Isra-Mart srl:Government reveals Chinese low-carbon alliance

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The government has revealed fresh details of how it is working with China to help cut carbon emissions, following the prime minster's visit to Beijing last week to forge links with the world's fastest-growing green market.

Just a day after the government was urged to develop closer low-carbon ties with India, climate change minister Greg Barker yesterday outlined government support for major research initiatives into the effects of climate change and possible adaptation measures, as well as joint energy technology projects in China.

In written responses to a series of questions by Green MP Caroline Lucas, Barker also revealed that energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne's time in China alongside David Cameron had yielded an agreement to increase low-carbon development and energy efficiency knowledge-sharing between the two countries.

He said the government was also supporting a £108,000 study from Sussex and Tsinghua universities to assess the barriers to the transfer of low-carbon energy technology between the UK and China, which the government envisages will inform future bilateral discussions.

Barker said the research would build on "seven years of collaboration" between the UK and China and listed several other ongoing projects led by British universities that the government is funding.

He said that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) had pledged £500,000, and the Department for International Development (DFID) a further £2.5m, to the Adaptation to Climate Change in China (ACCC) programme, which is exploring the potential impacts of climate change on Chinese agriculture, water resources, health and disaster management.

He also revealed that a total of £325,000 has been put towards two projects examining if new power plants can be retrofitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, while a £270,000 project to determine the strategic benefits of biomass co-firing in China has just finished.

In addition, the UK continues to be involved in the EU-China Near Zero Emissions Coal project, which could cost the EU up to €50m (£42m). As part of the project, the EU and China have committed to develop and demonstrate advanced, near-zero emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage by 2020.

Barker said the various projects would be of benefit to other developing nations and create new opportunities for UK industries.

"[These programmes have] developed productive links between UK and Chinese researchers, including collaboration between the Met Office Hadley Centre and the China Meteorological Administration," he said.

However, he added that "no estimate has yet been made of the number of new green jobs likely to be created in the UK as a result of these agreements and activities".