Private companies energize efforts to combat climate change

By Sun Xiaohua in Beijing and Wu Chong in New York (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-14 11:36

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chats with Mark Norbom (second from left), president and CEO of General Electric (GE) Greater China, as US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern (left) and GE President and Regional Executive Jack Wen looks on, during a visit to the Beijing Taiyanggong Gas-fired Thermal Power Plant in Beijing on Feb 21. [China Daily]

David Mohler checked out of the St. Regis Hotel in Beijing on a snowy Monday morning, finished his business trip and headed back to the US.

One week later, US President Barack Obama would check into the same hotel during his debut visit to China.

Mohler is senior vice-president and chief technology officer for Duke Energy Corp, the third-largest US electric power holding company based on kilowatt-hour sales.

Although Obama and Mohler come from different backgrounds, they share the same ambition for their visits to China. That is, they are looking for opportunities for the two biggest energy consumers and greenhouse gas emitters in the world to work together on energy and climate change.

Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the International Studies School at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said Obama's visit will strongly promote bilateral collaboration on the energy and the environment.

The two countries show "a strong commitment, especially on joint renewable energy development", Jin said.

"It is great to have our political leaders to set a tone on collaboration," Mohler said. "But it is not enough; we need companies and utilities to get to work."

Duke Energy is one of the entities which aim to churn political visions into solutions, Mohler said.

Operating in a country that is one of the world's largest carbon dioxide emitters, and as a company that generates 70 percent of its electrical power from coal combustion, Duke Energy plans to replace its generators to cut CO2 emissions over the next 40 years, said Mohler.

"As we look forward to that challenge, we think it is also an opportunity ..." Mohler said. "(The US and China) could mutually benefit from doing it together."

The company currently is working with two Chinese partners - China Huaneng Group and ENN Group, both leaders in China's energy sector. China Huaneng Group is State-owned, while the other is private.

Duke Energy plans to explore a variety of renewable and other clean-energy technologies with China Huaneng, China's biggest electric utility, which produces more than 10 percent of the electricity consumed in China, according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed this year in Beijing.

The MOU between Duke Energy and China Huaneng includes high-level discussions and information-sharing on a number of renewable and clean energy fronts.

As for the collaboration with ENN, Duke Energy announced an agreement to accelerate the development of low-carbon and clean energy technologies.

Related readings:  Duke Energy, ENN in clean energy venture  Think tank hopes clean energy ideas will be acted upon  US Commerce Secretary: US, China must lead on clean energyChina wins praise for efforts on clean energy, climate front  Why businesses can benefit from call for clean energy plans  American enterprises target Chinese clean energy market  Sino-US clean energy cooperation has great potential  Investor Soros to chip in $1b for clean-energy tech

Duke Energy's agreement with ENN, one of China's largest privately held diversified energy companies, includes potential development of commercial solar projects. It also involves technology development in coal-based clean energy, biofuels, natural gas, smart grid, energy efficiency and carbon-capturing algae. The companies plan to jointly build large-scale solar power plants in the US next year.

Despite the strong commitment and actions taken in recent years to develop renewable energy, Mohler still believes that the prime success of the collaborative efforts will come in the areas of low-carbon and clean coal technologies.

The development of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology - which turns coal into gas - will be another priority of Sino-US cooperation, Mohler said. Because both countries heavily depend on burning coal for power generation, it is "unpersuasive" to abandon using coal in the short term, he said.

Another carbon-cutting technology, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), also is attracting a lot of attention in the US and China.

The Asia Society and the Center for American Progress recently conducted a study that explored the opportunities for China and the US to develop CCS technologies on a cooperative and mutually beneficial basis.

Andrew Light, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said the study showed the US is "willing to assist China to achieve its clean energy development goals as a necessary condition for heading to an international deal".

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