Comments by "Peter Jacobsen" (@pjacobsen1000) on "DW Planet A" channel.

Hey, person from Denmark here. At video's end, they said "incineration creates a disincentive to find better ways to deal with waste". On the surface that sounds right, but in Denmark, we are actually now recycling such a large part of our waste that we have to import waste from other countries (such as the country where DW is based) to get enough to feed our incinerators. So you could make the argument that we're now helping Germany deal with their waste problem. You're welcome, Germany. I agree that incineration is not 'green' or 'carbon neutral', but since the energy within the waste is turned into new heat and electrical energy, it is by definition 'renewable' energy and it reduces the amount of coal, gas or oil we would otherwise have to burn.
487
My brother lives on Bornholm. He might agree. They've got some nice, old fishing villages, good seafood, good beaches and a general landscape that is pleasing to the eye. Bornholm is a center for artsy-crafty things: Ceramics, glass blowing, painting.
138
Don't forget they were also critical of Europe and USA. This is the way the media in the west is supposed to work: Criticize the weak points. Media in the west is there to hold government to account; in China it is there to support the government. That's the difference.
89
@freezepaladin Yes, waste is an energy resource just like coal or oil. Once the price of waste goes up due to scarcity, we'll have to cut down on its use. Until then, the 'green' calculation turns out better for incineration than for landfills.
30
@hanoimuathu123 Perhaps it is because you focus on their negative coverage. This particular video alone presents a very positive view of China's high-speed railway network. Many other news stories over the years have described China's development as a 'miracle'. Those are hardly negative. But of course there's a bit of both, as there should be. In any case, different media have different viewpoints. Chinese media is often critical of the west and critical of Japan, India and South Korea. You are free to view only media stories that agree with your own viewpoint.
29
@freezepaladin Yes, those sound like great things, but until we reach that point, the next best thing is to burn it. Waste incineration is not the final step in our development. Technology and society keeps advancing through human ingenuity and creativity and there is no real end point. We just keep making our world better and better, solving our problems one by one. It's an incremental process that takes decades and centuries, not something that happens from one day to the next.
26
Bornholm does have public buses, but with a total population of only 40,000 a rail network would be much too costly to be economically feasible.
25
@pigeonlove It's pretty rare to see a whale in the Baltic Sea. If people really did establish several villages in order to fish for whales, they would have been sorely disappointed with the results.
15
@davidwillard7334 You sound very emotional and you should brush up on your spelling.
13
@hclau362 Say what you want. I think it's a positive piece about China's high-speed rail system. Certainly, it gave me a positive feeling.
9
Nowhere in Denmark is great in winter. In summer it's a different matter entirely.
9
It sounds like you're thinking of waves, not tides.
9
@freezepaladin Ok, so what do you think we should do with all our trash?
7
@arminius6506 Fortunately, there is other media than western media where can find the stories you want. No need to pay attention to western media if you don't like it.
3
@linm770 Tell it to someone who cares.
3
@freaky17445 True, but you can filter most of them out. Incinerator exhaust is tested for compliance with environmental regulations.
3
@jamesbizs Currently, there are no plans to develop nuclear energy in Denmark. Our main focus these years is on developing wind energy.
3
@janami-dharmam It's the batteries that are so expensive. Try getting your smartphone battery replaced and you'll know what I mean.
3
@s546813 That's wonderful!
2
Several countries in Europe burn waste plastic in large incinerators, producing heat and energy in the process. That process actually does turn the plastic back into its base components: Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chloride....
2
@JoOtterH Wow, I did not know that.
2
@wineverything7529 They do. How else would you know about it?
1
@wineverything7529 Me too. In other words, the media.
1
@wineverything7529 As a test, I just Googled 'Sexual abuse in the military' and on just the first page got coverage from: NYT, PBS, NPR, ABC, LA Times, USA Today, The Guardian, plus several smaller news organisations. Is that enough for you?
1
@SkeledroMan "The government should just be honest". Ok, but what if that is not the reason there is no rail or tram network? Should they then lie to conform with your preconceived bias?
1
The map shown at 0:25 show ALL railway lines in China, not just high-speed lines.
1
Climate change (while a real thing) is most likely NOT the reason for the Gobi Desert expanding. Rather, since Mongolia became independent in the 90s, sheep holding has expanded rapidly. Farmers are buying larger and larger flocks because the wool business is good. They send these multitudes of sheep and goats out onto the grasslands where they devour the grass down to its roots, sometimes pulling up the root. What else can the sheep do? They have to eat. The same has been happening in Inner Mongolia (part of China) since the 80s. But the grasslands cannot regenerate grass fast enough for all those sheep, so grassland turns to desert. The only solution is penning of goats and sheep, reducing the amount of feed that comes directly from the grassland, and then the slow process of regenerating the grasslands.
1
@factnotfiction5915 Sounds like a great plan, we just need to build the nuclear power plants first. If we make the decision today, we can have the first plant ready in only 10-20 years.
1
@goodlife6277 How would you define 'renewable energy'? Currently, wood chips are renewable because you can replant trees where the old ones grew. In that sense, burning fx. paper, cardboard and natural rubber is renewable. Plastic is not renewable since it comes from fossil fuels.
1
@goodlife6277 Ok, thanks for that long explanation. You seem to equate the terms 'renewable', 'ecological', and perhaps 'zero carbon', 'carbon neutral' and 'green'. I would say those terms all describe different things/practices.
1
"They may mean different things in isolation". I agree. "what is important is finding a way to generate the necessary energy without generating greenhouse gases". I agree.
1
@Blabbermouth-w5w There are developments in the works to filter out most of the CO2, but the technology is not quite there yet. Other harmful emissions are already being filtered out, but it's harder with CO2.
1