Some closing thoughts on the China Trip

Some closing thoughts for China:  Water is a problem…switch to low-flow showers now and side step the learning curve and bias against low flow showers and appliances.  We all have an impact on the environment.  This does not mean we should stop everything, just that we should be more conscious of our choices and their consequences (good and bad). 

For business to adopt recycling and reuse, it has to evaluate and determine the true cost of such programs.  Some of our problem is that we’ve “thrown away” for so long that it has become habit, however the other is the economics of recycling.  Business understands that recycling is important, but businesses must use capital efficiently.  To recycle some goods it would be a better investment to hold the cash under a mattress rather than recycle the good.  A good example of this was when one of the presenters at the Business Environmental Council talked about the costs of recycling.  She had looked at the cost of recycling glass and wished to determine the market value for a recycled product.  She could purchase sorted, crushed glass from mainland China and have it shipped to Hong Kong for less cost than to recycle the glass in Hong Kong.  People should realize that recycling will firmly take hold when and where it makes money.  If you want to save the planet, rather than fussing over it, start making the economics work for recycling.  This means investigating alternative uses for “wastes” and investing in research and development for newer, more efficient technologies.

Time to leave...

March 12, 2011

Well, the last day in China has arrived.  We have traveled to the airport.  We crossed one of the longest multi-level suspension bridges in the world to get to the airport.  Andy, our guide, told us that this was twofold: one was to accommodate peak traffic as the cars and trucks could drive on the top while the trains have dedicated tracks on the lower level; two, monsoons.  During a monsoon service and traffic can continue sheltered on the lower level.  Andy spoke favorably about the monsoons saying they only came to kiss Hong Kong on the way to the mainland.  He added that most of the problems from Monsoons, flooding and storm damage, are the worst only on the mainland.  Now, Dr. Vogul did say he has seen a monsoon dump an inch of rain per hour for three days straight! 

Just out of curiosity I looked up an estimated carbon “footprint” for our flight back to Charlotte using a calculator at: http://www.terrapass.com/carbon-footprint-calculator/.  From Hong Kong to Newark (NJ) generated an estimated 2165 lbs of CO2, while Newark to Charlotte generated 275 lbs of CO2.  This does not mean we should not fly but instead think of the “true cost” in terms other than just our airfare cost.  [BTW according to another calculator, http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx, driving from Newark to Charlotte in my 97 Honda Civic would generate about 400 lbs of CO2]. 

Trip to airport.  HK airport to Newark, then to Charlotte.

Where ever I roam...I find PV!

March 11, 2011

Today was a free day to roam about the city.  We experienced some of the city transit:  ferries, and the metro (subway).  Michael, Ronaldo (the Brazilian who towers above them all except Bruce Lee), and myself walked a good part of Hong Kong Island, including a stumble into the central market.  There is so much to see within the city.  Along the bay front on the New Territories side (peninsula/main land) we came across a photovoltaic center (score one on the sustainability scavenger hunt!).  There were signs explaining the operation, how it worked and how the city used the electricity.  After a good waffle (believe me they were awesome!) and a nap we went off to a harbor dinner cruise!  This was a pleasant ride that included dinner, live entertainment (don’t worry if you do not know the word just make noise that sounds like them), and the nightly Hong Kong light show.  This show (which we had seen from one side of the harbor at the club Aqua) is in the record books for being the world’s largest permanent light and sound show.  The dinner cruise was nice and they loved singing American songs and the Boone students (minus yours truly) got out there and entertained the rest of the boat with a dance or two. 

Exploration day, Victoria harbor dinner cruise

Students and Suits

March 10, 2011

Very interesting day, so suit up!  We visited City University of Hong Kong.  We met with an expat, professor with the information technology department.  He gave a great talk about sustainability issues.  Hong Kong has done many measures to deal with their problems.  Water availability is a big concern.  The largest pollution issues are air pollution (particulate, vehicular based) and trash.  They are an island and small peninsula and thus have limited space for landfills.  No matter where it is located it will be in the backyard of someone.  The forerunning solution is municipal incineration.  Our speaker did say that up to 60% of the land (which is all owned by Hong Kong) is set aside for green space!

We had lunch in a large mall across from the City University.  After lunch we met with the Business Green Council to hear several speakers.  We met the CEO, Andrew Thomson.  The business council helps do market studies and demand analysis for companies wishing to locate to Hong Kong.  Then a program director for waste reduction and a company representative of a waste recycler presented additional topics.  Waste recycling in big business for Hong Kong.  They import up to 2,000,000 tons of waste from the United States to repackage, break down, and sell to China.  In total, Hong Kong exports about 6,000,000 tons of recycled material to China.  Hong Kong is a huge investment center and just off the trash they make considerable money off the spread between the buy and ask.  Low value recyclers merely pick out product and package it for resell.  Most trash can be recycled (up to 80% by weight), but competition is fierce among recyclers.  The tough part is recycling economically.  Hong Kong is trying to attract high value recyclers such as biodiesel producers, PC board recyclers and others.  They have built an Eco-Park that supplies infrastructure to business start ups to encourage high value recycling businesses.

City University of Hong Kong, mall for lunch, Business Environmental Council,

To the city of James Bond 007!!

March 9 - off to Hong Kong!

Today, early wake up for a flight by Dragon-Air.  Common symbols for China are the dragon and the phoenix.  In past times, together they represented a balance; the dragon was a representation of the emperor and the phoenix was a representation of the empress.  We arrived in Hong Kong and were met by our guide Andy “ha” Hou.  We drove around the city a bit with Andy describing the industries and sights of Hong Kong.  We had a community lunch.  We saw the aquarium with live mantis prawns (which look like a cross between a shrimp and a lobster, with some being 10 inches long), geoduck (pronounced gooey duck, a species of saltwater clam), and some of the largest lobsters I have ever seen. 

The evening was free for us to explore.  I did not feel crowded until I visited Hong Kong.  The population of North Carolina is about 9 million…imagine squeezing that into Mecklenburg County (540 sq mi)…that is Hong Kong, with about 7 million people in 456 square miles.  Obviously they have issues with transportation and waste disposal.  Interestingly I did not see many mopeds or bicycles…probably because they would be plowed by all the cars and trucks.

Suit up! It's a corporate day!

March 8, 2011

VW/Skoda is a Sino-German partnership that manufactures both lines of cars in the same factory.  Market research, design and quality are important factors for this factory and location.  This was a simple tour…however one could see sustainability and cost concerns designed into the cars.  These cars do not have frames…thus we literally saw a roll of sheet steel bent and folded into a VW… an origami Passat!!  (and yes, I know origami is Japanese).

Michelin has to accept and meet strict government regulation on its operations.  Many of the operations were acquired Chinese facilities and Michelin must invest heavily to update and clean up these facilities to meet the regulation.  China is using Western companies to lead everyone else to improve their performance according to our gracious hosts.  Additionally Michelin is heavily promoting their energy saving line of tires in China and across the globe.  A major hurdle for Michelin is that for almost 80% of the people with cars right now, this is their first car and they may have never changed a tire.  Maintenance, total cost of ownership and disposal are important factors for the people to learn and Michelin is taking steps to educate consumers.  Michelin is promoting their regroove-able / recap-able tire for big trucks and other fleet vehicles.  The shell is designed for a 1,000,000 km life.  Currently the spent “caps” are sold in China rather than put to an immediate end use.  Michelin has a very good metric for measuring total manufacturing impact that consists of several metrics.

Day: VW/Skoda plant tour, Michelin-China

Evening: market, cafeteria, purchased Chinese lock, found our way back to hotel

Shanghai China Expo 2010...the space ship has landed.

We arrived in Shanghai around 7AM.  We began a bus ride through the city.  Our guide told us that the government had build the high-speed rail to help ease road traffic and to offer a lower cost alternative to flying within the country.  We traveled a little around the city and proceeded to the The China Expo (from the World Exposition of 2010).  The China Expo is a truly impressive structure that showcased Chinese culture, history, art, design and sustainability.  Viewing this structure is the closest thing to knowing what it would be like to have a spaceship land in broad daylight.  We headed for the sustainable part.  To describe the crowd at the Expo…Wal-mart on Black Thursday.  The sustainability showcase presented “Super rice”, genetically altered rice to produce a bigger harvest despite harsher conditions.  The showcase presented this as a way to not only feed more people today but also as a way to prepare for future climate change.  The sustainability section was great.  Many of the things we saw were straight out of articles for magazines such as Popular Science or Popular Mechanics.  I enjoyed seeing the concept car that was made out of bio-plastic that used a solar panel on the roof to charge batteries.  The neatest part of that car though, were the “wind turbines” on the wheels to capture breezes of traffic driving by as it’s parked on the street!

Train arrives, Shanghai tour, China Expo,

Follow The Code of the Tobbaganato!

Ok, it's just a ride but it sounds important, right?

March 6

Today was a long day of walking.  We saw the Great Wall of China.  Sustainability is an issue for the farmers.  One the way to the Great Wall the problem of feeding the massive population of China using only 15% arable land was reiterated.  We do not realize how blessed we are in the United States with the resources at our disposal.  This also makes me realize why sustainability is often a back seat thought for Americans because we have the illusion that our resources are limitless.  [a side note for this:  Almost the entire CONTINENT of North America was clear cut of forest in only about 300 years! ] Each farmer only receives about 1/3 to ½ an acre.  The life of the farmer is very tough due to poor soil quality and limited water.  Farmers have supplemented their income by turning their homes into hotels or restaurants for city dwellers on weekend trips.  Nothing in the farm is wasted.  Many of the street lights in the Great Wall area are charged by solar panels.  The actual Great Wall shop uses a chair lift but then has a Tobbaganato ride to get to the bottom.  This was a really fun trip for us.  This evening we will go the train station and board a high speed, over-night train to Shanghai. 

Great Wall, Olympic Park, lunch at Great Wall farmer’s house, Silk Market, Train Ride.

Bouncing around Beijing

March 5

Today was a tour of the city of Beijing.  Remarkably this city for its size is very clean.  Tiananmen Square and the People’s Congress and the Pearl Market.  The square rather crowded as the People’s Congress is in session with approximately 3000 representatives.  The people have expressed their concern over the health of the city and the haze that envelops the city.  Literally the sun should have been shining strong but a tan fog hung over the city.  One of the best experiences was lunch with a local family in a hutong.  From a resource standpoint the hutongs do not waste anything.  The home was approximately 300 years old and this particular family had lived in the home for 150 years.  They were extremely hospitable and friendly.  The living conditions were not the best, but good compared to other areas of the world I have seen.  They had no bathroom as you went to a community toilet and shower in the hutong.  In an effort to preserve the history of the areas but still improve the life of the hutong the government is razing entire neighborhoods and rebuilding them in the traditional style.  The family we visited said they would rather this not happen as the new buildings were built to the lowest cost and the quality was not as good.  We had Peking Duck in the evening.  It was an amazing experience and the complete use of EVERYTHING.  The cook prepared the entire duck.  You could eat the bill and brain (we were told that many people fight over these items).  They even brought out a soup made from the duck juices (kinda like a broth).  You must use everything in terms of food when you have 1.4 billion people to feed.

Tiananmen Square, Hutong, Forbidden City, Pearl Market.

Oil is well in China...

Anadarko, actually Kerr-McGee visit.  This company was working to develop an oil field in Bohai bay.  Business in China can be difficult for a foreign company.  The manager spoke about how the government has become more concerned about the treatment of the environment.  The oilfield is processed in a unique way.  The crude is pumped in pipes along the bay floor to a floating processing station.  Part of the problem is the oil/water separation process.  The limits on ppm (parts per million) for oil in the processed water continually drops.  Anadarko worked on this problem by continually improving their technology to stay ahead of the next emission mandate.  They are investing in building a natural gas pipeline to control and reduce the emissions caused by flaring of natural gas.  One reason many companies simply flare the gas is that it is not economical to bottle or pipe it to market.  Anadarko is using the gas to power their platforms and processing equipment, but this is not enough alone to reduce emissions, thus the reason for the pipeline.  One concern mentioned was that state-owned companies could get waivers for the emissions while foreign companies could not.  This could result in foreign competitors being “squeezed-out” in favor of sponsored companies.

Beijing International Studies University

March 4th

This was a day of company visits in Beijing, so suit up!!!!  This day was pretty fun.  We were able to meet with Beijing International Studies University.  One of the professors presented on Chinese culture to help give us a framework through which to begin to understand the Chinese.  They have a deep, rich culture and have a deep seated sense of honor.  The culture is very orderly and defined.  Our fearless Michael Richards presented an introduction to American culture.  We then had lunch with the students and had a lot of fun interacting with the students and teachers.  Their English was AMAZING!  I understand better now how the Chinese use the English language now that I know that Chinese does not really have a “tense”.  The English would say “I went to the store”, while the Chinese frame what they say maybe like “I go to the store yesterday”.  The students and teachers did express some concern over the air quality of the city, commenting on how clear the day was and how beautiful the blue sky looked.

Leaving...on a jet plane!

Tuesday March 2/Wednesday March 3

Our focus on this trip to China is on sustainability, international business and environmental issues.  Our trip will entail flying north from Newark, NJ across the north ice cap.  The plane is a generator of carbon emissions that can cause the earth to warm quicker and more severely than it would under normal cycles.  I had an opportunity to look down at the ice cap and frozen tundra of Russia.  These areas are becoming affected sooner and to a greater degree than other areas.  The polar ice is breaking up earlier in the year giving polar bears less time to hunt to recover from hibernation.  The permafrost in the Siberian tundra is melting, releasing trapped methane further exacerbating the presence of greenhouse gasses.

We landed in Beijing (Peking on older maps).  Beijing is one of the largest cities in the world based upon physical area.  Our guide told us that the city covers approximately 16,000 square kilometers.  Much of the land was farmland at one time.  The farmers must go out further and further to grow produce.  The city often has a “floating” population (those living, working, or looking for work there) of almost 20 million (12 million of those are registered as living in the city).  Our guide explained to us that China is the largest user of cellphones in the world with approximately 840 million cellphone users.

Much of the management of Beijing has focused more on housing, spurring development and controlling traffic.  Now people in Beijing wishing to drive a car (previously unlicensed) must go through a lottery process as the government has limited new licensed vehicles to 20,000 per month. The number of automobiles has exploded.  Up until 1998 they only had approximately 1 million autos.

China will face many environmental issues in the near future.  The explosive growth of car use and cellphone use will create disposal and pollution problems.  Feeding the population and growing food in the right areas is another issue.  The government has adapted in that rice is not allowed to be grown around Beijing because it is too water intensive for the region, given limited precipitation.

Arrive in Beijing, city tour, sightseeing,