U.S. and China working on biofuels pact

The United States and China are working on a pact to promote the use of biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen energy security. They could announce the agreement as early as next month, an American official said today in Beijing. It would be Washington's first such pact in Asia, following similar agreements with Brazil and Sweden.

The agreement would call for cooperation in research, producing crops for fuel and other areas, said Alexander Karsner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He was in Beijing for talks with officials from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, to discuss the promotion of renewable energy sources.

We have concluded an agreement for exchanging expertise, technical assistance and technology development on energy efficiency. That agreement is mature and we are now moving to implementation. [...] Through our agreement with China, we hope to transfer this knowledge and expertise. [...] We had a very productive, lengthy and engaging dialogue on a wide range of issues, things of mutual concern like energy markets, global climate change, price of oil and studies of science and technology between the two countries. - Alexander Karsner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

The United States and China are the world's biggest oil consumers and producers of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists say trap the sun's heat and are raising global temperatures. In its latest World Energy Outlook, the IEA said the People's Republic will become a larger emitter than the U.S. this year. The agency also projects that in a business as usual scenario, global CO2 emissions will jump from 27 gigatonnes in 2005 to 42 Gt in 2030, with China alone accounting for 42% of the increase. In a high growth scenario, this share will increase to a whopping 49%, more than the rest of the world combined (except India) (graph, click to enlarge and previous post).

Karsner said he and Chinese officials talked about a meeting next month in Indonesia of environment officials from 80 countries to discuss a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol on emissions reductions. He said he did not bring up Washington's insistence that Beijing, a major emissions source, accept binding limits. China has rejected emissions caps, saying it prioritises economic development and poverty alleviation, but says it remains committed to trying to curb greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible (earlier post):
energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: biobutanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: China :: United States ::

A biofuels agreement could be announced at the Dec. 12 meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue, a high-level U.S.-Chinese forum on trade and other issues, Karsner said. He declined to give details, saying they still are being discussed.

"China is a natural, as would be India, to enhance cooperation on biofuels," he said.

China has promoted wind power, biomass, biogas, biofuels and solar energy in hopes of reducing environmental damage from heavy use of coal and oil to fuel its booming economy. The communist government also wants to curb reliance on imported energy, which it sees as a strategic weakness.

China already is the third-largest producer of biofuels after the United States and Brazil, which account for 80 percent of global production, according to Karsner.

Recently the country announced a new plan to boost international cooperation in the development of renewables (earlier post). The plan is part of its $256 billion development strategy for renewable energy launched earlier this year which aims at increasing the proportion of renewable energy to 10 percent of total consumption by 2010, and to 15 percent by 2020. Renewables currently account for just 1 percent of China's total primary energy production (previous post).

References:
Xinhuanet: U.S. energy official: Sino-U.S. biofuel agreement in the works - November 16, 2007.

Associated Press: US, China Working on Biofuel Pact - November 16, 2007.

Biopact: IEA WEO: China and India transform global energy landscape - demand, emissions to grow 'inexorably' - November 08, 2007

Biopact: China unveils $265 billion renewable energy plan, aims for 15% renewables by 2020 - September 06, 2007

Biopact: China: poverty reduction, energy security more important than capping emissions - November 12, 2007

Biopact: China launches project to enhance international cooperation on new and renewable energy - November 14, 2007

Biopact: Brazil and U.S. sign biofuels cooperation agreement - March 09, 2007