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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
Showing posts by Eli Patton.
  • China’s “New Energy Cloud”

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  January 27, 2022  //  By Eli Patton
    Solar,Cell,Plant,And,Wind,Generators,In,Urban,Area,Connected

    Criss-crossing the expansive nation from the icy northeast to the dry deserts of the far west and into the mountain jungles of the south, China is constructing the world’s largest ultra-high voltage power grid, connecting distant coal, wind, solar, and hydro to energy-hungry east coast cities. Beijing recently ordered vast numbers of batteries to be connected to the grid—batteries that can store excess wind, solar, and other renewable power, and then dispatch it as needed. This “New Energy Cloud” provides the flexibility in the power grid that is required for finally dethroning old king coal. However, zapping coal power long distances doesn’t exactly solve the climate problem. 

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  • Decarbonization in the United States and China: Fast and Furious Enough?

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  October 14, 2021  //  By Eli Patton
    A Melting Glacier in Greenland

    A “code red for humanity”— that is how UN Secretary General António Guterres described the future climate scenarios laid out in the International Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report. According to the report, CO2 in the atmosphere has reached levels unseen in 2 million years, amplifying floods, droughts, and other environmental catastrophes around the world. 

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  • Would You Like a Bag (Ban) with That?

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  May 13, 2021  //  By Eli Patton

    Shopping,With,Plastic,Bags,,Need,To,Think,About,Recycling

    China, which threw global plastic recycling markets into disarray in 2018 with its Green Sword policy banning plastic waste imports, has been ratcheting up domestic regulations to reign in single-use plastics. In January of 2020, China’s National Reform Development Commission announced a stringent policy for a nationwide plastic bag ban by 2022. China is not alone. Bans and taxes on plastic bags are spreading around the globe and they might soon come to your neighborhood, if they haven’t already. 

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  • Turning the Tide: How Can Indonesia Close the Loop on Plastic Waste?

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  April 29, 2021  //  By Eli Patton & Ruyi Li

    Taking pictures at TPA (The Last Slaughter Place) in Jatibarang as the final dumping place of all garbage of Semarang City. Photo credit: Tigor Sabas Manalu

    Indonesia. Crystal blue waters, palm trees swaying in the wind, endless sandy beaches, lush tropical jungles, towering mountains, lakes, rivers, and more; all are images that may come to mind when you think of Indonesia. But like other Asian countries, Indonesia’s booming development and increased consumption have generated an immense amount of waste, particularly single-use plastics that are leaking into the ocean. 

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  • Aiming for A World Where Everything Is Circular: Q&A with Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Cofounder Tiza Mafira

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  Q&A  //  January 21, 2021  //  By Ruyi Li & Eli Patton
    Tiza standing in front of a dumping site

    “What bothers me is that people tend to look at these rivers and these polluted beaches and think ‘somebody needs to clean it up’—that’s just completely wrong. Because not only is it almost impossible and inefficient, but it’s really not the solution. The solution is prevention,” says Tiza Mafira in the film, Story of Plastic, as she takes a boat trip down the polluted Ci Liwung River that flows through Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta.

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  • Turning off the Tap: Plastic Sachets and Producer Responsibility in Southeast Asia

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  September 3, 2020  //  By Eli Patton
    A sari sari storefront in the Philippines

    In the crowded capital city of Manila, the Philippines, one quarter of the population of 15 million people has less than one dollar to spend per day. Residents depend upon the tiny and ubiquitous convenience stores, known as sari-sari stores, for daily essentials like food and hygiene products, much of which are sold in convenient single-use sachets (small plastic pouches) for just a few cents each. These sari-sari stores are the major source of the 150 million sachets used daily in the Philippines. 

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