While China's coal sector has made much progress in the last decade, it has much scope for improvement, as it strides towards a more environmentally sustainable model of energy production.

On April 20, at the launch of its new publication, Cleaner Coal in China, the International Energy (IEA) Agency lauded China for their policies towards the production of cleaner coal that are already in use and encouraged the government to continue its efforts to promote clean coal technology.

"China has the opportunity to lead in the development of cleaner coal technologies in response to a growing global market for clean energy," said Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA.

The agency said that Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), of which Beijing is one of the world's first demonstration sites, will play a very important role in providing a carbon-free environment and that collaborating with new generation clean coal technologies is critical to the role China can play in its fight against carbon emission.

"We know that CO2 capture and storage is not fully demonstrated and is currently too expensive but we believe that China has the opportunity to lead in the development of new clean coal technologies, such as carbon dioxide capture and storage," Brian Ricketts, an IEA coal analyst said.

Tanaka agreed: "New technologies are needed worldwide. China's role in developing them is critical," said Tanaka

China is heavily dependent on coal as its primary source of energy, which accounts for 70 percent of its consumption, with demand for it rising each year. According to the National Energy Administration's head, Fang Junshi, the country's annual coal demand is estimated to increase by 600 million tons, to 3.4 billion tons, by 2020.

"The speed and scale of China's expanding coal use has brought a new urgency to deploying the full range of clean coal technologies," said Tanaka. He also urged China to use clean coal technologies, "that reduce sulphur dioxide and dust emissions and those with higher efficiency and the potential to substantially reduce CO2 emissions."

China's current efforts towards cleaner coal include fitting half of its coal-fired power generation units with flue gas desulphurization (FGD), setting a new global benchmark for efficiency of coal-fired power plants with the 4,000 mW Yuhuan plant and hosting one of the world's first pilot demonstrations of CO2 capture at a plant located on the outskirts of Beijing. However, these measures are far from enough to help China develop a "green coal sector".

"China's coal sector has made remarkable progress over the last decade," said Tanaka, "China's existing environmental laws are well designed but they need to be better implemented," said Tanaka.

(China Daily 04/27/2009 page3)