CCS in China

• Overview
• Policy environment
• Status of CCS
• Key Organisations
• Global CCS Institute activities in China
• Translated reports

Overview

China is the world's most populous country with the second largest economy, which is growing rapidly. Underpinned by fossil fuels, China’s currently high and rising energy demand resulted in China surpassing the US to become the world's largest contributor to CO₂ emissions in 2007. Fossil-based energy will continue to dominate China’s energy supply in the foreseeable future.

China's total CO₂ emissions (excluding land use change) are estimated to have accounted for almost 25 per cent (7,200 MtCO₂e) of total world emissions in 2008. Energy-related CO₂ emissions (electricity and heat, manufacturing and construction, transportation and other fuel combustion) accounted for 90 per cent (6,508 MtCO₂e) and industrial processes, 10 per cent (692 MtCO₂e) of China’s CO₂ emissions.

Figure 1. CO₂ Emissions by Sector in 2008 (excludes land use change). Source: World Resources Institute, Climate Analysis Indicators Tool http://cait.wri.org/

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal and holds an estimated 14 per cent (third largest behind the US and Russia) of the world’s total coal reserves. In 2008, 71 per cent of China’s energy consumption was sourced from coal, equivalent to almost half the world’s coal consumption. Oil is the next largest source of energy consumption at 19 per cent, the majority of which is imported, and is growing rapidly.  The shares of gas, hydroelectricity, nuclear and other renewables are still quite small and in total amount to just over 10 per cent of the energy consumption mix.

Figure 2. Total Energy Consumption by Type in 2008. Source: China Country Analysis, US Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=CH

Policy environment

China is taking a systematic approach to deploy CCS, based on the establishment of a strong R&D base, followed by the roll-out of large-scale demonstration projects. CCS was identified in the Outline for National Medium and Long-term Science and Technology Development Plan Towards 2020 as one of the leading-edge technologies for further development. CCS has also been supported under China’s science and technology programs during the 10^th and 11^th five-year planning periods, and support for the technology has increased under the current 12^th Five-Year Plan (FYP). The FYPs map China’s objectives and goals for social and economic development and industrial planning in key sectors and regions.

The 12^th Five-Year Work Plan on Controlling GHG Emissions was drafted by the Department of Climate Change, National Development and Reform Commission (DCC-NDRC) and issued by the Central Government in November 2011. The plan covers the period from 2011-15 and devotes considerable attention to energy and climate change with specific references to CCS, or CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation and storage) as it is often referred to in China. Under this work plan, China has set the goal of developing carbon capture experimental projects in the thermal power, coal-chemical, cement, and steel sectors and developing fully integrated CCUS demonstration projects with the captured CO₂ to be used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and geological storage. The plan also states China’s aim of developing new CCUS technologies and indigenous intellectual property rights.

The coal-chemical sector, an important strategic industry sector, features in a number of China’s policy documents in the context of CCUS. The 12^th Five-Year Plan on Coal Industry Development, published by the NDRC in March 2012, states that China will support research and demonstration of CCUS. In addition, China’s Notification on Orderly Development of Coal-Chemistry, issued by NDRC in March 2011, requires all new coal-chemical demonstration projects to be capable of substantially reducing CO₂ emissions. This means that newly-built coal-chemical demonstration projects will need to consider installing technologies such as large-scale CCUS facilities in order to control their CO₂ emissions.

More broadly, China’s target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions under the 12^th FYP includes:

• reducing carbon intensity (CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP) by 17 per cent;
• reducing energy intensity (energy consumption per unit of GDP) by 16 per cent; and
• increasing the share of non-fossil energy to 11.4 per cent.

Status of CCS

China has one of the largest numbers of CCS pilot projects in the world and some of these projects are currently in operation. With the experience and confidence gained from implementing these pilot projects, there has been significant growth in the number of large-scale fully integrated projects (LSIP) being proposed.  As at May 2012, the Institute recorded six LSIPs in China and this number is expected to increase with the current 2012 CCS LSIP survey.

Most of the proposed LSIPs are driven by major state-owned power generation, coal and oil companies and many also involve major international partner(s) who are able to bring their experience and expertise to the project. 

The choice of capture technology for China’s LSIPs has typically favored pre-combustion capture from power plants and coal chemical plants. However, recently, there has been a notable increase in interest in oxyfuel projects.

In terms of storage, there continues to be a particularly strong focus on using the captured CO₂ for commercial applications that may generate a revenue stream. The use of CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has been practiced in China since 2006 and the majority of the proposed LSIPs are considering EOR as their preferred storage option. There are also two PCC pilot projects currently in operation which sells food-grade CO₂ for food and beverage production.   

Key Organisations

Government & Academia

• National Development and Reform Commission  
• Ministry of Science and Technology
• China’s Agenda 21
• Chinese Academy of Sciences 

Industry

• China Huaneng Group
• China Datang Corporation
• Shenhua Group Corporation
• PetroChina Company
• Sinopec Group

Translated reports

The status of CCS globally, including large scale integrated projects in China are tracked and reported in the Institute’s annual Global Status of CCS Report. We have translated the following reports into Chinese:

• 2012年全球CCS发展现状报告摘要(Summary of the Global Status of CCS: 2012)
• 2011年全球CCS发展现状报告(The Global Status of CCS: 2011)
• 2011年全球CCS发展现状报告摘要(Summary of the Global Status of CCS: 2011)
• 2010年全球CCS发展现状报告 (The Global Status of CCS: 2010)*