OREANDA-NEWS. January 30, 2013. Although its per-capita emission is roughly on par with the world's average, China is the world's largest carbon dioxide emitter, spawning a nationwide thirst for an expansion of its new energy sector, where it is already a world leader.

Facing increasing pressure from climate change brought about by fossil fuels, China has made it a national obsession to uncover the potential of new energy. It has carved out its own path to tackle climate change by creating ambitious targets in its five-year plans and making ecological progress part of its national development strategy.

"The trend of continuous growth in energy demands can't be altered," said Li Junfeng, Director of the National Climate Change Strategy Research and International Cooperation Center, on the sideline of the New Year Forum held by the Guanghua Management School of Peking University in Beijing.

"The only way forward is to enhance the efficiency of energy consumption through technological innovation, which can give us both a higher-quality life and a lower-carbon future," said Li.

"We should have the faith that better technology for the new energy sector, which can change the world, can be invented. This has been proven through countless examples during the past decade," said Yu Pingrong, professor at the School of Engineering of Peking University. "More innovation is needed in this sector."

Recycling carbon

De-carbonization has become a trend in China's energy sector as the country places more demands on companies to combat emissions. Compared with the exploitation of non-fossil fuel energy, which is unstable and costs more, a more realistic move for now is to eliminate carbon dioxide emission.

In 2009, Shenhua Group Corp. Ltd., the largest coal company in China and the world's largest coal supplier, established the National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy in Beijing, aimed at carbon capture and storage, which can lower the carbon emitted from burning coal.

"Trash is a misplaced treasure," said Huang Qing, Shenhua Group's Board Secretary. "Carbon dioxide is a key to the photosynthesis of plants. In the future, if human beings can benefit from the process, carbon dioxide will become a valuable resource."

Right now, there is no good way for dealing with carbon emissions. Over 500 research fellows at the National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy are researching ways to capture emitted carbon dioxide and store it for future use, he said.

Utilizing gas

More effort is being directed at using a fossil fuel source that has a lower proportion of carbon, such as natural gas, experts agreed at the forum.

Lu Jianzhong, Deputy Director of Research Institute of Economy and Technology under the China National Petroleum Corp., thinks the country should popularize the use of natural gas, which is a type of traditional fossil fuel energy that emits less carbon dioxide.

The development of natural gas has reached a prime stage in China. There are abundant reserves of natural gas on earth, which can meet the demands of the whole world by 2050 if fully exploited. Also, the price of natural gas is 30-50 percent lower than that of petroleum and people are more willing to consume it. In the next two decades, natural gas will be the fastest-growing type of fossil fuel in the country, said Lu. By the end of 2011, China had over 20,000 liquefied natural gas vehicles, which are more environmental friendly and more economical.

"In order to better utilize natural gas, we should expand international cooperation and give private capital more access to the sector," Lu said.

Currently, a shale gas revolution is changing the structure of global energy.

The gas is formed when trapped within shale formations. With methane as its main ingredient, it is a clean and efficient source of energy.

The gas is collected through the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. It has become an increasingly important source of natural gas and may transform the world's future energy outlook.

The United States introduced fracking technology to the world. Since then, its exploitation technology and optimized pipe network infrastructure have put shale gas exploration on par with collecting other natural resources.

From 2006 to 2010, the output of shale gas in the United States increased 20 fold, from 1 percent of the total output of the country's natural gas in 2006 to 20 percent in 2010. In 2011, output totaled more than 170 billion cubic meters, greatly reducing its dependence on energy imports.

The shale gas revolution has helped the country become the leading nation in natural gas stocks and also cut its oil imports from 60 percent of total consumption in 2005 to 46 percent. Experts estimate that the United States can change its current reliance on natural gas imports, realize self-sufficiency or even become a leading exporter in the next 10 years.

China has about 20 percent of the globe's total shale gas reserves, the largest in the world, according to a report published by the Ministry of Land and Resources on July 23.

Following suit with the global trend, the Chinese Government is planning on an output of 6.5 billion cubic meters of shale gas by 2015.

"When it comes to exploiting shale gas, China has its own peculiarities in terms of geography, technology level and business models. We shouldn't copy the experience of North America," said Lu.

"Instead of only focusing on moguls in the business, such as Shell and BP, we should also pay attention to small foreign hi-tech companies with cutting-edge technology in the industry. Most of the key technologies are mastered by small companies and we can look to cooperate with them," said Lu.