According to industry news service Point Carbon, PetroChina has hired Garth Edward, an ex-Citigroup trader, to head a new UK-based emissions trading desk.
It's noteworthy that PetroChina is entering the market at a time when the future of the Kyoto Protocol, which provides the international framework for trading carbon credits, is in doubt.
Europe has the most vibrant carbon market, with many of the credits originating from investments in projects in China and India under the U.N. Clean Development Mechanism. CDMs have come under fire for helping fund projects that critics say shouldn't have qualified for international subsidies.
Still, there are plenty of reasons for PetroChina to move into trading carbon. China is the world's biggest energy producer and the world's biggest source of carbon emissions. PetroChina, meanwhile, is China's biggest oil producer.
Analysts predict that some form of carbon trading will still exist after Kyoto expires in 2012 - and there's talk of China setting up a domestic carbon market. 'Carbon markets will continue in Europe, emerge in Asia (Japan, Korea, maybe China later) even in the absence of a follower to Kyoto, which if it comes, will be weak,' Emmanuel Fages, head of power, gas and carbon coal research at Orbeo, the carbon trading arm of Societe Generale SA and Rhodia SA, wrote in an email to China Real Time. 'Dynamics will be much more regional and bilateral now.'
Even the much maligned CDMs will continue, Fages says, though the investments will be in 'small scale, more expensive renewable energy projects, organic methane capture or energy efficiency, dominantly based in poorer countries.' China, which has been so successful up till now, 'probably will not be able to keep on the same recipe post-2012.'
PetroChina has already shown a commitment to carbon trading. It was one of the first companies to invest in setting up one of the domestic carbon exchanges, even though there was no legislation (such as domestic carbon caps) to support markets. The exchange has had a few modest trades.
There are signs that China is contemplating using carbon credits as a way to reach its goal of slowing the pace of carbon emissions. A promise to cut greenhouse gasses relative to economic output between 40% to 45% percent by 2020 from 2005 levels will likely be part of the country's next five-year plan.
Already, companies in energy intensive industries that emit a lot of greenhouse gasses are investing in technology to reduce their emissions. If a domestic market is established, some companies with greenhouse gas emissions below their allotment could sell their credit to someone else.
If that market actually materializes â ' and it's a big 'if' at this point -- PetroChina, which produces a lot of emissions from its refining and chemical businesses, will need to know how to trade.
2010年10月27日星期三
Men and women is no different way of thinking
There are days when the opposite sex seems so different, that you can almost believe they come from different planets。
Indeed, the theory that we are all hard-wired by our gender has proved so popular that a book on the subject, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, became an international best-seller。
Professor Gina Rippon, a leading neuroscientist, said that women's brain power is no different to men’s after all and we are actually incredibly similar when it comes to intellect, according to the Daily Mail of September 13.
Gina Rippon also said the idea that our brains are controlled by our gender is outdated and wrong,
She has even accused researchers of producing findings that can be used to support the old prejudice that women are not men's intellectual equals. "This is nonsense. There may be some very small differences between the genders but the similarities are far, far greater. Besides, there is increasing concern within the neuroscience community about the misinterpretation and abuse of our findings on the links between brain structure and behaviour," she said。
However, the professor from Aston University in Birmingham, argues that although today's researchers can observe the minute workings of the brain, they are still asking questions that appear to be inspired by old-fashioned male-female stereotypes。
Indeed, the theory that we are all hard-wired by our gender has proved so popular that a book on the subject, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, became an international best-seller。
Professor Gina Rippon, a leading neuroscientist, said that women's brain power is no different to men’s after all and we are actually incredibly similar when it comes to intellect, according to the Daily Mail of September 13.
Gina Rippon also said the idea that our brains are controlled by our gender is outdated and wrong,
She has even accused researchers of producing findings that can be used to support the old prejudice that women are not men's intellectual equals. "This is nonsense. There may be some very small differences between the genders but the similarities are far, far greater. Besides, there is increasing concern within the neuroscience community about the misinterpretation and abuse of our findings on the links between brain structure and behaviour," she said。
However, the professor from Aston University in Birmingham, argues that although today's researchers can observe the minute workings of the brain, they are still asking questions that appear to be inspired by old-fashioned male-female stereotypes。
2010年10月26日星期二
Like the legendary island that it is supposedly named for, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's massive new home
Antilia, seems to have a lot of myth and misinformation swirling around it.
The latest surge in interest in the 27-storey home that towers over Mumbai's toniest neighborhood, was triggered after a local report that India's richest man would at last be holding a house warming partyand puja on Oct. 28.
Papers and websites from Singapore to Scotland (and yes, a WSJ blog) used the report as a reason dig up all the old 'facts' on the vertical mansion, which looks at first glance like an unstable stack of books. Unfortunately, according to people familiar with the building and the party, many have been getting the details wrong.
The party isn't until Nov. 28, the home won't have 600 servants as has been frequently reported for years and the building isn't worth billions (though if you divided it into separate apartments, sold every square foot at the going rate and the rate was not affected by this hypothetical tsunami of new luxury spaces in that neighborhood, it might sell for that much). One report even suggested that the building may not actually be called Antilia.
On Nov. 28, the 200 or so friends and family members lucky enough to get the golden ticket to see inside Mr. Ambani's chocolate factory will be entertained by the billionaire and his wife as well as by tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, say people familiar with the party plans. It will be a cozy gathering as with 27 floors there will be less than eight people per floor. It's likely more people will get to see U.S. President Barack Obama in person during his visit to Mumbai next month, than get invited to see the inside of the Antilia (or whatever it is called).
And of course not all the reports are false. In addition to unimpeded views of the city and the Arabian Sea, the building has the helipads, home theater, gym, gardens and pool that every self-respecting billionaire requires.
While far from the frantic pace of construction and clean up in New Delhi ahead of the Commonwealth Games last month, construction crews seemed to be putting the finishing touches on the building this week.
One construction worker seemed to be counting the many western-facing windows of front of the building. On the southern side of the building they were putting up a movie-screen sized wall that will keep Mr. Ambani's neighbors from peeking into his yard.
The latest surge in interest in the 27-storey home that towers over Mumbai's toniest neighborhood, was triggered after a local report that India's richest man would at last be holding a house warming partyand puja on Oct. 28.
Papers and websites from Singapore to Scotland (and yes, a WSJ blog) used the report as a reason dig up all the old 'facts' on the vertical mansion, which looks at first glance like an unstable stack of books. Unfortunately, according to people familiar with the building and the party, many have been getting the details wrong.
The party isn't until Nov. 28, the home won't have 600 servants as has been frequently reported for years and the building isn't worth billions (though if you divided it into separate apartments, sold every square foot at the going rate and the rate was not affected by this hypothetical tsunami of new luxury spaces in that neighborhood, it might sell for that much). One report even suggested that the building may not actually be called Antilia.
On Nov. 28, the 200 or so friends and family members lucky enough to get the golden ticket to see inside Mr. Ambani's chocolate factory will be entertained by the billionaire and his wife as well as by tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, say people familiar with the party plans. It will be a cozy gathering as with 27 floors there will be less than eight people per floor. It's likely more people will get to see U.S. President Barack Obama in person during his visit to Mumbai next month, than get invited to see the inside of the Antilia (or whatever it is called).
And of course not all the reports are false. In addition to unimpeded views of the city and the Arabian Sea, the building has the helipads, home theater, gym, gardens and pool that every self-respecting billionaire requires.
While far from the frantic pace of construction and clean up in New Delhi ahead of the Commonwealth Games last month, construction crews seemed to be putting the finishing touches on the building this week.
One construction worker seemed to be counting the many western-facing windows of front of the building. On the southern side of the building they were putting up a movie-screen sized wall that will keep Mr. Ambani's neighbors from peeking into his yard.
2010年10月25日星期一
Daimler AG Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche disclosed a relatively measured outlook
Mr. Zetsche told an industry conference in Shanghai over the weekend that demand for all-electric cars and plug-in hybrids is most likely to total only about 1% to 5% of total vehicle demand globally by 2020.
It is a 'slow transition,' Mr. Zetsche told the forum at China Europe International Business School in Shanghai Saturday, citing the high cost and limited range of electric cars as factors hindering a more rapid spread of the technology.
Still, Mr. Zetsche said, the German auto maker plans 'to invest heavily' in the alternative-propulsion technology to prepare for the expected era when electric cars become a primary mode of transportation, especially in crowded cities.
Mr. Zetsche's outlook was relatively more pessimistic than that of early electric-car adapters such as Nissan Motor Co. of Japan. Nissan's CEO, Carlos Ghosn, has said demand for electric vehicles, such as its Leaf electric car, could amount to as much as 10% of global demand for cars and other light vehicles by 2020. Nissan plans to expand global production of the Leaf to as many as 500,000 vehicles a year by 2012.
Nontheless, Daimler's measured view is one shared by others who spoke at the Shanghai conference.
Franco Amadei, chairman of the China unit of Italy-based Fiat SpA, said electric cars aren't hype, and that it is only 'a question of time' before they become a popular mode of transportation.
But he added that internal-combustion engines are still likely to dominate the industry for the next 20 to 30 years, and he stressed the importance of improving gasoline engines' efficiency and making them smaller and more powerful.
Cost is especially a 'big challenge' facing the future of electric cars, said Carl-Peter Forster, CEO of Tata Motors Ltd. of India.
Daimler's Mr. Zetsche said, however, that even though demand for electric cars is likely to remain small, the German company is making a series of bets on the vehicles, most notably its decision this year to tie up with Chinese battery and auto maker BYD Co. That joint venture, Mr. Zetsche said, is progressing 'according to plan.' BYD and Daimler, which owns the Mercedes-Benz marque, are expected to invest 600 million yuan ($90 million) in the equally owned partnership.
The German auto maker's first project to develop an all-electric-battery car for the Chinese market -- part of a broader effort to develop a joint electric-car brand for the Chinese market -- is nearing so-called styling freeze, which refers to a stage in the car-development process where engineering and styling specifications are set firmly. Normally it takes about two years for an experienced global auto maker to complete the development process and launch the vehicle after the styling freeze.
Meanwhile, Tata's Mr. Forster said at the Shanghai forum that Jaguar Land Rover, a unit of the Indian vehicle maker, is in talks with a Chinese auto maker to establish a manufacturing and sales joint venture in China to boost the two-brand company's small presence in the country's fast-growing auto market, the world's biggest since last year.
The Tata executive said Jaguar Land Rover wants to find a partner in China 'as soon as possible' to manufacture and market vehicles here. He said the company is in 'good discussions' with a Chinese auto maker, but declined to name the potential partner.
Tata believes the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, which the company purchased from U.S.-based Ford Motor Co., have 'tremendous potential' around the world, he said. But 'let's be honest, they have been somewhat undermanaged' for some time, even though the brands are attractive, he said.
'We're not as strong as we should be [in many markets], most notably in China,' Mr. Forster added.
China's auto market, which expanded about 50% last year to overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest auto market, is likely to continue to grow in the medium term, albeit more slowly. Kevin Wale, head of operations in China for U.S.-based General Motors Co., said last week that China's domestic auto market could reach sales of more than 17 million vehicles this year and 19 million next year.
The sales forecasts that Mr. Wale offered Thursday in Shanghai are up sharply from the 13.7 million vehicles that auto makers sold in China last year. With China's booming economy raising personal incomes, the country's auto market will likely continue to offer a 'tremendous upside potential,' Mr. Wale told a group of reporters on Thursday evening.
He predicted that China is likely to retain its status as the world's largest auto market for the foreseeable future.
Mr. Zetsche said at the conference that automobile sales in China might reach 20 million to 30 million vehicles by 2020.
Meanwhile, the president of China's state-owned Changan Automobile Co. told the auto forum on Saturday that China's highly fragmented auto industry needs to be consolidated. The executive, Zhang Baolin, said about 160 auto makers produce cars in China.
It is a 'slow transition,' Mr. Zetsche told the forum at China Europe International Business School in Shanghai Saturday, citing the high cost and limited range of electric cars as factors hindering a more rapid spread of the technology.
Still, Mr. Zetsche said, the German auto maker plans 'to invest heavily' in the alternative-propulsion technology to prepare for the expected era when electric cars become a primary mode of transportation, especially in crowded cities.
Mr. Zetsche's outlook was relatively more pessimistic than that of early electric-car adapters such as Nissan Motor Co. of Japan. Nissan's CEO, Carlos Ghosn, has said demand for electric vehicles, such as its Leaf electric car, could amount to as much as 10% of global demand for cars and other light vehicles by 2020. Nissan plans to expand global production of the Leaf to as many as 500,000 vehicles a year by 2012.
Nontheless, Daimler's measured view is one shared by others who spoke at the Shanghai conference.
Franco Amadei, chairman of the China unit of Italy-based Fiat SpA, said electric cars aren't hype, and that it is only 'a question of time' before they become a popular mode of transportation.
But he added that internal-combustion engines are still likely to dominate the industry for the next 20 to 30 years, and he stressed the importance of improving gasoline engines' efficiency and making them smaller and more powerful.
Cost is especially a 'big challenge' facing the future of electric cars, said Carl-Peter Forster, CEO of Tata Motors Ltd. of India.
Daimler's Mr. Zetsche said, however, that even though demand for electric cars is likely to remain small, the German company is making a series of bets on the vehicles, most notably its decision this year to tie up with Chinese battery and auto maker BYD Co. That joint venture, Mr. Zetsche said, is progressing 'according to plan.' BYD and Daimler, which owns the Mercedes-Benz marque, are expected to invest 600 million yuan ($90 million) in the equally owned partnership.
The German auto maker's first project to develop an all-electric-battery car for the Chinese market -- part of a broader effort to develop a joint electric-car brand for the Chinese market -- is nearing so-called styling freeze, which refers to a stage in the car-development process where engineering and styling specifications are set firmly. Normally it takes about two years for an experienced global auto maker to complete the development process and launch the vehicle after the styling freeze.
Meanwhile, Tata's Mr. Forster said at the Shanghai forum that Jaguar Land Rover, a unit of the Indian vehicle maker, is in talks with a Chinese auto maker to establish a manufacturing and sales joint venture in China to boost the two-brand company's small presence in the country's fast-growing auto market, the world's biggest since last year.
The Tata executive said Jaguar Land Rover wants to find a partner in China 'as soon as possible' to manufacture and market vehicles here. He said the company is in 'good discussions' with a Chinese auto maker, but declined to name the potential partner.
Tata believes the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, which the company purchased from U.S.-based Ford Motor Co., have 'tremendous potential' around the world, he said. But 'let's be honest, they have been somewhat undermanaged' for some time, even though the brands are attractive, he said.
'We're not as strong as we should be [in many markets], most notably in China,' Mr. Forster added.
China's auto market, which expanded about 50% last year to overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest auto market, is likely to continue to grow in the medium term, albeit more slowly. Kevin Wale, head of operations in China for U.S.-based General Motors Co., said last week that China's domestic auto market could reach sales of more than 17 million vehicles this year and 19 million next year.
The sales forecasts that Mr. Wale offered Thursday in Shanghai are up sharply from the 13.7 million vehicles that auto makers sold in China last year. With China's booming economy raising personal incomes, the country's auto market will likely continue to offer a 'tremendous upside potential,' Mr. Wale told a group of reporters on Thursday evening.
He predicted that China is likely to retain its status as the world's largest auto market for the foreseeable future.
Mr. Zetsche said at the conference that automobile sales in China might reach 20 million to 30 million vehicles by 2020.
Meanwhile, the president of China's state-owned Changan Automobile Co. told the auto forum on Saturday that China's highly fragmented auto industry needs to be consolidated. The executive, Zhang Baolin, said about 160 auto makers produce cars in China.
2010年10月22日星期五
If you've ever wondered why dropped calls are so much rarer in China than in the U.S
China Mobile â ' the largest carrier in the world â ' serves 550 million users with 550,000 base stations, which cover 99% of China's population, according to Bill Huang, general manger of China Mobile Research Institute. In comparison, the largest U.S. carrier AT&T serves roughly 100 million users and has 200,000 base stations, covering 85% of the U.S. population, he said, suggesting that the Chinese carrier's broader coverage is what makes its signal strength reliable.
If Huang seemed satisfied with his company's performance in the present, however, he was concerned about the future. Giving an overview of the trends and challenges ahead for the sector, he warned that companies like China Mobile need to think about their businesses more broadly or risk becoming irrelevant. 'We are not in the communications business. We are in the information services business,' he said. 'If we do not make that leap of faith â ¦ we will wake up one day to see that people are not using our networks anymore.'
Huang highlighted Japan's Softbank as a case study for what's to come for the rest of the industry, saying that Softbank was the first carrier in the world to see data usage surpass traditional voice usage, adding that carriers will have to find a way to increase profits as data usage increases.
He didn't talk much about state-owned China Mobile's own third-generation mobile network, which operates a locally-developed standard called TD-SCDMA that hasn't been commercially successful outside of China.
Instead, the executive talked about China Mobile's deployment at the Shanghai Expo of a fourth-generation network that allowed news crews to broadcast live video from their cameras without satellites and vans full of equipment. With the rollout of fourth-generation networks around the world, he said, end-users will no longer have to worry about whether they can get mobile service when they're traveling abroad because carriers around the world are collaborating to determine future mobile technology standards.
Today, with many of the world's carriers using different technology standards for third-generation networks, cellphones that can be used with, say, China Mobile's TD-SCDMA network, cannot be used in the Japan, where a different standard is used.
Separately, Huang discussed smartphone platforms in his speech, touting China Mobile's move to embrace open platforms by launching its own OPhone operating system, based on Google's Android.
If Huang seemed satisfied with his company's performance in the present, however, he was concerned about the future. Giving an overview of the trends and challenges ahead for the sector, he warned that companies like China Mobile need to think about their businesses more broadly or risk becoming irrelevant. 'We are not in the communications business. We are in the information services business,' he said. 'If we do not make that leap of faith â ¦ we will wake up one day to see that people are not using our networks anymore.'
Huang highlighted Japan's Softbank as a case study for what's to come for the rest of the industry, saying that Softbank was the first carrier in the world to see data usage surpass traditional voice usage, adding that carriers will have to find a way to increase profits as data usage increases.
He didn't talk much about state-owned China Mobile's own third-generation mobile network, which operates a locally-developed standard called TD-SCDMA that hasn't been commercially successful outside of China.
Instead, the executive talked about China Mobile's deployment at the Shanghai Expo of a fourth-generation network that allowed news crews to broadcast live video from their cameras without satellites and vans full of equipment. With the rollout of fourth-generation networks around the world, he said, end-users will no longer have to worry about whether they can get mobile service when they're traveling abroad because carriers around the world are collaborating to determine future mobile technology standards.
Today, with many of the world's carriers using different technology standards for third-generation networks, cellphones that can be used with, say, China Mobile's TD-SCDMA network, cannot be used in the Japan, where a different standard is used.
Separately, Huang discussed smartphone platforms in his speech, touting China Mobile's move to embrace open platforms by launching its own OPhone operating system, based on Google's Android.
2010年10月21日星期四
Appearances can be deceiving in Japan-China relations
While diplomatic tensions continue to fester in the wake of the Senkaku islands spat, most businesses in each country continue to cozy up to each other in the hope of making a buck or two.
So it came as something of a surprise that tony department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. said Wednesday it has suspended plans to open a second store in Tianjin city in China as negotiations with its Chinese joint venture partner unraveled. But in the end the delay has nothing to do with the lingering diplomatic row, according to the department store operator.
Instead, the company decided back in late August to stop talks with a potential local partner after the two sides were unable to agree on various details of the store plan, according to Miho Okada, spokeswoman for Isetan Mitsukoshi. Ms. Okada declined to specify details of the discussions, but since the boat collision that sparked the current diplomatic tit-for-tat took place on September 7, that would clearly place Isetan's decision on Tianjin well outside spat territory, albeit the company may wish it had made the decision public sooner.
Still, the roadblock has not derailed the company's plans to eventually open a second store in Tianjin, said Ms. Okada. With department stores sales across Japan as sluggish as the economy, Isetan Mitsukoshi announced the expansion strategy in February, saying it planned to open the store by spring 2011. And Ms. Okada said the company, which currently operates four department stores in China, including Shanghai and Chengdu, is currently in discussion with multiple prospective Chinese partners for the new Tianjin store.
So it came as something of a surprise that tony department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. said Wednesday it has suspended plans to open a second store in Tianjin city in China as negotiations with its Chinese joint venture partner unraveled. But in the end the delay has nothing to do with the lingering diplomatic row, according to the department store operator.
Instead, the company decided back in late August to stop talks with a potential local partner after the two sides were unable to agree on various details of the store plan, according to Miho Okada, spokeswoman for Isetan Mitsukoshi. Ms. Okada declined to specify details of the discussions, but since the boat collision that sparked the current diplomatic tit-for-tat took place on September 7, that would clearly place Isetan's decision on Tianjin well outside spat territory, albeit the company may wish it had made the decision public sooner.
Still, the roadblock has not derailed the company's plans to eventually open a second store in Tianjin, said Ms. Okada. With department stores sales across Japan as sluggish as the economy, Isetan Mitsukoshi announced the expansion strategy in February, saying it planned to open the store by spring 2011. And Ms. Okada said the company, which currently operates four department stores in China, including Shanghai and Chengdu, is currently in discussion with multiple prospective Chinese partners for the new Tianjin store.
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