APES

^*^* Waterways in Shanghai *^*^

Although, Shanghai has been known for its large and booming airway and road
transportation systems, the city has recently expanded its waterway capacities beginning
in 2012. A majority of the new waterway expansions are being used by cruise ships that
transport a multitude of items. China has a coastline of some 18,400 kilometers, along
which there are 12 coastal provinces and directly governed municipalities extending
from north to south. By the end of 2012, the navigable inland waterways in the country
reached 77,671 miles, especially in the four provinces of Jiangsu, Guangdong, Hunan
and Sichuan. There are 31,862 quay berths, among which 10 thousand-ton ones are
distributed in the main stream and tributary of Yangtze River as well as the Pearl River
water system. 178,600 ships are under normal operation, transporting 1,025,10
passengers a year. The largest five waterways, as the main aquatic channels in China,
crisscross the whole country - two north-south, and three east-west. Shanghai is
currently the worlds 3rd largest coastal harbor port and is the largest Chinese port,
which gives the city strategic access to multiple key water ways. Shanghai's development
of the deep-water port of Yangshan in Zhejiang was made necessary by the increasing
size of container ships but also the silting of the Yangtze, which narrows to less than 20
meters (66 ft) as far out as 45 miles (70 km) from Hengsha.

^*^* Waterway Agriculture *^*^

The government of Shanghai knows that the importance of agriculture cannot be
overemphasized, so it always tries to develop planting, stockbreeding, forestry and
fisheries. The city's advantageous geographical location endows it with favorable
conditions for agricultural development. With access with a majority of large waterways,
the agriculture industry in the city has boomed, giving it easy access to water, as well as
shipping lanes that can easily serve to export the crops when they are done. Despite the
comparative shortage of arable land, moderate temperature, sunlight, rainfall and fertile
soil make the region famous for its high yield of agricultural production in China.
Generally the region can produce enough grain, meat, eggs, milk, vegetable and fruit for
consumers in the city and suburbs. Some agricultural products are sold to neighboring
areas or even exported to foreign countries. The city has many modern agricultural
zones. These includes Sunqiao Modern Agriculture Development Zone in Pudong New
Area, Fengxian Modern Agriculture Zone in the south Fengxian District and many
others in the suburbs including the districts of Baoshan, Jiading, Minhang, Songjiang,
Jinshan as well as Chongming County are the main booming districts due to waterway
development. These urban agricultural zones attract a lot of foreign investment,
advanced technologies and agricultural professionals. However, there is downside to
current waterway development in Shanghai. Recently the waterways have been found to
harbor large amounts of pollutants not only devastating an exponentially growing
agriculture industry, but crippling the cities fishery capabilities.

^*^* Types of Agriculture *^*^

After years of relentless growth, Shanghai, China is entering a new phase of
environmentally sustainable development. Issues such as urban farming have boomed.
Ever-increasing urban density, competition for scarce land and a rising demand for food
from the burgeoning middle class, Shanghai will need to ensure that the opportunity to
produce food in the city is possible in practice, which is critical to their multiple sectors
of agriculture. Minhang is one of Shanghais 18 urban districts and the citys secondlargest economic entity. Located in the centre of Shanghai Municipality, Minhang has a
well-developed traditional manufacturing and hi-tech industry, such as aerospace
technology and biopharmaceuticals. Most of the districts farmlands are located in the
southeast alongside the Huangpu River, and these plots have been reduced to a total of
around 5,000 ha, accounting for less than 13.5 percent of the districts land area.
Currently farmland accounts for only 32% of the land use in Minhang. A total of 77,000
farmers in Minhang generate an agricultural output value of USD 70.5 million per year,
accounting for only 0.4 percent of the districts GDP. But the farmers net income per
capita in Minhang is much higher than for farmers in the municipality as a whole.
Urban agriculture, which is Shanghais biggest type of agriculture, is facing both the
constraints and opportunities of its location. Major constraints are decreasing
availability of arable land, relatively lower productivity on farmland compared to other
land uses, increasing labour cost and high competitiveness of other jobs, and general
small-scale of production, which makes it difficult to attract finance for investment.

^*^* Renewables *^*^

As so much of Shanghais energy consumption comes from coal, the cities commitment
towards new renewable energy could have a profound effect on the citys local air quality
and carbon consumption. Economic benefits include the potential to lower the cost of
wind power in the future. In addition to promoting consumption of renewable energy
among citizens, Shanghai is also encouraging construction of wind turbines within the
city and investing R&D funds into wind power technology. The project has inspired
other Chinese cities to develop their own off- and on-shore wind capacity or to make
power purchase agreements that support those cities that are doing so. From having
virtually no green energy infrastructure as recently as 2008, China has built 133
gigawatts of renewable energymainly wind turbinesenough to power as many as 53
million homes, or every household in Canada four times over. The International Energy
Agency predicted that China would overtake Europe as the worlds top renewable energy
growth market. Its a market expected to be worth more than $470 billion in 2015
PRO:
That investment has caught the eye of clean-tech companies in Europe and North
America, who are flocking to Shanghai in hopes of selling their technologies after seeing
demand stagnate or collapse in their home markets. Which could serve to bolster the
cities industry growth. With an added benefit of reducing global carbon emissions that
are currently plaguing the status quo.
CON:
With the investment in one industry, come the collapse of another. A large shift to
renewables now would be a great determent to the citys booming coal industry. A
sudden shift with the countries industries would not only cause large scale collapse but
lead to full out unemployment and potentially an economic decline.

^*^* Non-Renewable *^*^

As one of Chinas leading industrial cities, with a population growing at 3-4 percent per
year, Shanghai is a major contributor to Chinas energy and GHG inventory. It derives
most of its electricity from coal (about 95 percent in 2010) and coal makes up just under
half of all energy consumption in the city. In 2010, renewables were just 2 percent of the
energy mix, although their share is rapidly growing. China is the worlds largest
producer and consumer of coal, accounting for 69% of Chinas total energy
consumption.
PRO:
With large non-renewable coal industries, and high levels of investment, it does not
come to surprise that the coal industry is not only a source of stable and reliable jobs for
the people of Shanghai, but contributes a large amount to not only their economy, but
industrial growth in general.
CON:
China had 28,000 coal mines and was adding a new 500-megawatt coal fired power
plant every four days, adding up to approximately 91 new coal-fired power plants a year.
This is an aggressive number of plants to open every year. Not only is coal the largest
contributor of carbon dioxide but also has several known health effects. In 2009, China
Daily reported that every 30 seconds babies are born with defects, totaling almost one
million cases a year. The highest rates of birth defects are in Shanxi province, Chinas
largest coal-mining center producing 630 million tons of coal in 2007. Lung cancer in
China has also gained public attention as deaths due to lung cancer have risen 465%
over the past 30 years. In April 2008, the Chinese Ministry of Health reported that the
rise in deaths of lung cancer was directly related to environmental consequences as well
as lifestyle. Because of these and several other reasons, it is essential that the Chinese
government begin the shift to renewable energy and away from coal-fired electricity
generation.