Environment China Beijing Energy Network

In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we are speaking again with Dr Liu Xiao about marine waste and the broader topic of waste and recycling in general. We talk with Dr Liu about a typical day at work on her projects at GIZ.
Dr Liu is Project Manager at GIZ of the Rethinking Plastic-Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter (China), Integrated Waste Management NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) Project, and Textile Compass Project. She is also a member of Recycling and Waste Minimisation Committee of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). She has more than 15 years’ experience on municipal solid waste (MSW) management and sustainable development especially on policy research and technology consulting. Her research is mainly about integrated waste management and low carbon transition, plastic waste management and pollution control, with a special focus on sustainable business model establishment in the waste sector.
我们一生中有将近三分之一的时间都在工作中度过，所以我们要的不仅仅只是一份工作，而是一个与我们的目标、优势和价值观相一致的职业。2022年我们发起了“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”圆桌并邀请了来自环境、能源和可持续发展领域的小伙伴们分享他们的工作机构和内容、职业发展规划及在工作上遇到的挑战。在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以“环境能源可持续圈打工人”系列播客诞生了！
在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了刘晓博士——刘晓是德国国际合作机构（GIZ）的项目执行主任，她主要负责城市生活垃圾综合管理、循环经济与海洋垃圾、和纺织行业绿色转型这三个项目。她在城市生活垃圾管理领域有15年的政策及技术咨询经验，并关注废弃物管理及可持续商业模式的建立。我们在播客中将探讨刘晓早期的学业和工作背景、加入德国国际合作机构的契机、在德国国际合作机构工作的一天等。
Episode producer: Joyce Yuan
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In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we are talking about the evolution and underpinnings of China's climate diplomacy. Our guest is Taylah Bland, Schwarzman Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. She specializes in China’s domestic climate politics and international environmental law. She is a graduate of New York University, Shanghai and Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar.
In this episode we cover:
China's tendency to boost domestic policy first, before making climate commitments. China's signing on to climate agreements in the early phases, such as the Kyoto Protocol and Clean Development Mechanism The importance of China's domestic policy leading up to its Paris commitment Whether China's climate diplomacy commitments lag domestic trends so much, such as on renewables, that they are more for splashy announcements and soft power What further domestic policy steps are needed before China can enhance its ambitions for the next round of climate talks Further reading:
Taylah Bland, "Key Factors Shaping China’s Engagement With International Environmental Law," Asia Society Policy Institute, April 2023, at https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/key-factors-shaping-chinas-engagement-international-environmental-law. 
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Episode produced by: Anders Hove

Today's episode looks at the topic of electric vehicles and their impact on both carbon emissions and urban air quality. China has the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, and it is the largest maker of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles manufactured worldwide. Hence, the environmental impact of EVs, even outside of China, often goes back upstream to China.
Our guest is Zhang Shaojun, Associate Professor at the Tsinghua University School of the Environment. His research examines the environmental impacts of emissions from road transportation systems on air quality, climate and public health. Before joining Tsinghua University, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at University of Michigan and Atkinson Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Cornell University. 
Shaojun and his colleagues have published two important papers on these topics this year. The first, in the journal PNAS Nexus, looks at the upstream greenhouse gas emissions from battery manufacturing as well as a regional breakdown of power sector emissions from EV charging. The second paper, in Environmental Pollution, looks at the impact of EVs on air quality, employing Tsinghua's CMAQ model to look at how EVs affect ozone and PM2.5, in particular considering the seasonal effects on air chemistry, which relates to the formation of secondary pollution. (Primary emissions refer to pollutants directly emitted from vehicles or power plants, whereas secondary pollutants are formed in the atmosphere through mixing of chemical precursors.)
For further reading:
Fang Wang, Shaojun Zhang, Yinan Zhao, Yunxiao Ma, Yichen Zhang, Anders Hove, and Ye Wu, “Multisectoral drivers of decarbonizing battery electric vehicles in China,” PNAS Nexus, Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2023, https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/5/pgad123/7159885.
Yiliang Jiang, Xinyu Liang, Shaojun Zhang, Zechun Hu, Anders Hove, and Ye Wu, “The future air quality impact of electric vehicle promotion and coordinated charging in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region,” Environ Pollut., 1 September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121928.
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Episode Executive Producer: Anders Hove

Today's podcast looks at the topic of sustainable forestry and the role of China, particularly at the role of Chinese banks. Our guest is Beibei Yin, who researches the intersection of China’s policies on forestry practices abroad and policies on green finance. Two years ago she founded her own consultancy called Bambu Consulting. Previously, she served for many years as Senior Policy Advisor at Global Witness based in London, where she researched topics such as addressing financing from China that leads to deforestation in Southeast Asia, stopping illegal timber trade, and the role of global supply chains in addressing deforestation and illegal timber. She previously joined the podcast in May 2018 to talk about her research following the 9000-mile path of illegal timber from Papua New Guinea to markets. 
For further reading:
Beibei Yin, "China’s new green finance guidelines have a deforestation blind spot," 1 August 2022, at https://chinadialogue.net/en/business/chinas-new-green-finance-guidelines-have-a-deforestation-blind-spot/. 
Beibei Yin, "Who is Who No. 3 - Chinese Commercial Banks: an NGO Guide," Urgewald, January 2023, at https://www.urgewald.org/sites/default/files/media-files/WhoIsWho-No3-ChineseCommercialBanks.pdf. 
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Episode Executive Producer: Anders Hove

Last week, China came out with a dramatic new policy on green certificates, radically reforming what had been a sleepy aspect of the clean energy transition in China. We don't usually do breaking news here on Environment China, but it happens that our co-producer, Anders Hove, has just published a paper on the topic as well as a short reaction article to the new policy. (Links below.)
The new green certificate policy, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, and National Energy Administration, expands China's domestic renewable energy certificate scheme from onshore wind and solar to all types of renewables. The expansion means that all renewable projects will now be able to generate Green Electricity Certificates, or GECs, though only some will be traded. The policy reforms how GECs are priced and it also bans domestic generators from selling international renewable energy certificates to prevent double counting. 
Further reading:
Anders Hove and Gary Sipeng Xie, "Green certificates with Chinese characteristics: Will green certificates help China’s
clean energy transition?" Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, 8 August 2023, at https://a9w7k6q9.stackpathcdn.com/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CE9-Green-certificates-with-Chinese-characteristics.pdf.
Anders Hove, "After China's new green certificate policy, major questions remain," Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (LinkedIn article), 11 August 2023, at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/after-chinas-new-green-certificate%3FtrackingId=ZOupiyoVR1GeYGktG%252BCJjw%253D%253D/?trackingId=ZOupiyoVR1GeYGktG%2BCJjw%3D%3D. 

In this latest installment in our Young Professionals in Sustainability series, we talk with Minjie LU, Energy Advisory Consultant at S&P Global Commodity Insights consulting group. He has six years of experience in the energy industry. His technical expertise includes oil and gas field development, project economics, and investment valuation. Prior to joining S&P, Minjie was a reservoir engineer at Totalenergies' Geoscience Centre in Scotland. He holds an MSc in petroleum engineering from Imperial College London and an ME in structural engineering and a BSc in engineering science from University College Dublin.
 
In this episode we'll explore: 
His academic and work background Career change: research-oriented work to consulting S&P Global Commodity Insightsw's energy upstream research business A Day in the Life of an Energy Advisory Consultant Interesting energy consulting projects Recent major industry events and changes in the energy market
 


 
2022年我们萌生了一个想法：为什么不把北京能源网络的职场青年人聚起来，做一系列“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”的圆桌，一起来聊一聊环境和能源圈独特又好玩的工作经历，探一探大家所在行业的新鲜事呢？在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以“环境能源可持续圈打工人”系列播客诞生了！
在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了陆旻杰——旻杰是标普全球的大宗商品能源咨询师，他在能源上游、油气田勘探开发、项目评估等领域有超过6年的经验。在加入标普前，他在道达尔能源苏格兰科研中心任职。旻杰在英国帝国理工学院获得石油工程的硕士学位，在爱尔兰都柏林大学获得土木与环境工程的硕士和学士学位。请下滑查看播客文字版记录。
1. 旻杰最初是怎么对环境能源领域的学习和工作感兴趣的？可以和我们具体分享一下你在英国和爱尔兰的学业和工作背景吗？
我一直比较喜欢理科类的学科，所以本科就选择了在爱尔兰都柏林大学就读土木与环境工程专业。那段时间爱尔兰正在大力发展海上和陆上风电，所以在学习中我也接触到了很多能源相关的话题。同时，那段时间也是美国“页岩油气”发展的高峰，凭借“页岩油气革命”，美国从全球“第一大能源进口国”变成了“能源出口国”。“非常规油气”的开发也成为了一个全球热议的话题，其中，「水力压裂」对环境的影响也是我们专业学习的一个重要部分，我也开始研究更多关于能源开采的内容。

之后我在英国帝国理工大学就读了石油工程研究生课程。其实在更多深入学习了这个专业之后，我曾经对于石油天然气的刻板印象也发生了改变，当然，或许现在仍然有很多人对于石油天然气这些传统的化石能源持有着很大的反对意见，但我认为在人类能源需求不断攀升的情景下，如何合理的使用石油天然气作为一个“过渡能源”，来帮助人们从高污染高排放的煤炭能源消耗过渡到新能源，是一个相当重要的话题。
毕业后， 我加入了法国道达尔能源在苏格兰的研发中心，主要负责油气工程建模的研究工作，这也让我对国际大型油气公司的运营模式和企业战略有了更多的了解。
2. 旻杰刚刚提到「水力压裂技术」对环境的影响，知乎上有一个帖子名字叫做“你所不知道的水力压裂技术（知识量巨大、烧脑、慎入！）”，你可以用最简单的语言和我们科普一下这个技术，以及它对环境的影响吗？
简单来说，“水力压裂法”指的是在页岩层注入高压的液体，使页岩层产生裂缝，好让我们获得油气