The China Question

Zhou Dadi is energy advisor to Premier Wen Jiabao. He granted an interview to California magazine and here are some highlights -

In China, about 70 percent of energy is consumed by industry and construction sectors. This is quite different from the United States, where manufacturing uses less than 30 percent. In China, infrastructure construction is at high speed, a little more than $2 trillion per year. More than 2 billion square meters of new buildings will be built each year. How to design and allocate land planning is very important.

The real problem again and again is scale. Is there anyway construction on that scale could be supportable?

We understand that we cannot copy what happened in your country. We have 1.3 billion people, and if we consume the same, there's not enough energy for us and for the world. If China is asked to do more, we will need additional help, including technical or financial support.

One thing not to overlook is that technical doesn't just mean equipment. It also includes organizational models, productions efficiencies, cultural norms and thought processes, and - in the case of the United States- alternate visions of luxury.