U.S. & China Meet On Energy & Environment

Members of the President Bush's cabinet joined their Chinese government counterparts to discuss priority initiatives for energy and environmental cooperation. The discussions took place as part of theU.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) talks being held this week. Through the SED process, the U.S. hopes to share with China experience in formulating and implementing policies and initiatives that protect the environment while promoting economic growth.

The U.S. discussed four areas for environmental collaboration with theChinese.

1) The U.S. and China will work to develop up to 15 large-scale Coal-Mine Methane capture and utilization projects in China over the next 5 years. Methane is roughly 20 times more potent than carbondioxide as a greenhouse gas. Capturing methane creates a commodity that provides clean energy and increases mine safety.

2) The U.S. and China will work to advance development of a low sulfur fuel policy for China. Currently, China suffers from significant airpollution stemming from cars and trucks. Deploying low sulfur fuels in combination with new clean vehicle technologies will lead to major improvements in air quality.

3) Before the next session of the SED, the U.S. and China will complete the Joint Economic Study to evaluate different policy approaches for saving energy and controlling emissions from the Chinese and U.S. power sectors. Once completed, the study can be used by China and the U.S. to enhance the effectiveness of energy and environmental policies by providing information about the costs and benefits of different control strategies.

4) The U.S. and China will implement a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on energy efficiency product endorsement labeling.The initiative strengthens the partnership between the successful EnergyStar program and the China Standard Certification Center's labeling program. Activities under the MOU will build capacity for voluntary energy-efficiency endorsement labeling in China and explore labeling harmonization between the U.S. and China.

More information about U.S./China collaboration on clean air and energy projects: http://www.blogger.com/