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China, Kites and Greenhouse Gases

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Neoniphon
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China, Kites and Greenhouse Gases

Postby Neoniphon » Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:48 am

I see that China has officially overtaken the USA as the world's biggest emitter of CO2. New coal fired powerplants are coming on line at the rate of 2 per week, and the energy is largely being used to power their economic growth, which in turn is being spurred by the huge number of manufactured goods we all buy from them - kites included.

If it is time to start boycotting Chinese made goods in order to put some pressure on them to reduce their carbon output, where does that leave us as kiteboarders?

Will you pay more for a kite produced in a carbon offset or carbon neutral factory?

Are any of the major manufacturers looking into making their production processes more energy efficient?

Do we all start flying Ozone kites from Vietnam or Flysurfers from Germany?

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Postby simplelife » Sun Jun 24, 2007 1:05 pm

boycott all Chinese goods? give it a go and see where the rabbit hole takes you.

would i pay more for carbon neutral production? sure, but damn, kites are already pretty damn expensive.

at some point soon, running an operation with sustainability and social equity as core values will offer competitive advantages-if not already.

just exercise your power as a consumer and buy ozone or flysurfer if you like.

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JS
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Re: China, Kites and Greenhouse Gases

Postby JS » Sun Jun 24, 2007 1:32 pm

Neoniphon wrote:...Do we all start flying Ozone kites from Vietnam or Flysurfers from Germany?
Why? Does kite production in Vietnam or Germany cause less pollution and greenhouse gas emissions than kite production in China?

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Postby munteruk » Sun Jun 24, 2007 1:33 pm

Do you really think the carbon footprint of a kite made in Vietnam will be any different to the carbon footprint of a kite made in China?

Edit: Dam you JS. Stop stealing my thoughts...

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Postby cramit_the_frog » Sun Jun 24, 2007 1:59 pm

Bloody debatable really - German made compared to Chinese... although German made products def in a society that has more checks and balances than the Chinese society ...


society = economical as well as political dispositions (as well as a whole other raft of values but irrelevant to the topic and would end up sidetracking the topic)

Sure kites are made from same or similar products - so they almost all equal the same carbon footprint... but! even a small reduction in each product of carbon footprint makes a difference to the carbon released - turn off the lights in you house and only use the one you need will reduce power loads it all equates to the same thing ..less carbon pollution....honestly I am not a green geek as I think its still debatable the effects of our pollution to environmental change. But on the basis of reducing carbon... every form of conservatism counts. So... if you’re that way inclined then buy kites that are manufactured in countries with less rep of carbon pollution. And yes Germany on comparison to China is one of those countries.. its all about perceptions and feel good factor anyhow. Get out their and kite – much better than using a boat to wake…..

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Re: China, Kites and Greenhouse Gases

Postby Feng » Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:10 pm

Neoniphon wrote:I see that China has officially overtaken the USA as the world's biggest emitter of CO2.

If it is time to start boycotting Chinese made goods in order to put some pressure on them to reduce their carbon output, where does that leave us as kiteboarders?
I totally agree with you.
In order to save the planet against global warning, we have to start a boycott against the 1st biggest emitter AND the 2nd biggest emitter.

Starting from today, I am therfore starting a global boycott against all Chinese AND American products.

By the way, please try to use the magic mathematic tool called the division and compute the carbon output PER head in both China and America. You will be surprised by the result .....

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Re: China, Kites and Greenhouse Gases

Postby JS » Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:34 pm

marcfrm wrote:By the way, please try to use the magic mathematic tool called the division and compute the carbon output PER head in both China and America. You will be surprised by the result .....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... per_capita

As of 2003:
#11: USA
#12: Australia
#13: Canada
#99: China

Cheers,
James

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Postby chumbawamba » Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:11 pm

hmmm, to boycott? i dont think so...

in my opinion, most of the production from the other parts of the world are moving to china.... companies are moving there as a step to produce cheaper products.....

while all the companies most of the production there, the output of green house gases will get less in their original country while china increases?

its like we are moving our pollution to china while our pollution decrease... based on simple mathematics, "china + 10 = other part of the world - 10"

isnt this true?

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Postby Kirok » Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:12 pm

You wanna save Co2 as a kiter? Easy, just use your local closest kiting areas instead of driving long distances in your Co2 belching car. Trade in that big truck of yours and get a Prius or other hybrid fuel vehicle. Live closer to where you work.
All of these suggestions will have a much much larger effect than the miniscule Co2 output differences sewing kites together in any part of the world.

I agree that we should all do what we can to protect our Earth from global warming.

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Postby Dwight » Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:49 pm

A twisted view of the real world.

Have you been to China?

There are cites so nasty with pollution it rains every day from the fallout. Nothing even close to that nasty anywhere in the US. I'm talking about cities with populations in the millions and no traffic lights. Not the famous cities the media likes to talk about.

How do I know? I've been there many times. My company has built dozens of plants there. All with no pollution equipment installed, because the client demands we delete this equipment. Nowhere can you drink the water. Everything is dumped in the rivers.

The US is not the evil toilet of the world.

Get a life.


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