Facing China's Coal Future - IEA

Facing China’s Coal Future: Prospects and Challenges for CCS © OECD/IEA 2011
Stakeholder Perceptions of CCS Options in China
Introduction and views on role of CCS
Page | 44
In co‐ordination with the IEA, the China Coal Information Institute (CCII) 5 and The Climate Group
China, jointly conducted a survey to identify stakeholder perceptions of aspects of CCS
technology development in China. The 49 stakeholders surveyed included representatives from
government (8), industry (12), research institutions (25), and international organizations (4), with
expertise in CCS‐related energy policy, technical programmes and industries. This section
discusses the survey results and provides an indication of stakeholder perspectives on a range of
CCS technology development trends in China. The responses reflect personal opinions of
respondents and do not represent the positions of the agencies involved. They should be viewed
as providing insight and background to the current debate and discussion of CCS activities and
their direction in China.
Role of CCS in China
The survey suggests that approximately 80% of stakeholders consulted consider CCS a necessary
technology to deal with climate change, though the role, scale and the sectors most impacted
vary according to economic drivers, pace of technical development and the learning curve. The
findings also suggest that Chinese government agencies have adopted a positive but cautious
view of CCS development, noting that critical economic and technical issues remain to be
resolved. 75% percent of government stakeholders responded that CCS may be an important
means to reduce China’s GHG emissions in the future, with industry stakeholders taking a
somewhat lower though still positive attitude.
Among the mitigation options currently available, many stakeholders suggest that priority should
be given to:
(1) developing energy efficiency measures,
(2) renewable energy deployment,
(3)nuclear energy technologies, and
(4) CCS, as it is identified as the lowest priority of the four options.
Respondents from key research institutes and government agencies expressed that the energy
penalty and co‐ordination required across multiple industry sectors for large‐scale deployment of
CCS are barriers that limit long‐term sustainability of the technology, given unclear cost
requirements to make CCS a reality. There was scepticism from some stakeholders, who felt that
it would be challenging to develop scalable applications in industry at reasonable cost and for
large‐scale application of CCS across varying sectors and projects of varying scale. Nonetheless,
increased focus on carbon capture and CO 2 utilisation in China, using recycled CO 2 in production
processes, may be a choice to transition to the deployment of CCS for reduction of GHG
emissions.
5
The China Coal Information Institute is a research institute under China’s State Administration of Work Safety.