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China’s hybrid economy leads to inefficiency

This morning's Washington Post proclaims "Electrical Inefficiency A Dark Spot for China." It seems that lighting up the beautiful Bund comes at the expense of blackouts and brownouts in the less glitzy, more industrial parts of the country. But there's a simple solution:

"A lot of China's energy security problem could be solved if you improved our domestic efficiency," said Yan Maosong, an industrial engineering expert at Shanghai University who advises the central government. "From generation to transmission to power usage, in every link of the chain, our energy industry is not very efficient. Top government leaders have not paid enough attention."

Sound familiar?

Also notable was the article's attribution of China's wastefulness to it's hybrid economy -- a hybrid between "communist roots and a free-market future," that is.

… oh, and R.I.P.

In May of last year, we did a story on Freecycle, the spontaneously organized, voluntary, web-based network devoted to enabling people to give stuff away rather than throw it away.

Then in May of this year, we wrote another story, about Freecycle and its growing pains. On the one hand there was a fight to obtain the trademark to the Freecycle name. On the other hand there was controversy about a $130,000 sponsorship from Waste Management, Inc., the largest garbage company in the U.S.

Well, it appears the former fight has been won and the latter money is being put to good use.

Today we received a letter from "media relations" at Freecycle:

Umbra on computer recycling

Dear Umbra, Do you have any suggestions for locating a computer-recycling service in the Piedmont area of North Carolina? Janet Fortune Dearest Janet, Frankly, I couldn’t even have located the Piedmont area of North Carolina before you wrote. With today’s technology, however, such ignorance is no barrier to giving advice. The rest of you, listen […]

Eco-designer Clare Cunningham answers questions

Clare Cunningham. What work do you do? I am an eco-designer. My specialty is in designs that are socially and environmentally responsible. How does it relate to the environment? “Products are the source of all environmental problems,” says Edwin Datschefski. Eco-design tries specifically to lead products and services away from overconsumption and environmental degradation, and […]

Passage of energy bill highlights lack of united Democratic opposition

Four years, two failed conference attempts, and one filibuster after the Republican leadership first introduced the Bush-backed energy bill into Congress, the controversial legislation is being signed into law today by the president, yielding a major victory for the White House — and exposing Democrats’ continued inability to rally around a unified vision and stay […]

Sweet Chile o’ Mine

Two Americans take political heat for preserving Chilean wilderness Douglas Tompkins and his wife Kristine McDivitt own more than 2,000 square miles of Patagonian wilderness, and they’re determined to preserve it — even if some Chileans don’t appreciate the conservationist gesture. Their Pumalín Park holding encompasses huge swaths of virgin forest, free-flowing streams, and scenic […]

Nukonomics 101

Efficiency much cheaper than nuke power as way to curb carbon emissions The market economics of nuclear power don’t add up to a climate-change solution, particularly when compared to simple, proven energy-efficiency techniques, argues Mark Hertsgaard in the San Francisco Chronicle. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to the current public debate. Collapse author […]

Ursa Rager

Green groups divided over next moves to protect Yellowstone grizzlies A schism is growing in the environmental movement over Bush administration plans to remove Yellowstone’s grizzly bears from the endangered-species list. Bear numbers have roughly tripled since 1975, to about 600 bears today. Some ursine advocates want to call it a story of successful species […]

Tiny glimmers of goodness in the energy bill

While it's probably not what J.S. had in mind when he asked if he missed anything in his list of good things about the energy bill, I might have one -- scratch that, two.

The first is that the bill contains some tax breaks for those savvy consumers who buy energy-efficient home appliances -- some advice on how to snag the breaks, which can be worth up to $500 a year.

The second is that the bill is drawing attention to the biodiesel debate, thanks to its subsidies requirements for ethanol production -- which leads to cartoons like this one.

On a side note, and making the awkward segue from biodiesel to regular diesel, Michael D. Tusiani notes in the Washington Post this morning that the tax credit for diesel engines matches the one for hybrids at $3,400.

Science and environmentalism: outsourced

Twice now I've tried to make a simple point about evolution, science, and the environment, and, reading them over, twice I've failed.

Luckily (via Wolcott), the delightfully named blogger Kung Fu Monkey has done it for me: