In a related story (see above), the EU and China are launching a project, initiated by Sintef (Trondheim, Norway; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6893-532), to cut global emissions of greenhouse gases. In the three-year, €3-million "Coach" project, Europe will receive emissions quota for CO2 in exchange for "green" coal-fired power plants for China.
A twin of the EU’s Dynamis project (led by Sintef), the EU-China collaboration (lead by IFP) focuses on coal-based electric power generation with CO2 capture. The aim of Dynamis is to develop a full-scale coal or natural-gas-fired demonstration plant to produce electricity and hydrogen with CO2 capture; industrial and research participants of Dynamis are now working to determine where the plant will be located and which technology to use. The plant is planned for startup by 2012-2015.
Along the same lines, the Coach project involves eleven European and 9 Chinese partners from industry, universities and research centers to evaluate the best actions to take in China. For example, China’s aging coal-fired plants will be identified and replaced by new ones; the new plants will be evaluated as to which is the most suitable for CO2 capture, which technology to use and what to do with the CO2.
Between 2000 and 2004, China built new coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity greater than all existing plants in Germany or India. In 2005 alone, the country increased its generating capacity by 52 GW, says Sintef.