"Coal will continue to be an important part of how energy is produced in the short term," said Christopher J. Kearney, the CEO of energy specialists SPX Corporation.

Kearney, gave an exclusive interview with China Daily today on the sidelines of the Davos Forum in Dalian and shared his views about clean energy solutions.

SPX provides energy solutions ranging from solar to wind power, but clean coal and nuclear still take the largest part of its production.

"Other renewable sources will be important and they provide a significant part of the answer. But in terms of the percent of total power produced around the world, they are not terribly significant."

Mr. Kearney stressed that we have to be realistic to what is most available now to ensure energy security in most parts of the world. But he also said that aged infrastructure should be replaced to protect the environment.

"The short-term (solution) is to apply the technology we have today to replace infrastructure to create more efficient energy producing equipment. And parallel with that we have to continue to develop new sources of energy."

The SPX Corporation is a multi-industry company that supplies the components and technologies to build global infrastructure, optimize food processing technologies and develop equipments to make energy production more efficient.

Video: Li Qiao

Story: Li Qiao