JonmanHere's what's happening in MongoliaChina is striving to...

Jonman
Here's what's happening in Mongolia

China is striving to balance its growing energy demand with its environmental priorities. Through recent expansion of clean coal technologies, China is becoming a testing ground for large-scale clean coal facilities.

In 2011, China inked two significant deals to bring foreign clean coal technologies into its midst. The first was Seamwell International‘s $1.5 billion deal in June to develop an electric power plant using synthesis gas extracted from gasifying coal deposits via underground coal gasification (UCG) in collaboration with the China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group. Once operational, the 1,000 megawatt power plant will burn 6 million tonnes of coal annually, and will reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent compared to a traditional power plant.

In November, Georgia-based CoalTek announced that its 50-50 joint venture deal with Yijian Group Co., Ltd received final approval to build a clean coal processing facility in Inner Mongolia from the Chinese authorities. Transforming 10 million metric tonnes of low-grade brown coal into high-thermal value coal, the facility created by the US $350 million deal will burn coal more efficiently and produce lower emissions. The deal also represented the first Sino-US clean coal joint venture from the 2009 bilateral Strategic Partnership Agreement between Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama.

Deals like these will likely become more prevalent in the coming years as industry in China responds to policy levers put in place to clean up the coal sector. Following the Chinese government’s 12th Five-Year Plan, introduced in March 2011, energy production and environmental protection are set to become integrated priorities.

According to Chinese energy expert Wenran Jiang, by 2015 China aims to discard its “exploration first, cleanup second” mentality to stressing the coordination of energy extraction and environment protection.



Read more: http://resourceinvestingnews.com/31350-chinas-clean-coal-game.html#ixzz1nASfGN3A