Latest Articles by Li Siqi

Live Earth Shanghai: “start small, start now”

Liyuan Liu, Siqi Li, Quan Ren — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 12:26:00 +0000

Saturday’s Live Earth concert in Shanghai looks to set the standard for future green events, but has received little press attention in China. Li Siqi, Liu Liyuan and Ren Quan ask why.

On July 7, the Live Earth Shanghai concert will take place in the shadow of the Oriental Pearl Tower. The climate-change awareness concert hopes to put environmental protection at the heart of everything it does. Making sure the show is as environmentally friendly as possible was its biggest challenge, says organiser Kevin Wall, and they seem to be doing everything they can.

“Sustainability engineers” were intimately involved in its production, and they came up with a number of surprising solutions. Talking to chinadialogue, Live Earth spokesperson Yusef Robb described how engineers made sure the power they need is generated by the wind and the sun, and how the lighting rigs are fitted with energy-saving bulbs. And the people of Shanghai will be able to judge for themselves, if they come to see the green event.

The US Green Building Council also helped Live Earth implement its “Green Event Guidelines”, which sets the standard for large public events to help reduce their environmental impact as far as possible. This means a number of sustainability measures will be put into place, from using biodegradable plastics to installing recycling facilities.

The Live Earth team seem to have been determined to keep things green from the start, in the choices they have made for catering, packaging, transportation, energy and water usage. This can provide a model for future events: the 3,000 capacity venue will have separate litter bins for different types of waste, use environmentally friendly light bulbs – and even do away with toilet paper. Live Earth seems to be practising what it preaches.

But what about the audience? The organisers are hoping they will use recyclable tickets, tickets which double up as bus tickets, or paperless SMS tickets. Attendees are also being encouraged to take public transport to the venue. The Shanghai concert will be taking place an hour earlier than planned – from 6 to 10 in the evening – to allow everyone to take the subway home, rather than making a polluting car journey. Concert employees and performers are offsetting the carbon emissions incurred by any air travel, and are using hybrid transport such as the Daimler Chrysler smart car – the official transportation partner for Live Earth.

All of this will hopefully serve as a model for future green event planning. Shanghai is a popular venue for major concerts, and will host the World Expo in 2010. If these green measures can be consistently implemented it will do some real good. “Green” will not be a mere slogan – it will be an ideal that is visibly implemented.

But all is not rosy for Live Earth Shanghai: the event has not attracted the attention it hoped for in China. The line-up features British-born singer Sarah Brightman; Cantopop stars Eason Chen, Joey Yung and Anthony Wong; Hong Kong rock band Soler; Taiwan singers Evonne Hsu and Winnie Hsin. The only celebrities from the Chinese mainland are actor Huang Xiaoming and contestants from reality TV shows popular in the Shanghai area. Performers from the Chinese mainland are seriously underrepresented at Shanghai Live Earth, leading to a lacklustre press launch and lukewarm public response. This has also has meant little press coverage. One reason for this imbalance may be that the performers are reportedly turning up for free. There is also not a great degree of environmental awareness among the Chinese mainland public.

But there is little else to complain of. Despite the criticisms of Bob Geldof, the force behind Live Aid and Live 8, who said that Live Earth lacks a clear set of goals, the green event is a good enough goal in itself. Policy change will require ongoing pressure from an aware public, and that will take time. As individuals we must start to pay attention to the small things – these green details.

And this is exactly what Live Earth is intended to do, raise urgently needed awareness of energy-saving and the environment. As Yusef Robb told chinadialogue, it’s about getting people to take the first step. Regardless of how successful it is, it needs to be done. As a Chinese saying has it: “Start small. Start now.”

Li Siqi is chinadialogue’s Beijing editorial assistant.

Quan Ren is a Shanghai reporter for chinadialogue.

Liu Liyuan is a trainee reporter for Shanghai newspaper Wenhui Bao.

Empty noise - thoughts on Live Earth Shanghai

Siqi Li, Liyuan Liu — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:21:00 +0000

Shanghai’s Live Earth concert was a wash out. Li Siqi and Liu Liyuan explain why they remain cheerful.

The curtain has finally fallen on the Live Earth concerts. The series of eight events around the world were unprecedented – but no matter how you try to gloss it up, the Shanghai concert was the least successful. Over-priced tickets, a cramped venue, poor organization and a disappointing line-up have all come in for criticism.

The 2,000 capacity venue wasn’t even full, and half of those who did attend scattered when a rainstorm struck. When Sarah Brightman - the only performer who could be accurately described as a superstar - arrived on stage technical problems forced her to retreat and return later. By any standards this was not a success – and much less so when you evaluate it against the scale and vision of Live Earth.

London’s concert attracted more than 90,000, Sydney more than110,000 and in the US more than 70,000 attended. In Rio de Janeiro the event was at risk of cancellation due to crowd control concerns. And yet China, with 1.3 billion people -- 20 million of them in Shanghai, mustered an embarrassingly small audience of 2,000.

Many of the organizers’ good intentions also failed to be implemented. Despite calls for spectators to use public transport to reach the venue, roads outside were still lined with private cars. I asked one member of the audience how he’d made the journey and he reluctantly admitted he’d driven. 150 volunteers were present to help the audience sort their litter into the correct bins, yet the ground was still scattered with trash once they’d left. And although the aim of the concert was to use star performers to raise environmental awareness, we have to wonder how many of those present actually noticed anything beyond the big names.

The series of coordinated concerts symbolized the fact that the environmental issue is one that nobody living on the planet can avoid, and Shanghai’s participation makes it clear that China is no different. But it was also the least successful of any of the concerts, with the least impressive line-up and poorest organization. It had been described in the media as a ‘window on China’ - but all you could have seen through this window was a population uninterested in the environment.

But we should not be too harsh on the organizers. In the West the practice of holding large-scale concerts for good causes is more established – Live Aid in 1985, for those affected by the September 11^th attacks in 2001, and the Live8 concerts for global poverty in 2005. In the west the music industry and music consumers are familiar with this type of event. But while they are not unknown in China, they are extremely rare. Indeed even being able to hold the concert was a step forward and it allowed us to see the difference between those events and their more common commercial counterparts – an adherence to principals and commitment to goals, even if they are distant. And so we can be forgiving of some of its failings. The lacklustre line-up may have been due to local government’s long and complicated procedures for approval. In May, when preparations for the other concerts were virtually complete, Live Earth Shanghai did not even have a license to go ahead – making it impossible to sign up popular performers and leaving inadequate time for preparation and publicity.

And anyway, the event was held for the public good and the results will be at least better than nothing. We cannot just write it off for not being as successful as we hoped, and there are still things to praise. The tickets may have been expensive, but at least one half were given away free. The performers all gave voice to the environmental theme of the night, with some of them even choosing songs accordingly and mentioning green ideals in their introductions. Power saving tips such as using energy-saving bulbs, taking public transport and adjusting air-conditioning settings were broadcast, along with inventive short films on issues such as saving water. Bins set up to collect disposable plastic raincoats – always essential in Shanghai’s rainy season - were provided and used. The discarded light sticks normally seen after a concert were also absent, with most spectators adding to the atmosphere with waves and cheers.

Most noteworthy is that most attendees were university students or white collar workers in their twenties and thirties. That, at least, is a positive sign – the younger generation is becoming environmentally aware. These are the people who are becoming China’s driving force, and their participation gives us hope for China’s environmental movement.

So there is cause to be optimistic about the future. I once joked with a friend that only optimists can be environmentalists, as they have to believe the current situation can be improved and be willing to work towards that. And if we take an optimist’s view, the unimpressive concert in Shanghai is no bad thing – it tells us that there is still much to be done to make the people of this country aware of their environment, and that this is the time to start doing so.

Li Siqi, China Dialogue Editorial Assistant

Liu Liyuan, Wenhui Bao trainee reporter

Forces of nature

Siqi Li — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:12:00 +0000

Wind power is clean, efficient and ideally suited to China’s conditions. Change is in the air, writes Li Siqi.

When Don Quixote charged at windmills atop his horse, he could never have imagined that several centuries later the target of his sword would be providing modern industrial societies with light and power.

The turbine blades turn in the wind, and electricity for domestic and industrial use flows from a generator at the base of the tower. Cooling off in a summer’s evening breeze, we might never realise the vast power the wind can supply us. However, estimates put the total amount of wind power available worldwide at 130 billion kilowatts (or 130 terawatts). And what does that really mean? Well, the US has less than 1 billion kilowatts of power-generating capacity; so in other words, less than 1% of the world’s available wind power could supply all of the electricity needs for the world’s largest economy.

When compared to burning fossil fuels, which emits huge quantities of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and even if compared to hydroelectric power, wind power is the genuinely environmental option. Wind power emits no carbon dioxide or other harmful gases, and has virtually no impact on the environment. It is a boon for a planet increasingly worried about environmental degradation and the greenhouse effect.

One kilowatt-hour of electricity generated from wind power can save up to 600 grams of carbon dioxide – the major trigger of global warming – as well as three grams of sulphur dioxide and two grams of nitrogen oxides (the causes of acid rain). In theory, if all our electricity came from wind power, emissions of greenhouse gases would drop by 60%. And the countries which have already adopted wind power more widely are feeling the benefits. Northern Europe is in an ideal position to exploit wind power, and Denmark has the highest wind generating capacity per head of any country, with Germany leading the world in overall wind power use. Europe is already proving itself a world leader in the use of wind power: in 2005, this alternative resource allowed the continent to avoid the release of 28 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, 94,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide and 78,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxides. Danish firm BTM estimates that if 10% of our electricity came from wind power by 2025, emissions of carbon dioxide could be reduced by 1.4 billion tonnes.

China is of course known for its vast size, and has an unparalleled opportunity to harness wind power. The country has a theoretical onshore wind power generating capacity of 3.2 billion kilowatts, say the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, more than any other country – although only around 250 million kilowatts of this could be readily exploited. Add to this the potential for offshore wind generation, and the total comes to 1 billion kilowatts. China would only need 60% of that figure to meet all its electricity needs.

Not only is there rich potential for developing wind power, but also this potential is widely spread across the country, with prime spots along the east coast and its islands, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Inner Mongolia, China’s northwest and northeast. The provinces of Gansu, Shandong, Anhui and northern Jiangsu could also have this potential.

As in Europe, the benefits will be easily apparent. For example, wind farms in Inner Mongolia’s Huitengxile and Zhangbei in Hebei province will soon provide 5% of Beijing’s electricity, saving 1 million tonnes of coal and reducing emissions of carbon dioxide by 3 million tons, sulphur dioxide by 25,000 tonnes and smoke and dust by 30,000 tonnes.

Although the widespread use of wind power has so far been held back by high costs, growing environmental concerns and increasing technological improvement has meant these costs have fallen significantly. Preferential policies and tax breaks have helped too, and wind power is now able to compete with traditional sources of energy in a number of countries, which has in turn stimulated the growth of the industry over the past few years. At the end of 2006, 75 million kilowatts of wind power generating capacity were in place worldwide, two-thirds of it in Europe.

China has made good progress in its own application of wind power, but there remains a huge potential for expansion. The total annual capacity of China’s current wind turbines could still not power Beijing for a month. But the US, coming late in the game, has recently leapt into second place in the world in terms of total installed capacity. China has only 40 wind farms, with 1,500 turbines and 2.6 million kilowatts of power-generating capacity, less than a half of neighbouring India, putting the country sixth worldwide.

A combination of federal policy support and state tax breaks slashed the costs of wind power and stimulated its growth in the US, and China’s own policy-makers are starting to adopt the same measures. China’s Renewable Energy Law was promulgated in 2005 to boost the renewable power industry. Wind power receives state support, with preferential policies including tax breaks and assistance in connecting to the national grid; this has lead to an exponential growth in the industry. An extra 1.34 million kilowatts of generating capacity was installed in 2006, accounting for 8.9% of global growth and an increase of 165.83% on the previous year. If that rate of growth can be maintained, China will have 20.24 million kilowatts of wind power by 2010, and 225 million by 2020. That would mean 10% of China’s power coming from wind, and a 450 million tonnes reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, a sulphur dioxide reduction of 2.25 million tons and a cut in nitrogen oxides emissions of 1.35 million tones. And China would enjoy bluer skies.

Global wind power generating capacity is increasing by 25% a year, and an increasing number of nations are developing this clean source of energy. But so far we have only made tiny use of this incredible resource. Estimates show that if China and Europe made use of all available wind power along their coasts, they could meet all their energy needs. This is only the beginning.

Li Siqi is editorial assistant for chinadialogue’s Beijing office