i-Nuclear update: China and UK energy strategists meeting in Beijing for 'unprecedented collaboration'

China and UK energy strategists meeting in Beijing for ‘unprecedented collaboration’ by I-Nuclear Energy strategists from the UK and China are meeting in Beijing for a four-day conference aimed at sharing tools and strategies for tackling climate change, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said September 18. The meeting comes, coincidentally, only weeks before Chinese state nuclear companies are expected to participate in bids to buy Horizon Nuclear Power, the German joint venture company, with sites for building up to four nuclear reactors in the UK. Areva has already confirmed its intention to bid to buy Horizon along with Chinese partners, “probably CGNPC [China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp.], and other players.” Similarly, Westinghouse is also expected to submit a bid with Chinese partners by the reported deadline at the end of this month. In a statement September 18, DECC said “unprecedented collaboration between energy strategists from the UK and China will culminate in a high level conference, held on 18-21st September in Beijing.” China’s Energy Research Institute (ERI) has been working with its British counterparts to adapt the UK Government’s ‘2050 Calculator’ to their own economy, DECC said. In 2010, DECC built the 2050 Calculator, under the direction of David Mackay, chief scientific advisor at DECC, to ensure DECC’s short and medium term planning was consistent with achieving the long-term aim of carbon reductions. The online tool, which will be available to the public, exposes the risks and trade-offs associated with different future energy scenarios. For example: what balance could be struck between energy efficiency and building new power supply? What is the role for new nuclear? Which technologies will be adopted? The China Calculator was supported by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office: Prosperity Fund programme, which aims to tackle climate change, strengthen energy security and promote an open global economy in key emerging economies. DECC and the FCO, with the support of the British Embassy Beijing, are jointly hosting the conference, alongside China’s ERI, which will showcase the work to date and look to further countries taking part, DECC said. Using the latest and most detailed data available, China’s ERI have created a tool that allows the user to select how China will achieve its energy security up to 2050. The tool covers the entire energy sector, and will be open to experts and ordinary people alike, to model how different energy decisions will affect the whole country, said Ed Davey, UK Secretary of State for Energy. I-Nuclear | September 18, 2012 at 1:43 pm | Categories: China, DECC, UK | URL: http://wp.me/p22dAl-o1