Suchergebnisse

Japan is among the leading countries pursuing deep sea mining (DSM) – both in "The Area" and in its domestic waters. One of the key drivers for this is the dearth of national mineral resources and the government`s desire to secure supplies of metals for its economy. While Japan has been undertaking research and development on the technological and environmental aspects of DSM, it has largely neglected the engagement of the community. This paper presents the results of a survey about DSM and the preferences of society in Japan for alternative sources of minerals. Key results are that for Japanese respondents: (i) understanding of DSM is still low, (ii) they tend to prefer development of DSM domestically rather than overseas, (iii) they prefer recycling or development of substitutes rather than DSM, (iv) people care about the impact on other industries which already use the ocean (fishing, tourism) but are split on whether minor impacts should prevent DSM occurring. This is a preliminary survey and the issue requires further examination with more detailed surveys and sophisticated techniques, importantly there is a need to supply participants with the most recent scientific understanding of DSM and its environmental impacts relative to other industries and other resource supply methods. In terms of marine policy, it is clear that there is a need to engage in significant stakeholder consultation to ensure a social license to operate, including concrete scenarios and plans for local benefit and mitigation of local impacts.

Chinese energy consumption has been dominated by coal for decades, but this needs to change to protect the environment and mitigate anthropogenic climate change. Renewable energy development is needed to fulfil the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for the post-2020 period, as stated on the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. This paper reviews the potential of renewable energy in China and how it could be utilised to meet the INDC goals. A business-as-usual case and eight alternative scenarios with 40% renewable electricity are explored using the EnergyPLAN model to visualise out to the year 2030. Five criteria (total cost, total capacity, excess electricity, CO2 emissions, and direct job creation) are used to assess the sustainability of the scenarios. The results indicate that renewables can meet the goal of a 20% share of non-fossil energy in primary energy and 40%-50% share of non-fossil energy in electricity power. The low nuclear-hydro power scenario is the most optimal scenario based on the used evaluation criteria. The Chinese government should implement new policies aimed at promoting integrated development of wind power and solar PV.

Chinese energy consumption has been dominated by coal for decades, but this needs to change to protect the environment and mitigate anthropogenic climate change. Renewable energy development is needed to fulfil the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for the post-2020 period, as stated on the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. This paper reviews the potential of renewable energy in China and how it could be utilised to meet the INDC goals. A business-as-usual case and eight alternative scenarios with 40% renewable electricity are explored using the EnergyPLAN model to visualise out to the year 2030. Five criteria (total cost, total capacity, excess electricity, CO2 emissions, and direct job creation) are used to assess the sustainability of the scenarios. The results indicate that renewables can meet the goal of a 20% share of non-fossil energy in primary energy and 40%–50% share of non-fossil energy in electricity power. The low nuclear-hydro power scenario is the most optimal scenario based on the used evaluation criteria. The Chinese government should implement new policies aimed at promoting integrated development of wind power and solar PV