China Environment Forum 中国环境论坛

"Biochar has a much lower mitigation benefit value than other options, and there is not a lot of material to go into the biochar process that is cost effective. There are local uses where it is appropriate but it is difficult to scale up," says @PipaElias from @NatureAg.

Calling it "climate action" has become very politicized, and a giant climate action package is unlikely to make it through congress, but it's possible to sell soil and water resilience options to farmers and the private sector," says Bidisha Bhattacharyya from @CAPenergypolicy.

The turning point for Ohio was in 2014, when Toledo's water supply was shut off due to toxic algae in Lake Erie. After that, the state got serious about regulating water and soil quality, says Karen Mancl from @OhioStateFABE.

"People in #China no longer burn crops due to a new government policy," says Ming Yang from @theGEF. China is now working to reduce emissions in energy and food production, but these innovations have to expand to rural communities.

Ming Yang from @theGEF wants to slow down the rate of urbanization in China, highlighting #Chongqing as a model of a large city that has expanded to encompass surrounding rural areas.

Precision agriculture and other innovations for #ClimateAction require the rollout of both the grid and broadband access in rural areas, as data is an important part of farming in the 21st century, says @PipaElias from @NatureAg and Bidisha Bhattacharyya from @CAPenergypolicy.

In the US, most municipalities only have the legal authority to protect water quality within their own boundaries, which means towns and cities have a difficult time protecting their own water sources, says @PipaElias from @NatureAg.

The average farm size in the U.S. is 444 acres, whereas the average farm size in #China is 1.4 acres, says Karen Mancl from @OhioStateFABE. "Farming in China is like harvesting a big garden, which is why their agricultural success is so impressive."

"Due to upstream research and vertical investment, wind turbines in the US can produce 60% more energy than turbines in China," says Ming Yang from @theGEF. China is beginning to research better turbine locations and technologies, improving their efficiency in the future.