the first in the history of the conference to focus on forest, land, and water based jobs (or as I like to think of them, the ultimate green jobs).
One of my co-panelists was Storm Cunningham, who in his seminal book, The Restoration Economy, revealed this major shift for the first time:
...But then, in the late 90's, I began noticing a miraculous new trend: a number of places -- both ecosystems and communities -- were actually getting better, some spectacularly so. Rivers that had been devoid of fish were teeming with them. Blighted industrial waterfronts were becoming gorgeous, lively, economically thriving public areas. Devastated, clear-cut hills were becoming forests again -- real forests, not just the typical tree farms that are devoid of wildlife. ...
During the last two decades of the twentieth century, we failed to notice a turning point of immense significance. New development -- the development mode that has dominated the past three centuries -- lost significant "market share" to another mode: restorative development.
Despite the fact that restorative development will dominate the twenty-first century, its phenomenal rate of growth has gone largely undocumented. This is hardly an unimportant transition: economic growth based primarily on the exploitation of new resources and territories is giving way to economic growth based on expanding our resources and improving our existing assets..
Why is it happening? Primarily, it's because we've now developed most of the world that can be developed without destroying some other inherent value or vital function of that property. The major driver of economic growth in the the twenty-first century will thus be redeveloping our nations, revitalizing our cities, and rehabilitating and expanding our ecosystems. We'll be adding health and wealth in a way that doesn't cause a corresponding loss of wealth elsewhere.
To put it in other words, today's economic potential isn't in the exploitation of untapped resources, but rather in the restoration of wealth (natural, infrastructural, community and otherwise).
For that reason and others, the restoration economy is dollar-for-dollar by far the best job creator of any economic activity. As I discussed in this post at Grist, investments in forest, wetland, and other land and water restoration creates 74 percent more jobs than ANY other economic activity -- more even that energy wind or solar, and more than five and a half times as much as investments in dirty energy sources like oil, coal, and nuclear. These are the ultimate shovel-ready jobs: for many of them, you really don't need much more than a shovel to get to work. Mother Nature provides all the capital you need.
You can see this restoration economy at work across America and around the world: in the
Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State, people are finding
work tearing down dams and restoring streams, in the Chesapeake Bay, out-of-work watermen are restoring oyster beds to clean the water, and in Indonesia, people are returning destroyed rainforest to orangutan habitat.
At the panel, we delved into the politics of the restoration economy -- you can watch highlights from the discussion in this excellent brief video:
In summary, politicians are making a huge electoral blunder when they perpetuate low jobs creating activities
like oil drilling and coal mining. One of the most important determinants of an incumbent politician's success is the health of the economy and
the availability of jobs (others include whether a politician is
perceived as being a strong leader and having integrity). Weakening a cap on carbon or diverting funds away from wildland restoration may please a few lobbyists, but as incumbents like Bob Bennett, Arlen Specter, and Blanche Lincoln learned recently, even establishment campaign donations will be far outweighed by voter anger fueled by a poor economy and a lack of jobs.
Of course the inverse is true too: because the restoration economy provides such a huge jobs bang for the buck, it's a Godsend for politicians. The more they invest in restoring forests, streams, and oceans, the better the economy will be and the more likely they are to get reelected.
In other words, green is the new electoral gold.
Overpopulation fears nonsense, says author Fred Pearce
Global fertility patterns suggest population crash more likely than the much-anticipated explosion, claims environmental writer
Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 June 2010 16.43 BST
Sir David Attenborough, Jonathon Porritt, Jeremy Irons and other "doomsters" are talking "dangerous nonsense" about the threat of overpopulation, according to the environmental writer Fred Pearce.
Speaking at the Hay festival, Pearce said that the global population "timebomb" was being defused by some of the world's poorest women, thanks to the impact of feminism in Muslim, Christian, secular, developed and developing countries across the world.
Irons, the actor who recently told the Sunday Times "there are just too many of us", and other environmentalists such as Attenborough and Porritt, who are patrons of the Optimum Population Trust, are modern-day Malthusians, according to Pearce, who fail to see that overconsumption, not overpopulation, is what really imperils the planet.
"I believe they are talking dangerous nonsense. The population timebomb is being defused, fast," Pearce told the festival.
The United Nations has predicted the world's population could rise from 6.8bn to 9.2bn in 2050, but, according to Pearce, it will only rise by up to 2bn and will then start to fall.
Half the world now has fertility rates below the replacement rate of 2.3 children. Women in Iran were giving birth to eight children in the 1980s, but now give birth to less than two. In Bangladesh, where many mothers are poor and badly educated, women have an average of just three children. Birth rates have fallen to 2.8 in India and two in Brazil, despite the influence of Catholicism.
In China, "the one-child policy is brutal and repressive but it may not be making much difference anymore", said Pearce, citing similarly low birth rates in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, where the government has been paying couples to have children for two decades.
Only in poverty-stricken parts of Africa, highly patriarchal societies such as Yemen and among "traumatised" people such as the Palestinians and Orthodox Jews in Israel, are birth rates soaring.
Pearce said he had not set out to write "a feminist tract" when researching his book, Peoplequake: Mass Migration, Ageing Nations and the Coming Population Crash, but discovered in all these societies the key factor was women being able to take decisions for themselves. Given this power, if child mortality rates were such that they no longer needed five or six children for two or three to survive, women were choosing to have fewer children and "get on with their lives".
With the time lag between fertility rates and population, Pearce said the population could still rise by 2bn but would then fall back as a smaller future generation of mothers created a "feedback loop" of smaller populations.
While this was "a good news story", Pearce warned that the environmental threat to the world was not over.
"We haven't begun to defuse the consumption boom," he said, arguing that environmentalists should focus not on restricting population growth in the developing world but on curing the developed world of its addiction to consumption.
The richest 500 million people (7% of the world's population) are responsible for 50% of CO2 emissions, while the poorest 3.5bn people (50% of the population) are responsible for just 7% of emissions. One American's emissions are equivalent to those of 250 Ethiopians.
Women having the right to decide how many children they bear may be the key to stabilising the world's population, but Pearce said that in societies where the feminist revolution was incomplete and mothers were still expected to perform the lion's share of child-rearing duties, many women were rebelling against childbirth.
This trend was particularly strong in southern Europe. If Italy continues with its current birth rate, its population will fall by 86% by the end of this century.
Mass migration and an ageing population would be challenges for the future, but Pearce speculated that an older population could be "wiser and greener", living life at a slower pace with less desire for high-speed consumption.
He predicted that by the end of his lifetime, people would be more worried by a population crash than a population explosion.
Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 June 2010 16.43 BST
Sir David Attenborough, Jonathon Porritt, Jeremy Irons and other "doomsters" are talking "dangerous nonsense" about the threat of overpopulation, according to the environmental writer Fred Pearce.
Speaking at the Hay festival, Pearce said that the global population "timebomb" was being defused by some of the world's poorest women, thanks to the impact of feminism in Muslim, Christian, secular, developed and developing countries across the world.
Irons, the actor who recently told the Sunday Times "there are just too many of us", and other environmentalists such as Attenborough and Porritt, who are patrons of the Optimum Population Trust, are modern-day Malthusians, according to Pearce, who fail to see that overconsumption, not overpopulation, is what really imperils the planet.
"I believe they are talking dangerous nonsense. The population timebomb is being defused, fast," Pearce told the festival.
The United Nations has predicted the world's population could rise from 6.8bn to 9.2bn in 2050, but, according to Pearce, it will only rise by up to 2bn and will then start to fall.
Half the world now has fertility rates below the replacement rate of 2.3 children. Women in Iran were giving birth to eight children in the 1980s, but now give birth to less than two. In Bangladesh, where many mothers are poor and badly educated, women have an average of just three children. Birth rates have fallen to 2.8 in India and two in Brazil, despite the influence of Catholicism.
In China, "the one-child policy is brutal and repressive but it may not be making much difference anymore", said Pearce, citing similarly low birth rates in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, where the government has been paying couples to have children for two decades.
Only in poverty-stricken parts of Africa, highly patriarchal societies such as Yemen and among "traumatised" people such as the Palestinians and Orthodox Jews in Israel, are birth rates soaring.
Pearce said he had not set out to write "a feminist tract" when researching his book, Peoplequake: Mass Migration, Ageing Nations and the Coming Population Crash, but discovered in all these societies the key factor was women being able to take decisions for themselves. Given this power, if child mortality rates were such that they no longer needed five or six children for two or three to survive, women were choosing to have fewer children and "get on with their lives".
With the time lag between fertility rates and population, Pearce said the population could still rise by 2bn but would then fall back as a smaller future generation of mothers created a "feedback loop" of smaller populations.
While this was "a good news story", Pearce warned that the environmental threat to the world was not over.
"We haven't begun to defuse the consumption boom," he said, arguing that environmentalists should focus not on restricting population growth in the developing world but on curing the developed world of its addiction to consumption.
The richest 500 million people (7% of the world's population) are responsible for 50% of CO2 emissions, while the poorest 3.5bn people (50% of the population) are responsible for just 7% of emissions. One American's emissions are equivalent to those of 250 Ethiopians.
Women having the right to decide how many children they bear may be the key to stabilising the world's population, but Pearce said that in societies where the feminist revolution was incomplete and mothers were still expected to perform the lion's share of child-rearing duties, many women were rebelling against childbirth.
This trend was particularly strong in southern Europe. If Italy continues with its current birth rate, its population will fall by 86% by the end of this century.
Mass migration and an ageing population would be challenges for the future, but Pearce speculated that an older population could be "wiser and greener", living life at a slower pace with less desire for high-speed consumption.
He predicted that by the end of his lifetime, people would be more worried by a population crash than a population explosion.
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