On June 15th, Chinese and U.S. experts sat down together to discuss the possibilities of clean coal utilization and converting coal into gas or liquid. The "China-U.S. Coal Gasification and Liquefaction Technique Seminar" held in Beijing is sponsored by the National Development and Reform Commission of China and the US Department of Energy.

China and U.S. are the world's largest energy consumers and coal producers. Coal makes up 76 percent of China's energy consumption and 58 percent in the U.S'. So how to use or convert coal cleanly is a common challenge for both two countries.

Miller, a senior engineer with the US Department of Energy, said the U.S. has been doing researches on coal gasification and liquefaction for the past 25 years and has acquired advanced coal conversion techniques. Due to enormous costs, commercialization has not been realized yet in U.S. where enterprises are still reluctant to do that.

Chinese companies have begun to take actions in this area. For example, Shen Hua Group Corporation Ltd. has launched a coal-to-liquid project which is the only large-scale coal conversion project in the world. The project is expected to be put into operation in 2007. Mr. Miller thought the U.S. should draw on Shenhua's experience.

By People's Daily Online