China And U.S. To Reach Agreement On Clean Energy

According to the British newspaper, The Financial Times, during his visit to Beijing, U.S. President Barack Obama will sign an agreement with Chinese President Hu Jintao to promote cooperation on clean energy between the two countries.

Officials are reported as saying that the agreement would cover carbon capture technology and electric vehicle related projects, but it would be unlikely that the two countries would make a breakthrough on climate change issues before the Climate Summit to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Officials from the White House said that the bilateral clean energy cooperation agreement which is taking shape would be a prime objective of Obama's state visit to China. Given that China and United States combined yield about 40% of the world's total carbon emissions, it is hoped that the U.S. will make use of this opportunity to break the ice on emission reduction between developing countries and developed countries. However it seems unlikely that this will happen as both countries both countries are rely heavily on coal-fired power and will put the emphasis on cooperation on new carbon capture technologies instead.

Analysts state that China and the United States have had a range of cooperation initiatives on alternative energy, but none of these led to definite action. They also point out that China is rapidly developing n wind power, solar power, and other sources of green energy, so the country's desire for cooperation with the United States may not be as strong as before.

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