The president of China Petrochemical Corp Ma Yongsheng has called for an increased number of carbon capture projects to be included in the country’s Certified Emission Reduction (CCER) program.
The program was suspended in 2017 but it is edging closer to being restarted later in 2023, according to reports.
Ma was speaking at the “two sessions” annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference earlier in March.
Ma stressed on the essential role carbon capture will have in reaching the country’s carbon targets but highlighted the challenges that stood before it. A lack of industry guidelines and high implementation costs were mentioned as hurdles that need to be overcome if the technology can fulfill its promise as a carbon reduction method.
Ma also added: “[The] scale [of carbon capture technology] is still not as ideal considering the amount of carbon emissions. Still lagging compared with the international advanced levels in core technologies, the costs also remain high, which further limits its large-scale commercial application.”
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Including carbon capture in the CCER would address part of the investment needed to deploy it at scale and would incentivize companies to act of their own volition, as opposed to a top-down approach to enforcing regulations.
China has committed to reducing its emissions by “over 65%” in 2030 from 2005 levels and be carbon neutral by 2060.
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