'Clean coal' could offset petroleum shortage
By Zhao Huanxin (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-18 13:45 Hu Yuhong, an official with the China Coal Industry Association, yesterday
said she believed the ratio of natural gas will continue to edge up in the years
ahead, with projects launched to transfer gas from the country's west to its
east and to import the gas from Russia.
But ultimately, coal will remain
the major source of energy to fuel China's economy in the decades to come, she
said.
Clean Coal
With coal occupying such a dominant position in
its energy pool, the country has been planning to improve coal use efficiency
and has been studying clean coal technology since late 1980s, according to Huang
Shengchu, chief of the China Coal Information Institute.
In a speech
delivered yesterday in St Petersburg while attending the G8 Summit, President Hu
Jintao called for international communities to step up co-operative efforts to
develop clean coal technology.
Huang said China had been co-operating
with South Africa and the United States in piloting and promoting clean coal
technology in China.
Air emissions of sulfur dioxide and oxides of
nitrogen associated with coal burning could be significantly reduced by
liquefying coal, Huang said.
Hu of the China Coal Industry Association
said Shenhua Group, a pioneer in developing the coal liquefaction business in
China, had earmarked 25 billion yuan (US$3 billion) for clean coal
technology.
Last week, Shenhua signed an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell
and South Africa-based Sasol to build two coal liquefaction plants in Ningxia
Hui Autonomous Region in Northwest China.
Producing clean fuels through
coal liquefaction is a strategic solution to offsetting the country's shortage
of petroleum and balancing the country's energy structure, Cui said in his
energy development report.
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