BEIJING: China is on a mission to reduce carbon emission from coal-fired power industry through the implementation of low-carbon upgrades and the use of new generation technologies, according to a government plan.
China, which consumes more energy than any other country in the world, relies heavily on coal as its energy source with highest carbon content.
The lowest emissions levels realized by natural gas fired power provides a reference for coal fired power in an action plan issued jointly by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and National Energy Administration this Monday.
Additionally, it also included three low-carbon power generation technologies that it would apply such as blending with biomass, green ammonia blending and carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS).
The first projects using these low-carbon technologies will come online by 2025; their average emissions from these projects would be 20% lower than in 2023 according to this roadmap.
However, in 2023 China intends to enhance operating costs of projects based on clean energy sources while at the same time reducing their overall CO2 emissions by half. It further urged local governments to back up those low-carbon schemes with funds.
Nonetheless, during a Q & A session held on Tuesday that was attended by representatives from NDRC who spoke stated that because renewables are intermittent coal power will always remain essential for energy security purposes.
