Carbon Capture and Storage in China

CCS Collaboration with the United States
In November 2009 a joint U.S. and Chinese government media release stated that "the two sides strongly welcomed work in both countries to promote 21st century coal technologies. They agreed to promote cooperation on large-scale carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) demonstration projects and to begin work immediately on the development, deployment, diffusion, and transfer of CCS technology.  The two sides welcomed recent agreements between Chinese and U.S. companies, universities, and research institutions to cooperate on CCS and more efficient coal technologies."

CCS plants
In December 2007, the Huaneng Group, a power producer based in Beijing, partnered with Peabody Energy to develop the GreenGen project, which will be the first coal-fueled power plant to employ partial carbon capture and storage (CCS).

In early June 2010 it was announced that China's top coal producer, the Shenhua Group, will start operating the country's first CCS plant by the end of year in Ordos City on the steppes of northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The 210 million yuan (30.8 million U.S. dollars) project is expected to capture 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually at an estimated cost of $US50 per ton. The company stated that a facility capable of handling 3 million tons annually is being planned, but no timetable for construction has been set.

Doubts about the viability of CCS grow
In July 2010 the Wall Street Journal reported that there was high level scepticism over the viability of CCS in China. Peng Sizheng, from the Ministry of Science, was "quoted by Chinese media saying that carbon capture shouldn’t be promoted in China because it’s too expensive." The WSJ also reported that this echoed earlier comments by "energy czar" Zhang Guobao that CCS "does not work as well as planting more trees or reducing desertification."

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration projects worldwide
 * Carbon Capture and Storage in the United States
 * China and coal

External resources

 * Jingjing Qian, George Peridas, Jason Chen and Yueming Qiu, "Identifying Near-Term Opportunities for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in China", Natural Resources Defense Council, October 2009
 * Hui Su and Jerald J. Fletcher, "Carbon Capture and Storage in China: Options for the Shenhua Direct Coal Liquefaction Plant", International Association for Energy Economics, Second Quarter 2010.
 * Natural Resources Defense Council, "Chinese coal remedies", ChinaDialogue'', March 3, 2010.
 * Shai Oster, "Carbon Capture Still Pricey for China", Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2010.