Amidst all the pondering and wondering about crude oil, recent reports have pointed out that coal still accounts for most of the emissions, especially in China. While it is having the largest population in the world and growing at a supersonic rate, it gets 80% of the power from coal based power plants which are coming up in large numbers all over the country. The scientific community has taken a note of this fact and so now some Chinese and American experts are working together in this front. They are working on a new technology called integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) which would be far less polluting than the coal based plants. China, as of now, does not have any fixed cap on emissions which a cause of concern to the entire world. But nonetheless, they are also looking to cut down their energy consumption.
GreenGen, a subsidiary of state owned power company in China, is utilizing this IGCC technology for power generation and hope to reduce emissions drastically in the near future. At the same time in the US also an alliance of several energy companies has been formed which is known as the FutureGen alliance. It had ambitious plans for the future but has lost support from the government due to rising capital costs!
The entire issue is now at a strategic point in both the countries. While the scientists are confident about future success, the governments are hesitating about present costs. And the fate of entire world depends on the result of these initiatives as US and China are the top two energy producers and consumers in this world. It is heartening to see that China is finally talking the issue seriously and trying to be more accountable towards the environment. It is now aspiring to be the largest producer of renewable energy very soon. But the US government seems to be still in a fix with its myopic views about costs which are worth incurring for the sake of energy security and a cleaner planet!
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Source: EarthPortal