China woos the energy sector's Cinderella

While shale gas steals the limelight at the global energy ball, China zeroes in on its less glamorous yet abundant step-sister: coal - 

Confronted by an external oil dependency rate that exceeds 55% alongside intensifying popular demands to reduce its high carbon emissions, China is investing heavily in alternative forms of energy. With high extraction costs limiting the ability of shale gas to play a meaningful role in the nation's power supply equation any time soon, the country has turned its attention towards finding ways of more efficiently and cleanly extracting energy from the fuel source it is famous for: coal.

Coal conversion, a process that transforms coal into liquid or gaseous fuel, presents a means by which China can reduce both its emissions as well as its reliance on imported energy. However, while the country will increasingly consume energy produced from domestic coal conversion projects, these projects will certainly require foreign technology and expertise, Liu Yanwei, deputy chief engineer of the China National Petroleum and Chemical Planning Institute, told this news service in an interview.

“The output from coal conversion will enable China to decrease its imports of energy by 10 to 15% in the next several years,” he said, adding that while the upcoming initiatives to establish coal conversion plants will pose a threat to foreign suppliers of raw energy, multinationals are expected to play a strong role as technology providers.

“For high-capacity projects we will continue to use technology from foreign partners,” Liu said.