Last week, America’s Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (ASFE) Christopher Smith joined Montana Governor Steve Bullock, US Ambassador to China Max Baucus, and Vice Administrator Shi Yubo of China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) in launching the US – China Clean Coal Industry Forum (CCIF) in Billings, Montana. The forum brought together US and Chinese industry and government executives to foster cooperation and expand opportunities between the two countries and their energy companies. The two days of meetings and discussions focused on clean coal technologies, including carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).
CCUS is the process of capturing and storing or re-using carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fired power plants and industrial sources. It’s an important part of President Obama’s efforts to tackle climate change and secure America’s energy future.
During keynote remarks opening the CCIF, Smith pointed out that coal is a key part of both the US and Chinese energy mix. But because coal is a major source of CO2 emissions driving climate change, China and the US have taken steps to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants. These efforts include collaboration on clean coal technology development and initiatives to promote deployment of large scale CCUS projects in both countries.
The importance of CCUS to both countries was highlighted during the forum when ASFE Smith and Vice Administrator Shi Yubo finalised a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Energy and the NEA, agreeing to continue their ongoing collaboration on fossil energy technologies, including CCUS. The agreement is expected to be signed in September.
Currently, American and Chinese partners are advancing six CCUS pilot projects in China. At the same time, Chinese companies have invested in CCUS projects in the US. And both countries continue to collaborate through the US-China Clean Energy Research Center and the joint Fossil Energy Protocol, under which the US and China are working together on clean coal science and technology. The CCIF is an outgrowth of that Protocol.
The commitment to CCUS was underscored by President Obama and President Xi last November when they agreed to pursue two new initiatives. The first calls for a large scale CCUS demonstration project in China that would ultimately store 1 Mt/y of CO2. The second initiative is focused on using CO2 in enhanced water recovery, in which CO2 can be used to bring salty water known as brines from deep underground to the surface where it can be turned into fresh water.
