CCS is seen as a central component in the low carbon economy and one of the most promising technologies in global emission reduction.
International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that fossil fuels will continue to be the dominant source of energy by 2030 and remain the same by 2050. Hence, apart from increasing the use of renewable energy, we need to cut emissions from fossil fuels. CCS is recognized as having the largest potential in tackling climate change and considered an imperative part of the mitigation portfolio, especially for China, the biggest coal producer and consumer in the world.
Experience from CCS projects has been gained for more than a decade. But cost is a major obstacle for commercial deployment of the technology. A transition to CCS will have to rely on a fiscal and regulatory framework that creates the right incentives. Though there are currently no incentives in place for private companies, there is large potential for technology improvement and cost reduction in the coming decades with the significant efforts of the United States and other G-8 countries, the European Union and China.
China sees a huge market too, as CCS could play a crucial role in the areas of carbon trading and the Clean Development Mechanism. CCS has been enlisted in China’s National Climate Change Programme and China’s Scientific and Technological Actions on Climate Change issued in 2007, and CCS is one of the key projects in China’s important scientific programme 863. China is not only developing its own CCS projects like the GreenGen projects jointly run by several national power companies but also participates in international projects such as COACH (Sino-EC), NZEC (Sino-UK), STRACO2 (Sino-EU). Although only at an initial stage of developing capture technology, China is already onto the mapping of its storage capacity and tries to make CCS a core part of its environmental industry.
The Chinese public are aware of the importance of tackling the climate change. But the need for a regulatory framework, public acceptance and better understanding of an advanced technology like CCS no doubt puts a heavy task on the shoulder of Chinese media. After all, they are the eyes through which China sees the world.