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China aims to convert coal into ultra-clean energy resource
3/15/2006
BEIJING, Mar 14 (CEIS): China's central government, research institutions and enterprises are pitching in a joint effort to convert the country's rich coal reserves into a clean energy resource by using clean-coal technology.
Sun Yuhan, head of the Institute of Coal Chemistry (ICC) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said that multi-product production embodies the future of China's development of clean-coal technology (CCT).
The transformation of coal into "oil" or other high value- added chemical byproducts via liquidisation and gasification to produce clean fuels is still not well applied in China.
According to an ambitious national plan for China's science and technology development published in early February, China will prioritise the development of industrial energy-saving, clean and efficient use, and the multi-product production of coal in the coming 15 years.
China also plans to develop a technique for sealing up carbon dioxide generated in coal combustion to achieve near-zero emission.
For the time being, its CCT technology is not mature enough to catch up with the world level. China's CCT reserve, however, ranks among the first in the world, according to Sun.
Experts predict that China can develop its own coal fueled gasification technology with its own intellectual property rights in five years. The end product is said to be 50% cheaper than similar international products.
Chinese companies have also been actively involved in a research and pilot scheme of CCT. Construction has started in coal-rich Shanxi Province by the Shanxi Luan Group on a massive coal liquidisation project to get oil from coal.
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