Nov 20, 2007 -- M2 PRESSWIRE

A joint UK-China initiative on producing energy from coal with low carbon dioxide emissions was launched in Beijing today.

The Near Zero Emissions Coal Initiative (NZEC) will initially involve an 18-month work programme to help build capacity for carbon capture and storage technology in China, build stronger links between Chinese and European experts and study a range of options for demonstrating carbon capture and storage in coal-fired power generation in China.

The first phase of the Initiative was officially launched by Barbara Woodward, the Deputy Head of the UK Mission in China, and Ministry of Science and Technology Vice Minister Liu Yanhua in Beijing.

UK Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:

'Today's Near Zero Emissions Coal initiative launch demonstrates the strong working relationship which exists between China and the UK.

Developing carbon capture and storage is vital if we are going to tackle climate change. I wish this initiative every success'.

The initiative is supported with up to GBP3.5 million in funding from Defra and BERR. The key objectives of Phase 1 are to:

* Enable the sharing of knowledge between Chinese and UK parties (academic, industrial and other) and build capacity for carbon capture and storage in China.

* Model the future energy requirements of China, based on supply and demand inputs.

* Produce case studies of potential carbon dioxide capture technologies.

* Perform initial characterisation of selected sites suitable for geological storage of carbon dioxide.

* Develop a roadmap for CCS in China drawing together the elements of the above objectives.

The initiative will be jointly managed by AEA in the UK and the Administrative Centre for China's Agenda 21 in China and will involve a consortium of key industrial and academic partners in both countries.

Subsequent phases are planned to build upon the outputs of phase 1; a second phase would further detail favourable options for demonstration with a third phase planned to construct the demonstration plant itself.

A project website has been developed to coincide with the project launch, which contains background information about the project and its partners and can be found at www.nzec.info

Notes:

1. IEA projections show that coal's role in global primary energy demand is predicted to increase from 41% to 43% to 2030 reflecting its greater role in developing countries. The UK is seeking to build capacity in these countries in order to better understand the viability of CCS deployment in the future.

2. CCS consists of capturing the carbon in fossil fuels (as CO2) either before or after combustion and committing it to long-term storage in geological formations. Carbon capture and storage has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from large point sources such as coal fired power stations by around 85%.

3. The Near Zero Emissions Coal (NZEC) Initiative was agreed at the EU-China Summit as part of the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change under the UK's presidency of the EU in 2005. It aims to develop and demonstrate in China and the EU advanced, near-zero emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage. Under this agreement this UK is supporting a first phase assessment of options for demonstration with up to GBP3.5M.

4. The scope of work under the first phase has been developed through extensive consultation with our Chinese partners including a major international workshop in Beijing in July 2006.

5. The full list of partners within the NZEC consortium is as follows:

UK: AEA, Air Products, ALSTOM Power, BP, British Geological Survey, Doosan Babcock, Heriot Watt University, Imperial College London, Shell China: ACCA21 (the Administrative Centre for China's Agenda 21), BP Clean Energy Research and Education Centre, Tsinghua University (THCEC),Centre for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), China United Coalbed Methane Co Ltd China University of Petroleum (Beijing and HuanDong), Tsinghua University: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Department of Thermal Engineering(DTE), Energy, Environment and Economy (3E) Research Institute, Energy Research Institute (ERI), GreenGen, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Science (IET), Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Jilin Oilfield

6. The Near Zero Emissions Coal Initiative strongly complements the UK's announcement that it will run a competition to select a coal-fired commercial scale carbon capture demonstration in the UK based on post combustion technology. The demonstration should demonstrate post-combustion CCS on a coal-fired power station, with CO2 stored offshore. The Government will consider a phased approach to the project as long as the full CCS chain is demonstrated by 2014, and the project captures around 90% of the CO2 emitted by the equivalent of 300MW generating capacity as soon as possible thereafter.

7. More information on AEA is available at http://www.aeat.co.uk/

Defra's aim is sustainable development

CONTACT: Press enquiries Tel: +44 (0)20 7238 5334 Public enquiries Tel: +44 (0)8459 335 577 AEA http://www.aeat.co.uk/ Defra Tel: +44 (0)20 7238 1134 Fax: +44 (0)20 7238 5529 Tel: +44 (0)20 7270 8960 (Out of hours) Fax: +44 (0)20 7270 8125 (Out of hours) WWW: http://www.defra.gov.uk

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