The Chinese economy has been growing at a rapid rate in recent years and that has fuelled the desire for Chinese to start acting more like their Western counterparts. Once bicycle-bound, the streets of China are now cluttered with millions of automobiles. I was in China in the nineties for World Conference on Women, and there were almost no cars on the streets of Beijing.

This thirsty dragon is now responsible for most of the increased demand for oil during the past few years, and that's why one cannot look into the economic situation in China without examining the staggering effects it has over global oil supply and demand, and the rest of the global economy. In many insidious ways America and China are becoming 'alarmingly alike', and if the 'American lifestyle is non-negotiable', then the Chinese consumers are not far behind in their quest for the good life and declare aggressively "The Americans have it. Now it is our turn".

Meanwhile the gap between the rich and the poor in both countries is growing apace and both are simultaneously besieged with a decline in public services and fast increasing environmental degradation. If both countries continue to overconsume, the world at large will have to suffer the consequences, because China alone, will need the resources of 1.12 Earths to match the levels of American consumption.

One ray of hope in an otherwise dismal scenario is the fact that more and more consumers are questioning corporate globalisation and are willing to work toward alternative models. One can witness massive rural reconstruction movements, across the globe, incorporating traditional culture, local community values and harmony with nature, instead of an insatiable pursuit of consumption. Consumers in emerging economies are aware of the widespread destruction of established cultures that the materialistic American dream has caused and on many levels the game is changing. Everybody tends to think of emerging markets, such as China, India as sources for cheap labour and natural resources where as more and more, these emerging markets are home to world-class companies in all kinds of industries.

This is the thesis of Antoine van Agtmael, author of a new book called, The Emerging Markets Century. Agtmael is the man who coined the phrase "emerging markets" to describe growing, but less-developed economies. The world has changed in a profound way, but the typical consumer probably doesn't appreciate this fully. Agtmael's point is that many of today's emerging market stars do not rely on cheap labor, abundant natural resources or protective government policies. Instead, they have developed competitive advantages in technology, design, logistics and other areas.

For example consumers in the near future might have the opportunity to make driving safer for health and environment with options like a pollution-free 'air car' being readied for market by Spain-based Moteur Developpement Int. Based on proven technology used on the Space Shuttle, the Air Car runs on compressed air stored in tanks made of carbon fibre. The vehicle is built for city driving, as it gets about 100 miles per tankful. The average cost of a fill-up is about 3$. Consumers can now also think of using water instead of gas in their cars.

Experiments are on for converting a traditional gasburning car engine to one partially running on water. During the test on a 100-mile drive, the hybrid engine burned just 4 ounces of water broken down by electricity and converted to a powerful hydrogen gas. "The Hydrogen Economy" is the term used to mark the shift from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas to hydrogen. The idea is that hydrogen will become an unlimited-and clean-fuel source.

"The Hydrogen Economy would open the doors for fundamental changes in our economic, political, and social institutions, similar to the impact of steam power at the beginning of the "Industrial Age," says Darshan Goswami, the renewable energy expert. So perhaps consumers can hope that the dooms-day scenario now doing the rounds might soon be a thing of the past.