Obama, China Come to Agreements on Clean Energy
The White House released a list of seven energy- and environment-related deals finalized on Obama’s trip, the most relevant of which may be the U.S.-China Electric Vehicles Initiative. The initiative will foster cooperation between the world’s two largest economies in developing “joint standards” of battery and grid development, which will lead to demonstration projects in more than a dozen cities.
China and the U.S. hope that the “technical road mapping and public education projects” laid down through the initiative will promote the widespread introduction of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in both countries.
Other cooperative energy projects include the U.S.-China Energy Research Center, a meager $150 million joint research program to develop clean coal, energy efficiency initiatives and electric vehicles; joint private-sector ventures to develop carbon capture and storage technology between companies like General Electric and the Chinese company GreenGen; the U.S.-China Shale Gas Resource Initiative to develop Chinese natural gas production; and an “action plan” to promote energy efficiency in buildings and appliances.
It’s not exactly the landmark environmental deal Obama was looking for when he began his term, but there is a chance that some of these projects could someday bear fruit in the form of, say, a better EV battery or an advanced electric grid.
