Monday, June 16, 2008
Singapore holds "water week" China-focused business conference.
http://en.acnnewswire.com/Article.Asp?Art_ID=397&lang=EN
Singapore International Water Week Opens Gateway to China market; Business Forum and Country Pavilion Help Firms Discover New Opportunities in China
SIWW
Singapore, June 16, 2008 - (ACN Newswire) - Water industry players will get the inside track on China's fast-growing water market at this month's Singapore International Water Week, a global platform for water solutions.
China is the focus of one of the seven regional business forums being held on 25 and 26 June 2008. These exclusive networking sessions will introduce participants to senior government officials and potential business partners in China, India, Japan, South-east Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East.
The sessions are an example of the high-level exchanges and business networking that will take place during Singapore International Water Week (23 to 27 June 2008), an annual water summit, scientific conference and trade show attended by representatives from governments, utilities, businesses and academia.
The China Business Forum will involve leaders from the Ministry of Water Resources. As key decision-makers in China's water policy, governance and major national projects, they will be sharing on the water policy framework, development trends and opportunities. Municipal authorities, enterprises, industry associations, will also be on hand to discuss their regions' water needs and profile their water projects and business opportunities.
"The forum will be the next best thing to being in China itself," said Mr Michael Toh, General Manager of Singapore International Water Week. "Water companies will get an introduction to industry trends and the intricate workings of China's water sector, which will be especially valuable to newcomers with little knowledge of the market."
China's Trillion-yuan Water Market
In its 11th five-year plan, the Chinese government projected that the total investment in its water sector would amount to almost RMB1 trillion from 2006 to 2010. Of this, some RMB300 billion would be for investments in sewage and wáter reclamation projects, and RMB100 billion for rehabilitation of the water supply network and infrastructure. Projects to divert supplies to cities suffering water shortages will also attract large investments.
According to the Worldwatch Institute, China has only eight per cent of global freshwater resources but 22 per cent of the world’s population. Much of what it does have is concentrated in the south, with northern and western regions prone to severe drought.
Water and wastewater treatment capabilities are limited as well. Data from China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shows that as of the end of 2005, some 278 cities in China did not have sewage treatment plants, and eight of these had populations of more than half a million. More than half of China’s 1.3 billion people live without any form of sewage treatment, say city planning officials. The 11th five-year plan seeks to control water pollution by raising sewage treatment and water reclamation rates, especially in the arid cities of the north.
Singapore Companies Blazing a Trail in China
As China's water industry continues to grow, several Singapore water firms have made substantial inroads into the market.
Sembcorp, a leading utilities and marine group with extensive experience in industrial wastewater treatment, has been expanding their presence in China with the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone and Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park in Jiangsu Province. Last month it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zhangjiagang government to expand the scope of its operations beyond the free trade zone, develop a water technology centre and jointly organise an international water conference. Earlier this year, it also announced a joint venture to build, own and operate an industrial water recycling facility in Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone.
Sembcorp is also involved in the Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park, as well as projects in Shenyang and Tianjin.
"Our focus in China right now is to offer our expertise to meet the government and industries' needs in water and wastewater management. As our investments in Nanjing and Zhangjiagang have shown, our solutions, especially those in the treating of highly concentrated and complex industrial wastewater, have led to more effective management of wastewater. This has mitigated the impact on the environment," says Tang Kin Fei, Sembcorp’s Group President & CEO.
Another home-grown company, Hyflux, has established a strong presence in China since its entry in the 1990's, with coverage in the market in 26 provinces. To date, Hyflux has been awarded more than 35 projects covering wastewater treatment and water recycling across the nation, in Hebei, Jiangsu, Liaoning,, Shandong, and Tianjin provinces.
Hyflux is also building China's largest desalination plant in Tianjin. The S$155 m membrane –based desalination plant, with a capacity of 150,000m3 per day employs Hyflux's proprietary ultra-filtration technology.
On the industrial front, Hyflux has been active in the biotechnology, chemical, electronics, petrochemical and pharmaceutical sectors for more than 12 years, serving some 500 clients. It is also building regional used oil recycling centres in Beijing and Taizhou, and has two L-lactic acid manufacturing facilities in Huludao and Ningxia.
The Asia Infrastructure Project Development is a newly set-up consortium comprising three Singapore-based companies, United Engineers, Konzen and Crest Spring, as founding members. They work on Asian Development Bank-funded projects in China, including water projects in Kunming and Heilongjiang. This is part of an initiative by the ADB and International Enterprise Singapore, an agency under Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry, to promote cooperation and knowledge-sharing in urban infrastructure and water management.
Other Singapore companies in China include Dayen, which provides integrated systems for waste and water treatment for large-scale engineering projects, and is active in Liaoning; Ultraflo, which manufactures polymeric filtration membranes for integrated water and wastewater treatment solutions, and has a presence in Guangzhou; and Salcon, a water and environmental engineering specialist that operates in Tianjin, Jiangsu and Wujiang.
These commercial ventures are in tandem with a broader programme of cooperation between the governments of Singapore and China. Singapore's Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development signed a memorandum of understanding in July last year, agreeing to work jointly on urban environmental projects and the integrated use of urban water resources. Each country hosts regular visits for officials and industry players to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and assist companies in business ventures. PUB, Singapore's national water agency, has also shared its expertise and water management solutions with the Chinese government and businesses.
About: Singapore International Water Week
The Singapore International Water Week is the global platform for water solutions. It will bring policymakers, industry leaders, experts and practitioners together to address challenges, showcase technologies, discover opportunities and celebrate achievements in the water world.
Comprising the Water Leaders Summit, Water Convention, Water Expo and Water Festival, it culminates in the presentation of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, a prestigious international award to recognise outstanding contributions in solving global water issues. The inaugural Singapore International Water Week will be held from 23 to 27 June 2008. The theme is Sustainable Water Solutions for Cities. For more information, please visit www.siww.com.sg .
Contact:
Sally Toh, sally_toh@pub.gov.sg
Lim Hui Ling, Lim_Hui_Ling@pub.gov.sg
Adeline Goh, agoh@iconinternational.com.sg
Andrew Wong, awong@iconinternational.com.sg
Tel: +65 6220 2623
Monday, June 16, 2008 6:38:20 PM
From the Asia Corporate News Network
http://www.acnnewswire.net
Topic: Corporate Announcement
Sunday, June 15, 2008
China Water: June 15, 2008: Water Hyacinth in Huangpu river.
This story tells of an infestation of water hyacinth in the Huanpu river near Shanghai. The water hyacinth is a native of South America, not Asia, and spreads rapidly, too rapidly, causing much trouble to water systems not just in China, but also in Florida and elsewhere. Fast growing, non-indigenous plants can cause a lot of problems in water sources, sometimes by becoming entangled in systems, other time simply by growing at a rate where they take large amounts of water for their needs, thereby depriving not just humans but also native eco-systems of needed water.
Peter Huston
===
http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/metro/userobject1ai3655023.html
Weeds spread along Huangpu River 15/6/2008 10:51
Dong Hui/ Shanghai Daily news
A noxious infestation of water hyacinth has been discovered in the upper reaches of the Huangpu River, Shanghai Public Sanitation Bureau said on Friday, Shanghai Daily reported.
The water hyacinth has formed a 10-kilometer belt on the river, 10 to 40 meters wide, near the gateway of the river.
Officials from the bureau said the infestation may affect the waters but they will try their best to minimize the threat.
This year's water hyacinth seeds are smaller than before and easier to pass through traps and collection sieves. The water hyacinth infestation flowed into the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek from 158 tributaries.
Peter Huston
===
http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/metro/userobject1ai3655023.html
Weeds spread along Huangpu River 15/6/2008 10:51
Dong Hui/ Shanghai Daily news
A noxious infestation of water hyacinth has been discovered in the upper reaches of the Huangpu River, Shanghai Public Sanitation Bureau said on Friday, Shanghai Daily reported.
The water hyacinth has formed a 10-kilometer belt on the river, 10 to 40 meters wide, near the gateway of the river.
Officials from the bureau said the infestation may affect the waters but they will try their best to minimize the threat.
This year's water hyacinth seeds are smaller than before and easier to pass through traps and collection sieves. The water hyacinth infestation flowed into the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek from 158 tributaries.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
China Water: June 14, 2008: Chongqing water switches to reserve water supply..
Posted wtihout further comment.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080613/article_363070.htm
Water supply swapped after quake lake runoff
Source: Xinhua | 2008-6-13 | NEWSPAPER EDITION
A COUNTY seat with more than 100,000 residents has stopped drawing water from its original Fujiang River source with the arrival of the runoff from the main Tangjiashan "quake lake."
Tongliang County in Chongqing Municipality has resorted to two standby reservoirs. They contain more than 20 million cubic meters of water and can ensure supply for three months, said Zhao Wuqiang, a local government publicity official.
The runoff from Tangjiashan, laden with mud, sand and flotsam, arrived at the county at 11:30pm on Wednesday and raised the water level in the Fujiang River by 2 meters.
It proved difficult for the local water plant to purify but the pollution was not serious, Zhao added. He said Tongliang officials would keep a close eye on water quality and would resume drawing supplies if the river returned to its original state.
The Chongqing environmental protection bureau said the quake lake's outflow did not affect water quality in the Fujiang and Jialingjiang rivers. Water from the two rivers was still suitable for drinking as of 10am yesterday.
Suspended
Waterworks in Mianyang City suspended intakes from the Fujiang River on Tuesday night but resumed at 10pm on Wednesday.
The drained water flooded quake-ravaged Beichuan County, then safely passed Mianyang on the Fujiang River on Tuesday, and arrived at Tongnan County, in Chongqing Municipality, at 5:30pm on Wednesday.
The lake's outflow caused the flooding of a few farms and houses on the river bank in nine towns downstream. However, the combined flooded area was limited because the runoff was under control.
A total of 330 hectares of farmland and 499 houses in six towns in Jiangyou City were flooded. Figures for the other three towns were not immediately available. Epidemic prevention personnel yesterday began sanitizing the flooded areas. Local residents whose houses were flooded were told not to return.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080613/article_363070.htm
Water supply swapped after quake lake runoff
Source: Xinhua | 2008-6-13 | NEWSPAPER EDITION
A COUNTY seat with more than 100,000 residents has stopped drawing water from its original Fujiang River source with the arrival of the runoff from the main Tangjiashan "quake lake."
Tongliang County in Chongqing Municipality has resorted to two standby reservoirs. They contain more than 20 million cubic meters of water and can ensure supply for three months, said Zhao Wuqiang, a local government publicity official.
The runoff from Tangjiashan, laden with mud, sand and flotsam, arrived at the county at 11:30pm on Wednesday and raised the water level in the Fujiang River by 2 meters.
It proved difficult for the local water plant to purify but the pollution was not serious, Zhao added. He said Tongliang officials would keep a close eye on water quality and would resume drawing supplies if the river returned to its original state.
The Chongqing environmental protection bureau said the quake lake's outflow did not affect water quality in the Fujiang and Jialingjiang rivers. Water from the two rivers was still suitable for drinking as of 10am yesterday.
Suspended
Waterworks in Mianyang City suspended intakes from the Fujiang River on Tuesday night but resumed at 10pm on Wednesday.
The drained water flooded quake-ravaged Beichuan County, then safely passed Mianyang on the Fujiang River on Tuesday, and arrived at Tongnan County, in Chongqing Municipality, at 5:30pm on Wednesday.
The lake's outflow caused the flooding of a few farms and houses on the river bank in nine towns downstream. However, the combined flooded area was limited because the runoff was under control.
A total of 330 hectares of farmland and 499 houses in six towns in Jiangyou City were flooded. Figures for the other three towns were not immediately available. Epidemic prevention personnel yesterday began sanitizing the flooded areas. Local residents whose houses were flooded were told not to return.
China Water: June 14, 2008: Shanghai talks to factories about pollution.
The question of pollution legislation in China, in my humble opinion, is really one of enforcement. Laws in China and much of Asia are not enforced with the same attempt at uniformity that we in the west expect to see. (When watching police in Asia, one sometimes gets the impression that, by Western standards, they either under-reat or over-react.)
Here we see, as fits this alleged pattern, the Shanghai authorities discuss pollution standards with factories in Shanghai.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080614/article_363173.htm
Factories told to clean up act
By Dong Hui | 2008-6-14 | NEWSPAPER EDITION
THE city's top advisers are pushing suburban factories to improve their environmental standards to ease tension with nearby residents - some of whom live just 4 meters away.
The move came after members of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference kicked off a three-day inspection on the city's polluting factories yesterday.
The city government has received 1,320 letters and calls from suburban residents complaining of severe environmental pollution from surrounding factories.
Many factories relocated their production lines to suburban districts such as Baoshan, Minhang and Jiading years ago.
One business, Shanghai COSCO Kawasaki Heavy Industries Steel Structure Co Ltd, a China-Japan steel manufacturer, has been the subject of numerous complaints over the past three years.
Residents said that noise from the factories was too loud at night, with some factory walls standing only 4 meters from residential complexes.
The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau previously ran environmental evaluations on site, ruling that the distance from homes should be at least 40 meters.
However, the rule was not effectively implemented.
Shen Jianhua, a committee member, advised factories to establish closed plants or reduce the noise.
The suggestion was echoed by officials with the Baoshan District Environmental Protection Bureau.
"We'll urge enterprises to adjust more production schedules to daytime, and move some noisy and dusty operations to places far from residential complexes," said the official, who refused to be named.
Other complaints cover Sheshan Industry Park in Songjiang District, where Shanghai Taideli Drink Co Ltd and Shanghai Jingtou Chemical Co Ltd are accused of emitting waste water in a nearby river.
Here we see, as fits this alleged pattern, the Shanghai authorities discuss pollution standards with factories in Shanghai.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080614/article_363173.htm
Factories told to clean up act
By Dong Hui | 2008-6-14 | NEWSPAPER EDITION
THE city's top advisers are pushing suburban factories to improve their environmental standards to ease tension with nearby residents - some of whom live just 4 meters away.
The move came after members of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference kicked off a three-day inspection on the city's polluting factories yesterday.
The city government has received 1,320 letters and calls from suburban residents complaining of severe environmental pollution from surrounding factories.
Many factories relocated their production lines to suburban districts such as Baoshan, Minhang and Jiading years ago.
One business, Shanghai COSCO Kawasaki Heavy Industries Steel Structure Co Ltd, a China-Japan steel manufacturer, has been the subject of numerous complaints over the past three years.
Residents said that noise from the factories was too loud at night, with some factory walls standing only 4 meters from residential complexes.
The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau previously ran environmental evaluations on site, ruling that the distance from homes should be at least 40 meters.
However, the rule was not effectively implemented.
Shen Jianhua, a committee member, advised factories to establish closed plants or reduce the noise.
The suggestion was echoed by officials with the Baoshan District Environmental Protection Bureau.
"We'll urge enterprises to adjust more production schedules to daytime, and move some noisy and dusty operations to places far from residential complexes," said the official, who refused to be named.
Other complaints cover Sheshan Industry Park in Songjiang District, where Shanghai Taideli Drink Co Ltd and Shanghai Jingtou Chemical Co Ltd are accused of emitting waste water in a nearby river.
China Water: June 14, 2008: Cloud seeding and rainmaking in China.
Almost two years old, but quite informative and very interesting.
It's well wroth checking the links to see the photos.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-29-china-rain_x.htm
China rolls out the big guns, aiming for a dry Olympics
Updated 6/29/2006 9:04 PM ET
By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY
"I don't feel like God, says fruit farmer Yu Yonggang. I'm just an ordinary worker." But he has a miraculous sideline, making rain with artillery shells and forming part of the world's largest rainmaking force.
HOW SCIENTISTS PRODUCE RAIN
China's state news agency, Xinhua, says government rainmakers flew 3,000 cloud seeding flights from 2000 to 2005 and triggered rainfalls that dumped 275 billion cubic yards. That's enough rain to fill the country's second-largest river, the Yellow River, four times over.
Test case
Gutian Reservoir in southeastern Fujian province has reported a 24% increase in rain during the past dozen years of testing.
How it works
Scientists at meteorological centers in major cities monitor clouds by satellite and analyze their content. When conditions are ripe, local rainmaking teams are ordered to assemble. Teams such as Yu Yonggang's outside Beijing can be at their guns in 10 minutes.
1.
Rainmaking from the ground: Shells are fired from anti-aircraft guns or rocket launchers. An alternative is to burn silver iodide on hilltops. Moisture in clouds collects around the chemical particles until it is heavy enough to fall.
2.
Rainmaking from the air: Aircraft spray the chemical from beneath their wings or fire chemical flares into clouds. Dry-ice pellets are also used. Planes are the most expensive method of rainmaking but can cover a wider area than ground-based artillery.
The arsenal
*
37,000 people, mostly part-timers in the countryside - farmers and former soldiers.
*
30 aircraft.
*
4,000 rocket launchers and more than 7,000 artillery pieces used to seed clouds with silver iodide.
*Sources: Xinhua, Beijing Weather Modification Office, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences
Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY
Madam Zhang Qiang wiith actual training shells. Shells like these are shot into clouds with anti-aircraft guns or rocket launchers to make rain.
By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY
FRAGRANT HILLS, China — When he's not tending cherry orchards outside Beijing, Yu Yonggang can be found behind the twin barrels of a 37mm anti-aircraft gun, blasting shells at passing clouds.
Yu is one of 37,000 peasants enlisted by the Chinese government to help produce rain in parched areas. The 45-year-old farmer works with China's other trigger-happy rain men to water the crops, break up damaging hailstorms and put out forest fires. After a sandstorm blew through the capital in May, he lobbed shells and rockets skyward to coax rains that washed sand and grit from city streets.
Now Yu and the other rainmakers face their toughest challenge: making sure it stays dry for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The idea is for the peasant gunners to work with meteorologists watching radar in the capital. Together, they will hunt pregnant rain clouds and pound them with rockets containing silver iodide. The hope is that any moisture will fall before the clouds can threaten the parade of athletes and lighting of the Olympic flame at the new National Stadium.
China's leaders want the Games to be a showcase for the country's astonishing economic development. The cloud-busting effort shows how far they will go to ensure that nothing interferes with the pageantry.
Yu, who wears a green military jacket and helmet in his gunner's seat, is already feeling pressure to perform. "The whole world will be watching the ceremony," he says. "We must guarantee its success."
In August, the Beijing Weather Modification Office will place the area's 20 firing sites on standby for a major test. In the Fragrant Hills west of Beijing, Yu and six others at the Man-Made Hail-Prevention and Rain-Increasing Work Station will be at the ready, manning four anti-aircraft batteries, which are army castoffs from the 1960s. Yu's wife will talk to Beijing by walkie-talkie, getting the all-clear from aviation authorities and relaying the firing order from the meteorologists. Yu says he hopes to dissipate any clouds completely, increasing the barrage and concentrating his fire if necessary.
Two summers from now, "if rain clouds are headed toward the Olympic stadium, we will intercept them," says Zhang Qiang, a "weather modifier" at the Beijing Meteorological Bureau who will issue the command. "But I can't guarantee the ceremony (will be dry). If there is a big rainstorm, I have no way to stop it."
The U.S. pioneered cloud-seeding in the 1940s and '50s, but the government has cooled on its effectiveness, leaving the field to specialist companies. In China, among the most water-poor nations, the state tries to squeeze every drop from above.
"China has the largest rainmaking (operation) in the world," ahead of Russia and Israel, says professor Wang Guanghe, a 20-year rainmaking veteran at China's Meteorological Sciences Academy. "Each province reports results to us of between 10% to 25%" additional rainfall.
The Chinese government rarely shirks nature's challenge. It recently completed the $25 billion Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, which was built despite the objections of environmentalists at home and abroad. Weather manipulation is an enthusiastic past-time for Beijing, possibly because so many of the country's Communist leaders are engineers.
The forecast calls for more rain. China's five-year plan urges an increase in man-made precipitation. Central planners want an additional 65 billion cubic yards a year — nearly enough to fill the Yellow River, the country's second-largest river.
China began cloud-busting in 1958. Now "it is increasing every year," says Wang, who cites the drought plaguing northern China as the main reason to fire rain-inducing shells or soar into the skies in cloud-seeding airplanes.
Any chemical fallout is negligible, Wang says. "We have found no evidence of pollution in the rain."
The need for rainwater has produced squabbles on the ground. Two years ago, five thirsty cities in Henan province accused each other of "cloud theft" for their efforts to trigger chemically induced showers.
Older generations of Chinese used to beat bells to pray for rain, Yu recalls. Today, he puts his faith in cigarette-sized sticks of chemicals loaded inside rockets and shells. "Every time we fire, it rains — lightly or heavily," says the farmer, who earns $125 a month during the May-to-September firing season. "At first, the other villagers didn't believe we could make it rain, but most accept it now."
In the Fragrant Hills, locals complain about noise from Yu's guns. He says he's had to fit the firing station with thicker glass because powerful shocks from his anti-aircraft barrages smashed windows.
Annual training programs and the use of licenses have curbed accidents among China's rainmakers, Wang says. Even so, a passerby in southwest Chongqing was killed by part of a rain cannon that flew off during firing in May.
Zhang, the Beijing meteorologist, says most farmers see the benefit of cloud-seeding and welcome chemically induced rains. Five years ago, a storm near the capital killed 139 ducks, crushing them with hailstones. Today, such incidents are rare, she says.
Rain won't be the only threat when the Olympics take place in 2008. Beijing's smog is as big a threat to China's image-makers as a few raindrops.
That's somebody else's problem, says weather guru Zhang: "I can't do anything about the air pollution."
Posted 6/29/2006 7:50 PM ET
It's well wroth checking the links to see the photos.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-29-china-rain_x.htm
China rolls out the big guns, aiming for a dry Olympics
Updated 6/29/2006 9:04 PM ET
By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY
"I don't feel like God, says fruit farmer Yu Yonggang. I'm just an ordinary worker." But he has a miraculous sideline, making rain with artillery shells and forming part of the world's largest rainmaking force.
HOW SCIENTISTS PRODUCE RAIN
China's state news agency, Xinhua, says government rainmakers flew 3,000 cloud seeding flights from 2000 to 2005 and triggered rainfalls that dumped 275 billion cubic yards. That's enough rain to fill the country's second-largest river, the Yellow River, four times over.
Test case
Gutian Reservoir in southeastern Fujian province has reported a 24% increase in rain during the past dozen years of testing.
How it works
Scientists at meteorological centers in major cities monitor clouds by satellite and analyze their content. When conditions are ripe, local rainmaking teams are ordered to assemble. Teams such as Yu Yonggang's outside Beijing can be at their guns in 10 minutes.
1.
Rainmaking from the ground: Shells are fired from anti-aircraft guns or rocket launchers. An alternative is to burn silver iodide on hilltops. Moisture in clouds collects around the chemical particles until it is heavy enough to fall.
2.
Rainmaking from the air: Aircraft spray the chemical from beneath their wings or fire chemical flares into clouds. Dry-ice pellets are also used. Planes are the most expensive method of rainmaking but can cover a wider area than ground-based artillery.
The arsenal
*
37,000 people, mostly part-timers in the countryside - farmers and former soldiers.
*
30 aircraft.
*
4,000 rocket launchers and more than 7,000 artillery pieces used to seed clouds with silver iodide.
*Sources: Xinhua, Beijing Weather Modification Office, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences
Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY
Madam Zhang Qiang wiith actual training shells. Shells like these are shot into clouds with anti-aircraft guns or rocket launchers to make rain.
By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY
FRAGRANT HILLS, China — When he's not tending cherry orchards outside Beijing, Yu Yonggang can be found behind the twin barrels of a 37mm anti-aircraft gun, blasting shells at passing clouds.
Yu is one of 37,000 peasants enlisted by the Chinese government to help produce rain in parched areas. The 45-year-old farmer works with China's other trigger-happy rain men to water the crops, break up damaging hailstorms and put out forest fires. After a sandstorm blew through the capital in May, he lobbed shells and rockets skyward to coax rains that washed sand and grit from city streets.
Now Yu and the other rainmakers face their toughest challenge: making sure it stays dry for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The idea is for the peasant gunners to work with meteorologists watching radar in the capital. Together, they will hunt pregnant rain clouds and pound them with rockets containing silver iodide. The hope is that any moisture will fall before the clouds can threaten the parade of athletes and lighting of the Olympic flame at the new National Stadium.
China's leaders want the Games to be a showcase for the country's astonishing economic development. The cloud-busting effort shows how far they will go to ensure that nothing interferes with the pageantry.
Yu, who wears a green military jacket and helmet in his gunner's seat, is already feeling pressure to perform. "The whole world will be watching the ceremony," he says. "We must guarantee its success."
In August, the Beijing Weather Modification Office will place the area's 20 firing sites on standby for a major test. In the Fragrant Hills west of Beijing, Yu and six others at the Man-Made Hail-Prevention and Rain-Increasing Work Station will be at the ready, manning four anti-aircraft batteries, which are army castoffs from the 1960s. Yu's wife will talk to Beijing by walkie-talkie, getting the all-clear from aviation authorities and relaying the firing order from the meteorologists. Yu says he hopes to dissipate any clouds completely, increasing the barrage and concentrating his fire if necessary.
Two summers from now, "if rain clouds are headed toward the Olympic stadium, we will intercept them," says Zhang Qiang, a "weather modifier" at the Beijing Meteorological Bureau who will issue the command. "But I can't guarantee the ceremony (will be dry). If there is a big rainstorm, I have no way to stop it."
The U.S. pioneered cloud-seeding in the 1940s and '50s, but the government has cooled on its effectiveness, leaving the field to specialist companies. In China, among the most water-poor nations, the state tries to squeeze every drop from above.
"China has the largest rainmaking (operation) in the world," ahead of Russia and Israel, says professor Wang Guanghe, a 20-year rainmaking veteran at China's Meteorological Sciences Academy. "Each province reports results to us of between 10% to 25%" additional rainfall.
The Chinese government rarely shirks nature's challenge. It recently completed the $25 billion Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, which was built despite the objections of environmentalists at home and abroad. Weather manipulation is an enthusiastic past-time for Beijing, possibly because so many of the country's Communist leaders are engineers.
The forecast calls for more rain. China's five-year plan urges an increase in man-made precipitation. Central planners want an additional 65 billion cubic yards a year — nearly enough to fill the Yellow River, the country's second-largest river.
China began cloud-busting in 1958. Now "it is increasing every year," says Wang, who cites the drought plaguing northern China as the main reason to fire rain-inducing shells or soar into the skies in cloud-seeding airplanes.
Any chemical fallout is negligible, Wang says. "We have found no evidence of pollution in the rain."
The need for rainwater has produced squabbles on the ground. Two years ago, five thirsty cities in Henan province accused each other of "cloud theft" for their efforts to trigger chemically induced showers.
Older generations of Chinese used to beat bells to pray for rain, Yu recalls. Today, he puts his faith in cigarette-sized sticks of chemicals loaded inside rockets and shells. "Every time we fire, it rains — lightly or heavily," says the farmer, who earns $125 a month during the May-to-September firing season. "At first, the other villagers didn't believe we could make it rain, but most accept it now."
In the Fragrant Hills, locals complain about noise from Yu's guns. He says he's had to fit the firing station with thicker glass because powerful shocks from his anti-aircraft barrages smashed windows.
Annual training programs and the use of licenses have curbed accidents among China's rainmakers, Wang says. Even so, a passerby in southwest Chongqing was killed by part of a rain cannon that flew off during firing in May.
Zhang, the Beijing meteorologist, says most farmers see the benefit of cloud-seeding and welcome chemically induced rains. Five years ago, a storm near the capital killed 139 ducks, crushing them with hailstones. Today, such incidents are rare, she says.
Rain won't be the only threat when the Olympics take place in 2008. Beijing's smog is as big a threat to China's image-makers as a few raindrops.
That's somebody else's problem, says weather guru Zhang: "I can't do anything about the air pollution."
Posted 6/29/2006 7:50 PM ET
China Water: June 14, 2008: South China freak rains cause deaths, huge floods, evactuations.
The links provide views of some impressive photographs.
Peter Huston
===
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/14/content_8367457.htm
Freak rain causes deaths, huge evacuations
www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-14 13:56:16
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Freak rain lashed eastern and southern China in the past few days, causing deaths and massive evacuations.
Six people died and four were missing since Friday after rainstorms devastated part of southern Guangdong Province and triggered the biggest river flood in nearly half a century, officials said on Saturday.
From 7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, 103 monitoring sites across the province reported precipitation of more than 100 mm, with the heaviest -- 269 mm -- in Duanfen Town, Jiangmen City, the Guangdong Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.
The deaths included four in Shenzhen and two in Shaoguan. The missing included two in Heyuan and one each in Qingyuan and Shaoguan, it said.
From May 25 through Saturday, 18 people have died and 2.22 million people in 17 cities in Guangdong have been affected by the storms. The average rainfall of 415 mm was double the long-term level, according to statistics as of 8 a.m. Saturday from the headquarters.
Also, 3,684 houses collapsed and 156,700 hectares of crops were flooded. The loss in the province was 1.87 billion yuan (271 million U.S. dollars).
With frequent natural disasters, the central and local governments have become more skilled in handling emergencies such as floods. This has just been shown in the aftermath of the May 12earthquake in Sichuan Province.
Although there have been some deaths in the outbreak of rainy weather, emergency measures taken by local governments have proved rather effective in reducing casualties.
On Friday, the Guangdong provincial flood control headquarters raised the flood emergency response level from Grade IV to III, highlighting the urgency of prevention efforts.
Some 100,000 residents in Lechang City, Guangdong, were evacuated after the city was flooded by the swollen Wujiang River, but no casualties were reported.
On the river's Lechang stretch, the flood crested at 91.12 m, 3.92 m higher than the alert level at midnight on Friday. The river's water level has begun to fall slowly.
At 7 a.m. Saturday, the Xijiang River in Guangdong also surpassed alert levels in many sections, according to the headquarters. A major flood was expected at the river if the rain continued, Huang Boqing, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, warned on Saturday.
There had been no casualties from the flooding of the Wujiang and Xijiang rivers, it said.
A total of 20 people died and 8 were missing since June 7 in the Pearl River area, mainly in Guangdong and Guangxi. About 7.61 million people in the area had been affected and 11,200 houses collapsed. Some 421,000 hectares of crops were affected, more than half of which were inundated, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
Rainstorms were expected to hit Xijiang River, Liujiang River and Guijiang River, major tributaries of the Pearl River, between Sunday and Wednesday, according to the office.
Rains totals of more than 200 mm from 8 a.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday also ravaged 12 counties in eastern Fujian Province, with a maximum of 451 mm falling in Yunxiao County. Nearly 10,000 people in the worst-affected areas were evacuated, but no casualties have been reported in Fujian.
In Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, some 180,000 people were displaced as of noon Saturday due to continuous heavy rainstorms from June 8 to 13, but no casualties have been reported.
Precipitation in two counties in 24 hours in Yongzhou set new records, and all its 11 counties were hit by the rain, whose length, coverage and amount were highly unusual, the Yongzhou flood control headquarters said.
About half of the county seats of Jianghua and Daoxian were inundated in water up to 5 m deep, it said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/14/content_8367457_1.htm
PAGE TWO=
In neighboring Jiangxi, the water level of 12 major rivers with a length of 918 km surpassed the warning level on Saturday and was still rising. The province opened the gates of four large and two mid-sized reservoirs to discharge flood water.
Some 84,000 residents were evacuated and 12,000 trapped by floodwaters were rescued, according to the provincial flood control headquarters.
One person was reported killed in a landslide in Jiangxi. A total of 3.22 million people in 56 counties were affected by the rainstorms and 2,994 houses had collapsed in the past week. The loss was 3.22 billion yuan.
Some 190,000 people, including 1,000 soldiers, have been mobilized to join the flood prevention and relief efforts, according to the Jiangxi provincial flood control headquarters.
Jiangxi Governor Wu Xinxiong ordered that rescuers "continue effective disaster prevention and relief efforts and keep losses at a minimum."
More rain was expected to hit Jiangxi on Monday and Tuesday.
In Liuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, more than 50,000 residents were displaced after rainstorms moved into the area Thursday.
Nearly 800,000 people in Liuzhou were affected by floods, and 93 primary and middle schools had to suspend classes.
Wuzhou City in Guangxi activated a flood emergency response plan at noon on Saturday to prepare for flood crests in rivers upstream. A flood crest on the Guijiang River is forecast to reach Wuzhou City late Saturday.
Meanwhile, water in the Xijiang River's section in Wuzhou is rising by 15 cm per hour. The water level was likely to reach 25 m on Sunday afternoon and if it surpassed 26 m, the district would be seriously threatened.
The piers of several major bridges in downtown Wuzhou were completely submerged in river floodwater on Saturday. More than 4,000 people are on stand-by for emergency rescue operations in the city.
The autonomous region's communications department said 68 highways in the region were cut off by the rain disasters, although 40 re-opened to traffic after emergency repairs on Saturday.
Peter Huston
===
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/14/content_8367457.htm
Freak rain causes deaths, huge evacuations
www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-14 13:56:16
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Freak rain lashed eastern and southern China in the past few days, causing deaths and massive evacuations.
Six people died and four were missing since Friday after rainstorms devastated part of southern Guangdong Province and triggered the biggest river flood in nearly half a century, officials said on Saturday.
From 7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, 103 monitoring sites across the province reported precipitation of more than 100 mm, with the heaviest -- 269 mm -- in Duanfen Town, Jiangmen City, the Guangdong Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.
The deaths included four in Shenzhen and two in Shaoguan. The missing included two in Heyuan and one each in Qingyuan and Shaoguan, it said.
From May 25 through Saturday, 18 people have died and 2.22 million people in 17 cities in Guangdong have been affected by the storms. The average rainfall of 415 mm was double the long-term level, according to statistics as of 8 a.m. Saturday from the headquarters.
Also, 3,684 houses collapsed and 156,700 hectares of crops were flooded. The loss in the province was 1.87 billion yuan (271 million U.S. dollars).
With frequent natural disasters, the central and local governments have become more skilled in handling emergencies such as floods. This has just been shown in the aftermath of the May 12earthquake in Sichuan Province.
Although there have been some deaths in the outbreak of rainy weather, emergency measures taken by local governments have proved rather effective in reducing casualties.
On Friday, the Guangdong provincial flood control headquarters raised the flood emergency response level from Grade IV to III, highlighting the urgency of prevention efforts.
Some 100,000 residents in Lechang City, Guangdong, were evacuated after the city was flooded by the swollen Wujiang River, but no casualties were reported.
On the river's Lechang stretch, the flood crested at 91.12 m, 3.92 m higher than the alert level at midnight on Friday. The river's water level has begun to fall slowly.
At 7 a.m. Saturday, the Xijiang River in Guangdong also surpassed alert levels in many sections, according to the headquarters. A major flood was expected at the river if the rain continued, Huang Boqing, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, warned on Saturday.
There had been no casualties from the flooding of the Wujiang and Xijiang rivers, it said.
A total of 20 people died and 8 were missing since June 7 in the Pearl River area, mainly in Guangdong and Guangxi. About 7.61 million people in the area had been affected and 11,200 houses collapsed. Some 421,000 hectares of crops were affected, more than half of which were inundated, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
Rainstorms were expected to hit Xijiang River, Liujiang River and Guijiang River, major tributaries of the Pearl River, between Sunday and Wednesday, according to the office.
Rains totals of more than 200 mm from 8 a.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday also ravaged 12 counties in eastern Fujian Province, with a maximum of 451 mm falling in Yunxiao County. Nearly 10,000 people in the worst-affected areas were evacuated, but no casualties have been reported in Fujian.
In Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, some 180,000 people were displaced as of noon Saturday due to continuous heavy rainstorms from June 8 to 13, but no casualties have been reported.
Precipitation in two counties in 24 hours in Yongzhou set new records, and all its 11 counties were hit by the rain, whose length, coverage and amount were highly unusual, the Yongzhou flood control headquarters said.
About half of the county seats of Jianghua and Daoxian were inundated in water up to 5 m deep, it said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/14/content_8367457_1.htm
PAGE TWO=
In neighboring Jiangxi, the water level of 12 major rivers with a length of 918 km surpassed the warning level on Saturday and was still rising. The province opened the gates of four large and two mid-sized reservoirs to discharge flood water.
Some 84,000 residents were evacuated and 12,000 trapped by floodwaters were rescued, according to the provincial flood control headquarters.
One person was reported killed in a landslide in Jiangxi. A total of 3.22 million people in 56 counties were affected by the rainstorms and 2,994 houses had collapsed in the past week. The loss was 3.22 billion yuan.
Some 190,000 people, including 1,000 soldiers, have been mobilized to join the flood prevention and relief efforts, according to the Jiangxi provincial flood control headquarters.
Jiangxi Governor Wu Xinxiong ordered that rescuers "continue effective disaster prevention and relief efforts and keep losses at a minimum."
More rain was expected to hit Jiangxi on Monday and Tuesday.
In Liuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, more than 50,000 residents were displaced after rainstorms moved into the area Thursday.
Nearly 800,000 people in Liuzhou were affected by floods, and 93 primary and middle schools had to suspend classes.
Wuzhou City in Guangxi activated a flood emergency response plan at noon on Saturday to prepare for flood crests in rivers upstream. A flood crest on the Guijiang River is forecast to reach Wuzhou City late Saturday.
Meanwhile, water in the Xijiang River's section in Wuzhou is rising by 15 cm per hour. The water level was likely to reach 25 m on Sunday afternoon and if it surpassed 26 m, the district would be seriously threatened.
The piers of several major bridges in downtown Wuzhou were completely submerged in river floodwater on Saturday. More than 4,000 people are on stand-by for emergency rescue operations in the city.
The autonomous region's communications department said 68 highways in the region were cut off by the rain disasters, although 40 re-opened to traffic after emergency repairs on Saturday.
China Water: US and China announce they will announce an energy agreement.
Energy and water consumption are intrinsically tied in several ways. Therefore, this agreement, should it come as promised, is quite important.
See the article below for information on Chinese gasoline subsidies. Undoubtedly that's what this article hints at when it speaks of using "market forces" to reduce consumption. Also of interest is the statement that the USA and China nations are the #1 and #2 in highest consumption of petroleum worldwide. (Now why can't these folks cite sources for statistics like these? Aaargh!)
Peter Huston
===
US and China to announce energy-environment deal at economic talks next week
06.13.08, 12:54 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/06/13/afx5114481.html
WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The US and China will announce an agreement on energy and the environment at their Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) meeting next week, a senior Treasury official said today.
Ambassador Alan Holmer, the Treasury's special envoy for China, told reporters the agreement would cover clean air, clean water, clean and efficient production and transmission of electricity, and transportation, but he did not give details.
Holmer said the US and China had 'tremendous commonality of interest' as the number one and number two consumers of oil and that the US delegation wanted to emphasize 'the extent to which free market forces can help countries address energy security.'
This fourth SED meeting will take place on June 17 and 18 at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, near Washington.
!!!SNIP!! (Click on link to see rest. This article stated it could not be reproduced in its entirety without written permission.)
See the article below for information on Chinese gasoline subsidies. Undoubtedly that's what this article hints at when it speaks of using "market forces" to reduce consumption. Also of interest is the statement that the USA and China nations are the #1 and #2 in highest consumption of petroleum worldwide. (Now why can't these folks cite sources for statistics like these? Aaargh!)
Peter Huston
===
US and China to announce energy-environment deal at economic talks next week
06.13.08, 12:54 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/06/13/afx5114481.html
WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The US and China will announce an agreement on energy and the environment at their Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) meeting next week, a senior Treasury official said today.
Ambassador Alan Holmer, the Treasury's special envoy for China, told reporters the agreement would cover clean air, clean water, clean and efficient production and transmission of electricity, and transportation, but he did not give details.
Holmer said the US and China had 'tremendous commonality of interest' as the number one and number two consumers of oil and that the US delegation wanted to emphasize 'the extent to which free market forces can help countries address energy security.'
This fourth SED meeting will take place on June 17 and 18 at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, near Washington.
!!!SNIP!! (Click on link to see rest. This article stated it could not be reproduced in its entirety without written permission.)
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