Posts

National Security Assessment: Water Scarcity Disrupting U.S. and Three Continents

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In a new report, the U.S. State Department finds a global confrontation between growing water demand and shrinking supplies, in addition to predictions for the next 30 years of water scarcity.
Map: Major Hydropower in China

Map: Major Hydropower in China

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China is pushing its renewable energy agenda by investing in hydropower. By 2015, the Chinese government expects that its installed capacity from hydropower will amount to 300,000 megawatts, thus reducing the nation's reliance on fossil fuels.

Update: China Completes Tunnel Under Yellow River for South-North Water Transfer Project

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China is on target to begin transferring water from the Yangtze River Basin to Hebei, Shandong, and Tianjin by 2013.
Water & Energy Chokepoint

Choke Point: China on Wilson Center’s Dialogue Program

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On Wednesday evening, dialogue — an award-winning television and radio program that explores the world of ideas through weekly, half-hour conversations with renowned public figures, scholars, journalists, and authors — will feature "Choke Point: The World's Looming Water Crisis."
Infographic: China’s Water Pollution Events and Protection Policies (2004-2011)

Infographic: China’s Water Pollution Events and Protection Policies (2004-2011)

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China has some of the dirtiest and most dangerous water in the world. This detailed and interactive timeline shows key pollution events, protests, and policy reforms from the last eight years at both the national and regional levels as China tries to clean up its act.
shan

Building China’s 21st-century Megacity: Shanghai’s Experiment with Water and Nature

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A new community on the Yangtze River has, so far, been more successful at attracting ducks than people. But city officials have their sights set high for Lingang Port City, which they say could be home to nearly a million people by 2050. Cleaner water will be a big help.

China Turns Profit From Coal-to-liquid Fuels Production, May Expand Controversial Program

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Though China suspended most of its coal-to-liquid fuels refineries in 2008 due to concerns for scarce water resources and high production costs, recent financial gains may lead it to reconsider its policy.

Video: Confronting Water Scarcity & Energy Demand in China

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Choke Point: China is an on-the-ground report that displays in text, photographs, and interactive graphics the powerful evidence of a potentially ruinous confrontation between growth, water, and fuel that is already visible across China; a confrontation that is virtually certain to grow more dire over the next decade.
Flag of China

China to Cap Energy Use by 2015 in National Low-Carbon Plan

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The energy target will be the highlight of a document to come later this year, as well as a cornerstone of China's efforts to curb soaring greenhouse gas emissions, which currently stand at a quarter of the global total. Cutting coal consumption will inevitably also cut water use, as coal is China's largest industrial user of water.
Infographic: Map of Pollution Levels in China

Infographic: Map of Pollution Levels in China’s Major River Basins

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The seven major river basins, as a whole, have had steady improvements in water quality over the past decade.
Water & Energy Chokepoint

Double Choke Point: Demand for Energy Tests Water Supply and Economic Stability in China and the U.S.

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The cords of energy demand and water supply are tightening around the world's two largest economies.
Mongolia Slideshow

Energy Economy Brings Change to Shepherd Life: Modernization Comes to the Dry Grasslands of Inner Mongolia

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Along the vast frozen grasslands, 23-year-old Wu Yun and her father, Bao Zhu, tend their flock of sheep and cattle. Just over the ridge, the northern city of Xilinhot is booming as the coal industry continues to expand. But it will take a lot of water to feed both the city and the mining.