Are we Leading the Green Economy or do we follow others?

In the months since the inauguration of the Obama administration many people, myself included, have been waiting to see how all the campaign talk about green jobs, green economies, alternative energy, etc. will actually be turned into laws.

In this photo taken Wednesday, July 1, 2009, a woman rides a bicycle near the electric bicycles and mopeds parking in Shanghai, China. Industry estimates put the number of electric bikes and scooters on the roads at more than 65 million. It

Per capita, the United States is by far the largest polluter of the global climate. Naturally we don’t want to keep this title and rather establish a leadership role that changes the world economy from a recession shaken state into a growth state with new energy alternatives and the ET (Energy Technologies) that Thomas Friedman demands in his latest book “hot, flat, and crowded”

It is interesting to pause and take a look at where we stand right now:
The 2009 G8 Summit has been held on July 10th in L’Aquila, Italy, as a mark of solidarity with the people of Abruzzo after the recent terrible earthquake. The leaders of the G8 agreed that the increase in global average temperatures should not exceed 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels by 2020. The media has turned its attention to the Copenhagen Climate Conference which will be in session from 7th to 18th December 2009 of this year in Copenhagen, Denmark, but what is this conference and what issues will it cover?

In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly decided to start work on a climate change convention. This lead to 154 countries signing the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) at the UN Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Since then, 192 countries including the USA and UK have ratified (To approve and make valid) the convention.

Now every year since the convention was established, a conference takes place called Conference of the Parties or COP for short, where the countries which have ratified the convention meet to discuss how they can meet the objective of the convention, which is to prevent global warming. Most people are referring to this years conference as the Copenhagen summit/conference. Officially it is called COP-15, COP being Conference of the Parties and the 15 meaning the fifteenth annual conference since its establishment with the first being held in Berlin, 1995.

“The overall goal for the 2009 (COP15) United Nations Climate Change Conference hosted by Denmark is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement for the period from 2012.” (From COP-15 official site, provided by Governing Dynamo)

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 30, 2009 photo, commuters ride bicycle, mopeds and electric bicycles in the rain in Shanghai, China. Industry estimates put the number of electric bikes and scooters on the roads at more than 65 million. It

In 2012 the Kyoto Protocol to prevent climate changes and global warming runs out. To keep the process on the line there is an urgent need for a new climate protocol. At the conference in Copenhagen 2009 the parties of the UNFCCC meet for the last time on government level before the climate agreement needs to be renewed.

Presiedent Bush did not sign the Kyoto protocol and claimed that there would be better methods for the United States to take on a leading role. As we know now, about 8 years later, that leading role has not been established, the economy is in recession and credit is so tight that very little innovation is happening. The Obama administrant has indicated that it is interested to re-join the world community and coordinate efforts on behalf of climate change. It even wants to take a leading role.

Any time regulations are negotiated, all countries try to preserve their claims, make sure that they are not impacted un-proportionally harsh, and preserve their ability to grow and advance. While the positioning is occurring, those with funds and the political will to change are fast working on new alternatives. IN the process position of dominance comparable to the Microsoft Windows dominance in computer operating systems is the vision for many of the players.

In the world of transportation, it is not always the glorious and expensive super car that drives the developments forward. Elaine Kurtenbach shows in her recent article tilted: “The bicycle kingdom is going electric” how a green transportation industry is emerging, based on the very old, traditionally human powered bicycle:

It’s a simple pleasure, but Xu Beilu savors it daily: gliding past snarled traffic on her motorized bicycle, relaxed and sweat-free alongside the pedal-pushing masses.
China, the world’s bicycle kingdom _ one for every three inhabitants _ is going electric.

In this photo taken on Friday, July 3, 2009, workers assemble electric scooters at the Hanma Electric Bicycle Co. Ltd in Tianjin, China. Industry estimates put the number of electric bikes and scooters on the roads at more than 65 million. It

Workers weary of crammed public transport or pedaling long distances to jobs are upgrading to battery-powered bikes and scooters. Even some who can afford cars are ditching them for electric two-wheelers to avoid traffic jams and expensive gasoline.

The bicycle was a vivid symbol of China in more doctrinaire communist times, when virtually no one owned a car. Even now, nearly two decades after the country began its great leap into capitalism, it still has 430 million bicycles by government count, outnumbering electric bikes and scooters 7-1.

But production of electric two-wheelers has soared from fewer than 200,000 eight years ago to 22 million last year, mostly for the domestic market. The industry estimates about 65 million are on Chinese roads.

Car sales are also booming but there are still only 24 million for civilian use, because few of the 1.3 billion population can afford them. And unlike in many other developing countries, Chinese cities still have plenty of bicycle lanes, even if some have made way for cars and buses.

“E-bike” riders are on the move in the morning or late at night, in good weather or bad. When it’s wet, they are a rainbow army in plastic capes. On fine days, women don gloves, long-sleeved white aprons and face-covering sun guards.

One of them is Xu, on her Yamaha e-bike, making the half-hour commute from her apartment to her job as a marketing manager. She had thought of buying a car but dropped the idea. “It’s obvious that driving would be more comfortable, but it’s expensive,” she says.

“I like riding my e-bike during rush hour, and sometimes enjoy a laugh at the people stuck in taxis. It’s so convenient and helpful in Shanghai, since the traffic is worse than ever.”

In this Tuesday, June 30, 2009 photo, a man parks his electric bicycles at a parking slot in Shanghai, China. Industry estimates put the number of electric bikes and scooters on the roads at more than 65 million. It

The trend is catching on in the U.S. and elsewhere.

In Japan, plug-in bicycles are favored by cost-conscious companies and older commuters. “Many company workers are beginning to use them to visit clients instead of driving, to save fuel costs,” says Miyuki Kimizuka of the Japan Bicycle Promotion Institute, a private industry group.

Australians use electric bicycles in rural towns without bus and train service. Tony Morgan, managing director of The Electric Bicycle Co. Pty. Ltd., the continent’s largest manufacturer and retailer of e-bikes, says he has sold about 20,000 in the past decade, priced at 1,000-2,000 Australian dollars (about $800-$1,600).

In the Netherlands, an especially bicycle-friendly country, the industry says sales passed 138,800 last year.

In India, Vietnam and other developing countries, competition from motorcycles, as well as a lack of bike lanes and other infrastructure, are obstacles.

Indian sales have risen about 15 percent a year to 130,000 units, thanks in part to a 7,500 rupee ($150) government rebate that brings the cost down to about the cost of a conventional bicycle. But they are far outnumbered by the millions of new motorcycles taking to India’s roadways.

In China, electric bikes sell for 1,700 yuan to 3,000 yuan ($250 to $450). They require no helmet, plates or driver’s license, and they aren’t affected by restrictions many cities impose on fuel-burning two-wheelers.

Worker assembling E-Bike in Chinese factory

It costs a mere 1 yuan (15 U.S. cents) _ about the same as the cheapest bus fare _ to charge a bike for a day’s use, says Guo Jianrong, head of the Shanghai Bicycle Association, an industry group.

They look like regular bicycles, only a bit heavier with the battery strapped on. Some can be pedaled; others run solely on battery. In China, their maximum weight is about 40 kilograms (90 pounds), and maximum legal speed is about 20 kph (12 mph).

“For us, these are tools for transportation,” Guo said. “We’re not like Americans and Europeans, who tend to bicycle for fun or exercise.”

The e-bike doesn’t emit greenhouse gases, though it uses electricity from power plants that do. The larger concern is the health hazards from production, recycling and disposal of lead-acid batteries.

Although China is beginning to turn out more electric bikes equipped with nickel-meter-hydride and lithium-ion batteries, 98 percent run on lead-acid types, says Guo.

In this photo taken on Friday, July 3, 2009, electric scooters are seen before being shipped to the United States, at the Hanma Electric Bicycle Co. Ltd in Tianjin, China. Industry estimates put the number of electric bikes and scooters on the roads at more than 65 million. It

A bike can use up to five of the batteries in its lifetime, according to Christopher Cherry, a professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville who researches the industry. A Chinese-made battery containing 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of lead can generate nearly 7 kilograms (about 15 pounds) of lead pollution, he says.

“Electric bikes result in far more emissions of lead than automobiles. They always use more batteries per mile (1.6 kilometers) than almost any other vehicle,” Cherry said in a phone interview.

In China, owners are paid about 200 yuan ($30) to recycle old batteries but the work is often done in small, under-regulated workshops.

With price competition brutal among China’s 2,300 electric bike and scooter makers, manufacturers have shied away from embracing costlier, cleaner technology. But bigger foreign sales and demand for better batteries may speed improvements.

“We are trying to upgrade to lithium battery technology to be able to sell internationally,” said Hu Gang, a spokesman for Xinri E-Vehicle Group Co., the country’s biggest e- bike manufacturer, with sales of more than 2 million units last year.

The goal is to boost production to more than 5 million units by 2013, he said.

“It’s not that we’re that ambitious,” Hu said. “It’s just that the industry is growing so quickly.”

Article about e-bikes by ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press, 2009-July-26