US-CHINA ADVANCED COAL TECHNOLOGY CONSORTIUM, US-CHINA CLEAN ENERGY RESEARACH CENTER: RESEARCH DIRECTION AND PROGRAM OVERVIEW

摘要

In November 2009, President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao announced theestablishment of the $150 million U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) to be fundedequally by the two countries to support cooperative work in their individual countries. The Protocolformally establishing the Center was signed at ceremonies in Beijing by U.S. Energy Secretary StevenChu, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, and Chinese National Energy AgencyAdministrator Zhang Guobao. The CERC was designed to significantly improve the cooperation betweenthe two countries in energy research and development in the areas of clean coal technology and carboncapture, sequestration and storage; clean vehicles; and building energy efficiency. In August, 2010, theU.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of the Advanced Coal TechnologyConsortium (ACTC) led by West Virginia University as the U.S. participants in the CERC for coalrelated issues; the China team was announced later that fall and adopted the same name. Initial five yearjoint work plans for the U.S. and China participants in all three areas were signed on January 11, 2011during President Hu Jintao’s visit to the U.S.Since that time, the ACTC has made significant advances in developing new approaches tointellectual property (IP) management and collaborative research efforts. The research issues are brokeninto eight themes: Advanced Power Generation; Clean Coal Conversion Technology; Pre-CombustionCO_2 Capture; Post-Combustion CO_2 Capture; Oxy-Combustion Technology Development; CO_2Sequestration; CO_2 Utilization with Microalgae; and Systems Integration, Simulation and Assessment. Inaddition, the ACTC has included significant activities related to IP management and development and aspecific Communications and Integration task.Activities to date include some dominated by Chinese participants and some by the U.S. team.We are now seeing increasing activity in areas of mutual interest that are truly collaborative. The longtermvalue of the CERC and the opportunity for mutual benefit will depend largely on the value of thecollaborative activities now underway.This paper provides an overview of the program from the beginning through the midpoint of theinitial five year project plan. It also provides an overall assessment of the program as well as a perspectivefrom the leadership of both the China and U.S. consortia. The CERC has broken new ground in researchrelationships between the two countries; this presentation will lay these out and provide an opportunityfor discussion of the path ahead.