U.S., China initiatives for renewable energy projects

17 November 2009-- President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a package of measures meant to strengthen cooperation between the United States and China on clean energy. The measures include:

• A U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center that will facilitate joint research and development of energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies as well as serve as a clearinghouse to help researchers in each country. The Center will be supported by public and private funds of at least $150 million over five years, split evenly between the two countries;


• The U.S.-China Electric Vehicles Initiative. The initiative will include joint standards development, demonstration projects in several cities and technical roadmapping;


• A U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Action Plan, under which the two countries will work together to improve energy efficiency of buildings and industrial facilities. U.S. and Chinese officials will work together and with the private sector on building codes and rating systems, train energy efficiency auditors in industrial facilities and create a new U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Forum to be held annually;


• A U.S.-China Renewable Energy Partnership, that will help develop renewable energy projects in both countries, provide technical and analytical resources to support the projects and facilitate state-to-state and region-to-region partnerships to share information. A new Advanced Grid Working Group will bring together U.S. and Chinese policymakers, regulators and industry leaders to develop strategies for grid modernization in both countries, and a new U.S.-China Renewable Energy Forum will be held annually;


• A cooperative to promote large-scale CCS demonstration projects and a program of technical cooperation to bring teams of U.S. and Chinese scientists together to develop CCS and clean coal technologies. The China Power Engineering and Consulting Group Corp. received a grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to support a feasibility study for an integrated gasification and combined cycle (IGCC) power plant in China using U.S.-made technology and several agreements between U.S.-based and China-based companies to develop IGCC and methane capture technologies at coal-fired power plants;


• A Shale Gas Initiative expected to assess China's shale gas potential, conduct joint technical studies to accelerate development of shale gas resources in China and promote shale gas investment in China through the U.S.-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum, and


• The U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Program, which will leverage private sector resources for project development work in China, including renewable energy projects, smart grid, energy efficient buildings, combined heat and power (CHP) and clean coal.