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In 2016, China's solar capacity grew a staggering 81.6% to 77GW, double the total installed in the US. Wind power grew 13.2% to 149GW--roughly a third of all wind energy is located in China.
[...] [For] the third year in a row, the world's biggest polluter has cut back its use of the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. [...] Coal use fell 4.7%. It is the largest year on year drop in a decline that has now been repeated since 2014.
[...] Greenpeace cautioned, [however,] that this was a measure of the physical weight of coal burned. When measured in energy units, the drop was just 1.3%. This could be due to an improvement in coal quality or discrepancies in reporting.
[...] Xu Zhaoyuan, head of research division at the industrial economy department of the Development Research Centre of China's State Council, said [...] "I don't think coal consumption is going to rebound in the next several years, but will rather plateau, meaning it will remain stable or decrease slowly."
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @04:40PM (19 children)
The U.S. created the first truly modernized society, and then everyone else started copying and enhancing the best ideas.
Now, the U.S. is really just fucking old and decrepit; that's what you get for being the pioneer: The first generation of good ideas.
This time, the chinks can spend their own resources being the pioneers, and the West can have the improved stuff.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Uncle_Al on Friday March 03 2017, @04:55PM (2 children)
The US was the second generation of nations to industrialize, stealing many inventions from the English in the 19th century.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Friday March 03 2017, @05:43PM (1 child)
I don't think the US was first at anything, until after the First World War, when Europe had pissed away its resources and capital (both human and financial).
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @08:33PM
If you look at science, engineering and tech then the US is still borrowing heavily from other countries. Uhhh, I mean, they'ure tekkin arrr jaaarbs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @05:48PM (15 children)
No need to be a racist dick bag. You have a flaw in your argument anyway, the US hasn't lost its capacity for good ideas. We still have plenty, but the small ownership class has repeatedly decided that maximized profit returns are more important than investing in future tech. Oil is too profitable, alternative energy and transportation research has been crippled by buyouts and hordes of patent lawyers. If you want to point the finger of blame, at least point it in the right direction. It isn't a problem with the general public, they are the ones keeping this place afloat DESPITE the asshole elites.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @06:52PM (14 children)
Everything went over your head. Hell, you even took the bait on "chinks".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @07:02PM (13 children)
You do realize you have to give some indication of trolling right? The original post was exactly what I would expect from a racist nationalist.
So you're trolling people who dislike racism? GOOD JOB (not). I imagine your friends say things like "its just a prank bro!"
The original comment is only useful for kicking off a debate, as humor it needs a lot of work.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @07:15PM (12 children)
I'll assume you're the same person:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @07:29PM (11 children)
Solar tech isn't rocket science so this 1st gen / 2nd gen bit will be marginal at best. The big issue is initial investment and ongoing maintenance, no real secret to building such plants.
As for "chink".... Sorry but you're not a special snowflake that gets to avoid criticism. Language is a shared cultural item, you are free to speak however you like but don't pretend for one second that the term isn't racist.
Per Wikipedia:
Chink (also chinki, chinky, chinkie, or chinka) is an English-language ethnic slur usually referring to a person of Chinese ethnicity. The word is also sometimes indiscriminately used against people of East Asian appearance. Use of the term is often considered offensive and has garnered a great deal of media attention.
So go ahead, use the term all you'd like, pretend you aren't being racist even! You're just a stalwart defender of the 1st amendment who doesn't like the excessive PC culture. Sure sure, whatever you say buddy.
BUT don't come crying about it, don't act all indignant when the rest of the world views you as a racist. If you can't comprehend simple language concepts such as racial slurs, then you've got bigger problems anyway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @08:25PM (10 children)
"Why is 'chink' offensive?"
"Because we say so."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @08:44PM (6 children)
Same reason nig-nog is offensive.
Same reason ya momma is offensive.
WTF are you talking about?!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @08:49PM (5 children)
The word 'cunt' reduces a woman to her sexual organs.
The word 'nigger' could be said to reduce a person to his skin color (though, for some reason, 'negro' isn't bad or as bad), or could be said to label somebody as being a niggard.
What does 'chink' do? What does 'oriental' do? What does 'chinaman' do? Nothing. They have only become offensive for phantom reasons; nobody knows why.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @08:53PM (3 children)
Do you have a brain? Or just preconditioned and inflexible neurons that might be mistaken as one?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @09:23PM (2 children)
Try again.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 03 2017, @10:46PM
Try again.
Poorly coded Perl script? Propaganda ploy by the lizaroids to provoke our natural defenses against stupidity? Or maybe you have a brain, but you're just stupid?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @11:31PM
Re-read this thread, when you get back to your "Try again" comment take your own advice. Once you understand why you are incorrect you may stop. If you can't bring yourself to grow then I suggest you take a philosophy course where some professor might engage your intellectual masturbation about the REAL meaning of words. Be warned, you will likely end up back in the same place but with even less ground to stand on.
Come cry to us again once you are actually censored and not just judged for making shitty word choices in order to troll reactions from people.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday March 03 2017, @10:34PM
No, you stupid dick. Words have the meanings WE GIVE THEM. Without our attachments, without our understand of the word, without context, chink is just five letters and a fun sounding word. Chink, Chink, Chinky, Chinky, Chink.
We sure as fuck know why chink has negative connotations. It was because of racist dickheads like you walking up to "oriental" people, or anyone without round eyes, calling them chink, and then treating them like shit.
If everyone had walked up to these people, with smiles, hands outstretched for a hug, yelling "Chink!", then perhaps, just perhaps, it would've evolved into a term of affection.
However, racist dickheads like you that enjoy trolling people, and treating people like shit in general, GAVE the context to chink, and then gave it all the negative attachments that go along with it.
Words, are just words. Nigger, Nigger, Nigger. I love that word because it is fun to say. It rolls off the tongue and IS enjoyable in that sense. The effect is has on a person with dark skin though tends to be negative because it evokes the memories of when brown and dark people swung from nooses on trees shortly after the word was uttered towards them.
Idiot. I hope you have fun tormenting people. "Took the bait". So you admit that you were just trolling and looking for a reaction? Yep, that makes you look the one winning the "debate". What a winner you are....
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 03 2017, @10:42PM (2 children)
"Why is 'chink' offensive?"
"Because we say so."
Buttercup, welcome to language where everything is the way it is precisely because we say so.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @11:17PM (1 child)
Working on getting your street cred up now that public opinion is turning against Agent Orange? Gotta stay within certain bounds in order for the account to stay usefully relevant! TO THE CENTER!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday March 04 2017, @12:24AM
Working on getting your street cred up now that public opinion is turning against Agent Orange?
Oh yea. Orangezilla is totally out of control. It's time for the exit strategy of "keeping it real".
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday March 03 2017, @05:57PM (3 children)
First, you need the capacity so you spam coal plants.
Then you research or trade Nukes, which take a while to build, so in parallel you dam every river you can and spam wind all over for distributed resilience.
Bonus, your solar get more efficient as you shut down smog-causing coal and research Advanced Si Processing, so you spam solar everywhere cheap.
The hardest part was to recover from the early Zerg Rush from the North, invest massively in defenses there, only to get invaded mid-game from the East...
(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday March 03 2017, @10:38PM (1 child)
For a second I thought you were talking about China, but then proceeded to blend in Star Craft?
I think we've witnessed actual evidence for a brain fart. I always knew you were a valuable contribution to the mental sciences.... as a subject :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday March 03 2017, @11:13PM
I apologize for breaking protocol by not using a car analogy ...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 04 2017, @06:30AM
The strategy I use is to first figure out where Montezuma is (or Shaka etc) and then make sure that I have a country between mine and his on the map. Make sure the buffer country is *very* happy with you. Converting to their religion helps early on since you won't get the free religion civic until later on. That usually lets me develop flight technology by the 12th century, after which I have the technological superiority to roflstomp Montezuma if he wants to try that zerg rush again.
It also really helps to make sure you get voted in charge of the Apostolic Palace.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 03 2017, @06:46PM (2 children)
Greenpeace cautioned, [however,] that this was a measure of the physical weight of coal burned. When measured in energy units, the drop was just 1.3%. This could be due to an improvement in coal quality or discrepancies in reporting.
Distinction without a difference. Making existing plants more efficient, thus burning and emitting less while getting more energy out, is also good you religious wack-jobs!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @07:45PM
> discrepancies in reporting.
My money is on discrepancies.
In general, all sorts of stats out of china are notoriously unreliable. [ft.com] I have a hunch that their commitments under the paris climate accords are measured by weight of coal, so they would have incentive to overstate improvements in that metric.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @07:58PM
The old coal was probably wet. These days they use dry coal which weighs less but produces more energy.
(Score: 2) by Snospar on Friday March 03 2017, @07:06PM (5 children)
Any idea where these figures actually come from? The article simply references 4 other pages from the same site (which go on to reference the same site again). Are these figures legitimate? Are they sourced from the Chinese Government?
Not knocking any particular source, I'd just like to know that these are hard facts and not "alternate truths". If China really is serious about using modern tech to reduce it's pollution then we should all be very, very happy - not all major governments are as considerate.
Sorry if that sounds like flamebait - it's not meant to.
Huge thanks to all the Soylent volunteers without whom this community (and this post) would not be possible.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @07:21PM (4 children)
Googly fu! [stats.gov.cn]
Of course we have to trust China's own reporting, but I don't see anything too very suspicious here. The worst case is China is trying to show off its solar initiative to get better world press and the numbers may be inflated.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @08:02PM (3 children)
The worst case would be negligible solar capacity and steeply rising coal use. Communist governments are well known for making up statistics.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Zz9zZ on Friday March 03 2017, @08:07PM (2 children)
Communistgovernments are well known for making up statistics.FTFY
~Tilting at windmills~
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @08:58PM (1 child)
How can we trust a government that fakes global warming to destroy American manufacturing - and is prepared to go as far as to increase global temperatures every year for the past decade? You can't trust them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @09:23PM
Get outta here you loon, peddle your conspiracy crap somewhere else.