Clean-coal tech can aid air goals

China will need to use clean-coal technology to ensure a steady energy supply and to meet more stringent environmental standards, according to a report from the China Energy Fund Committee.

Energy Outlook 2015: A China's Perspective provided the backdrop for a forum hosted by the committee on Thursday in New York. China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC) is a non-governmental organization and think tank based in Hong Kong.

"Coal can be both black and green," said Dr HO C.P. Patrick, deputy chairman and secretary-general of CEFC. "China can lead the world in clean-coal use."

When burned, coal produces emissions that contribute to climate change and air pollution. Clean-coal technology seeks to reduce coal's harsh environmental effects by cleansing the emissions and limiting pollutants.

The CEFC report said coal demand in China could plateau between 2020 and 2025 and slip to 50 percent of the country's energy mix by 2030 from about 65 percent last year.

Despite coal's reputation as a "dirty" energy source, Anne Korin, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, said coal may be the key to reducing China's air pollution.

"Alcohol fuel made from coal can be a weapon in the battle against air pollution. China has been a leader in using this technology by mandating the use of ethanol in buses and other vehicles," she said.

Xu Xiaojie, chief research fellow for the World Energy China project at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, wrote the main findings of the CEFC outlook.

"We counted over 50 new energy policies that were released in 2013-2014," noted Xu in explaining how important energy and energy security are to a rapidly-growing economy like China's.

Energy demand and supply in China will both move up before leveling off a bit before 2020 and eventually slowing down after 2030, the report said. The report expects China's foreign oil dependency to remain stable at about 60 percent by 2030.

Nuclear power will assume a more high-profile role in China's energy mix. "We will see rapid growth of nuclear in the next decade," predicted Xu.

The share of nuclear installed capacity and power generation may increase from the current 1.51 and 2.42 percent respectively in 2014, to 4.35 percent and 8 percent, respectively by 2030, said the report.

China and the US are taking different approaches to nuclear energy, as both nations map out a strategy to curb greenhouse-gas emissions.

Earlier this week President Barack Obama proposed a 30-year agreement to cooperate with China on nuclear power, a deal that would allow the transfer of material, reactors, components and technology between the two nations, if approved by the US Congress.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com