Market Based Environmentalism

China one of the most polluted countries in the world is about to embark on a new path
that addresses at least some of the complaints raised by environmentalists.
The Chinese Ministry of Finance has revealed a whole slew of initiatives that are to go into effect on April1, 2006. The method chosen by the Chinese in this case is the straight forward simple strategy that personal behaviour is essentially influenced by market incentives. As a result China will attempt to mitigate environmental damage and protect the environment by increasing taxes in some cases and imposing new ones in others.

In order to dissuade use of wood products a 5% tax will be imposed on the use of disposable chopsticks and wood floor panels. This must mean that disposable plastic chopsticks are more environmentally friendly. I did not know that.

Another measure will impose a tax on golf balls and golfing equipment. The Yangtze river will sure become less polluted as a result of making a round of golf more expensive.
And we must not forget that yachts and luxury watches are also to be subjected to higher taxes. I am sure that as a result of these measures Chinese demand for energy will be reduced substantially. It takes a lot of energy to keep a Swiss time piece going.

But then there are a few more sensible measures. One such measure will increase the tax on petrol and another one will impose a 20a5 tax on larger high polluting engines. But even in this case we have to ask whether the owner of a $100,000 car is going to change his/her behaviour because the operating cost of the vehicle have jumped by say $1000.00 a year.

Renewable Oil!!!

We have all become accustomed to all the talk about the energy crisis the world over. Prices of oil have more than doubled in just over a year , there are many theories that dependence on oil is ecologically damaging, hybrid cars have become the new badge of environmental awareness, wind farms for the production of electricity are spouting up all over the globe, solar collectors are being incorporated into new commercial buildings as well as residential ones, tar sands have made the Canadian province of Alberta into a global boom area, shale, nuclear and coal are expecting to experience substantial growth and the Thermal Depolymerization Process has plans to go global.

What’s TDP? It is a process that is too good to be true but all indications so far say that the process can deliver on the hype. Very simply it is a process that mimics nature by transforming hydrocarbons in any product into oil without having to wait the millions of years. Mix the hydrocarbon based waste with water and soil. Heat the mixture under very high pressure and presto waste becomes oil. The experimental plant in Missouri uses as its feed stock pig feet and Turkey innards from a Butterball Turkey plant. Production has been going on for almost three years and the plant has attained the scale whereby it is expected to become profitable later on this year.

This process can solve three major problems: (1) Get rid of waste, any waste.
(2) Produce clean oil
(3)Reduce Global Warming

The first two are obvious but why should it reduce global warming? If the process becomes very widely spread then the oil it produces will not be adding new carbon to the atmosphere since it will in essence be reusing the carbon that is already above the earths surface. It will make oil a renewable commodity.

Does this sound as if it is a phantasy? I think that it is but then I have been wrong before.