Vaclav Smil shows why energy transitions are inherently complex and prolonged affairs, and how ignoring this raises unrealistic expectations that the United States and other global economies can be weaned quickly from a primary dependency on fossil fuels.
Though a desirable environmental prospect, many wonder if zero waste is a realistic goal or merely a pipe dream. Starting from an analysis of the laws of thermodynamics, this article argues that it is an impossible ideal; however, along with the principles of the circular economy and reform of modern economic systems, the idea of zero waste can provide valuable insights into how we can establish a future ecological civilization.
This film follows a seventeen-year-old Chinese girl who leaves home in order to work in a Chinese jeans factory.
Looks at the relations between “man and the land” through the lens of part-time farming in Italy and China.
Beginning in 1980, economic development and industrialization in Chongqing, China, has caused the energy production and consumption of coal products to rapidly increase. At the same time, pollution was on the rise.
State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World examines the policy changes needed to combat climate change and explores the economic benefits that could flow from the transition.
State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future examines changes in the ways cities are managed, built, and lived in that could tip the balance towards a healthier and more peaceful urban future.
State of the World 2006 provides a special focus on China and India and their impact on the world as major consumers of resources and polluters of local and global ecosystems.
In The River Runs Black, Elizabeth C. Economy examines China’s growing environmental crisis and its implications for the country’s future development.
A cross-cultural dialogue on the cultural and environmental history of mountains in China.
