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 rubber band braceletssilicone bracelet makeryouth wristbands
In China, 18,000 IP addresses attacked, and universities among the hardest hit TOKYO - Global cyber chaos was spreading on Monday as companies booted up computers at work following the weekend's worldwide ransomware cyberattack. The extortion scheme created chaos in 150 countries and could wreak even greater havoc as more malicious variations appear. The initial attack, known as "WannaCry", paralyzed computers running the United Kingdom's hospital network, Germany's national railway and scores of other companies and government agencies around the world. As a loose global network of cybersecurity experts fought the ransomware hackers, Chinese media said 29,372 institutions had been infected along with hundreds of thousands of devices. The Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center, a nonprofit providing support for computer attacks, said 2,000 computers at 600 locations in Japan were reported affected so far. Government agencies said they were unaffected. Companies such as Hitachi and Nissan Motor reported problems they said had not seriously affected their business operations. In China, about 18,000 IP addresses in China have been confirmed as infected with the "WannaCry" ransomware. Universities and other educational institutions were among the hardest hit, Xinhua reported. That may be because schools tend to have old computers and be slow about updates of operating systems and security, said Fang Xingdong, founder of ChinaLabs, an internet strategy think tank. Railway stations, mail delivery, gas stations, hospitals, office buildings, shopping malls and government services also were affected, Xinhua said, citing Qihoo 360, a Chinese internet security services company. But the spread of the ransomware is ongoing, but is slowing down, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement. Elsewhere in Asia, officials in Japan and the Republic of Korea said they believed security updates had helped ward off the worst of the impact. The most public damage in the ROK was to cinema chain CJ CGV Co. It was restoring its advertising servers at dozens of theaters after the attack left the company unable to display trailers of upcoming movies. The attack was disrupting computers that run factories, banks, government agencies and transport systems in scores of countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Spain, India and Japan, among others. Russia's Interior Ministry and companies including Spain's Telefonica, FedEx in the United States and French carmaker Renault all reported troubles. Experts were urging organizations and companies to immediately update older Microsoft operating systems, such as Windows XP, with a patch released by Microsoft to limit vulnerability to a more powerful version of the malware or to future versions that can't be stopped. Paying the ransom will not ensure any fix, said Eiichi Moriya, a cybersecurity expert and professor at Meiji University. "You are dealing with a criminal," he said. "It's like after a robber enters your home. You can change the locks but what has happened cannot be undone. If someone kidnaps your child, you may pay your ransom but there is no guarantee your child will return." Xinhua-AP-AFP-Reuters
