carbon atlas

the guardian has taken the latest Energy Information Administration figures (covering 2006) and put them in a nifty carbon atlas (a very cool graphic).

a brief explanation of the figures is given by duncan clark. the bottom line: global co2 emissions went up by 2.4 per cent in 2006, to 29,195m tonnes. china overtook the united states as the top emitter, producing 6018m tonnes. it's per capita production is only 4.6, while the united states' is 19.8.

hong kong is ranked 43, producing 85m tonnes, with 12.1 per capita. that's pretty high..

let's go biking

paris apparently has this cool bike rental scheme going on, velib. you can pick up a bike anywhere, ride the first 30 mins for free, and then drop it off again wherever you please.

in one of my classes last term, while discussing the montreal protocol and other fascinating stuff, someone brought up using bikes as an alternative to cars.. a canadian classmate mentioned how there were schemes in place to encourage canadians to bike more. my chinese professor said the opposite seemed to be true in china; where once the majority of people used bikes, this was becoming harder to do in many areas, with bike lanes closing and fewer places to park your bike. i am not sure of the reasons for this, but you would think china would want to continue its biking tradition..

i like this biking idea. even in a city like hk, i know several people who use their bikes as alternative modes of transportation. its good exercise, cheap and environmentally friendly; what more could you want?! i'm renewing my resolution to become a better biker..