China played a critical role in the slower growth of global energy demand and consumption as well as the nearly flat growth of carbon emissions in 2016, according to the latest BP world energy report. The report says that a relentless drive to improve energy efficiency is causing global energy consumption overall to decelerate. The energy mix is shifting toward cleaner, lower carbon fuels, driven by environmental needs and technological advances. Global energy consumption grew slowly again in 2016 - the third consecutive year in which demand has grown by 1 percent or less - much weaker than the rates of growth over the previous 10 years or so, according to the report titled 2017 BP Statistical Review of World Energy. The weak growth in energy demand, combined with a continuing shift toward lower-carbon fuels, meant global carbon emissions from energy consumption were estimated to have been essentially flat in 2016 for a third consecutive year - a substantial improvement relative to past trends, the report says. "From a global level, much of this improvement can be traced back to the pronounced changes in the pace and pattern of economic growth and energy consumption within China," BP Group CEO Bob Budley said in the report. Energy consumption in China grew by just 1.3 percent in 2016. Its growth during 2015 and 2016 was the lowest over a two-year period since 1997-98, according to the report. China, however, remained the world's largest growth market for energy for a 16th consecutive year. Spencer Dale, BP Group chief economist, praised effective Chinese government policy launched in 2016 to reduce coal production. "For those of you interested in the Chinese policy, it's magnificent," he said on Thursday at the Atlantic Council in Washington. "It's really fascinating to think about how it was designed. The impact of these measures was really stark," Dale said. China was the key driver of the growth of global renewable energy last year, accounting for more than 40 percent of the growth in renewable power, more than the entire OECD put together. China also overtook the US as the largest producer of renewable power. Dale believes China is the key to understanding the flat growth of global carbon emissions and whether that trend is structural or just temporary. Some structural changes happening in China include slower economic growth, a change in the structure of economic growth away from energy-intensive industrial sectors toward the consumer and service sector, and a shift in the fuel mix away from coal toward more renewable energy, nuclear power and natural gas, according to Dale. "Those trends are structural trends and are likely to persist," he said. He also pointed out that the fall of China's energy demand was also due to the weakness reflected in the iron, steel and cement industries, which together account for a quarter of China's energy demand. Dale, who was executive director for financial stability at the Bank of England before joining BP in 2014, expressed how much this is going to structural and how much it is going to be temporary adjustment is still hard to tell. [email protected]make your own wristbandpersonalised rubber wristbandsmotivational wristbands for athletes24 hour wristbands coupon codetrio spinnersslap wristbands
China is developing the world's fastest amphibious multi-role vehicle, which can be used in personnel and supply transportation at sea as well as for special warfare. The four-wheeled vehicle is being developed at the China North Vehicle Research Institute in Beijing's southwestern suburbs. The facility is one of the biggest institutions under China North Industries Group Corp, the country's largest maker of land armaments. The vehicle uses a v-shaped hull to minimize the hydraulic drag. It is propelled by compact pump jets in waters with the wheels retracted. With a weight of 5.5 metric tons, the proof-of-concept vehicle reached a top speed of 50 kilometers per hour as it traveled through calm waters during a test earlier this year, the institute said. This bested the world's fastest amphibious vehicle of its kind, made by the British company Gibbs Amphibians, which has a maximum speed of 48 km/h in water. The institute has not published other specs about the vehicle such as its land speed and operational range. Amphibious vehicles are mainly used for military purposes and are usually launched at sea from amphibious assault ships, amphibious transport docks or hovercraft to conduct a forced entry into semi-aquatic areas. Their core mission is to spearhead a beach and to secure coastline for landing troops. Other tasks include transporting personnel between shores and ships and providing fire support. Most amphibious vehicles in the world move slowly in water. For instance, the United States Marine Corps' Assault Amphibious Vehicle, commonly known as AAV7, has a top water speed of 13.2 km/h, and Italy's Iveco Super-AV, an eight-wheeled amphibious vehicle, is able to move 10 km/h in water. The US and Japan are developing new-generation military amphibious vehicles that will be capable of traveling at least 40 km/h. A chief designer of the vehicle at China North Vehicle Research Institute who requested anonymity said designing such vehicles is never an easy job, as the engineers overcame a number of technical difficulties. "We spent a lot of time and resources on finding proper methods to reduce hydraulic drag and the hull's weight. We also focused on devising a set of equipment to make sure the vehicle would be able to move fast on both land and water," he said, adding that all of the major parts used on the vehicle were developed by Chinese engineers on their own. "Designs for some parts on this vehicle had never been worked out by others before us," the designer said. "We are leading in this field." Qin Zhen, executive editor of Ordnance Knowledge magazine, said the ability to move fast in water is crucial to any amphibious combat vehicle. "It is difficult for them to use rapid-changing maneuvers in waters to dodge enemies' fire, therefore moving fast is the most reliable way to increase their survivability," he said.
