Berkeley Lab Presents at 3rd Sino-U.S. Energy and Environment Summit Forum

December 13, 2017

The 3rd Sino-U.S. Energy and Environment Summit Forum was held in Changsha, China on December 4-5, 2017. The event was organized by Stony Brook University and Tongji University under the banner of the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships program. Over 300 representatives from the U.S. and Chinese government, universities, research organizations and private sector participated in the forum, which focused on monetizing fugitive gases in the context of global water, air and soil issues and aimed to promote exchanges in energy and environmental areas between the U.S. and China.

Zhuang Jia, Director of the U.S. Office of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in China, provided opening remarks. Ms. Zhuang emphasized that China and the U.S. shared responsibility in ensuring energy security and tackling global challenges. She also recognized the importance of research exchanges and collaboration in the energy and environmental areas between the two countries, which not only contributes to the economic development of the two countries, but also reflects the two largest nations’ commitment to improving the global environment.

Dr. Yao Yuan, a Program Manager of the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center's Building Energy Efficiency Consortium (CERC-BEE) of the China Energy Group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, attended the forum and delivered a speech on the “Value of U.S.-China EcoPartnerships Program” on behalf of the U.S. Secretariat of the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships. Dr. Yao also presented recent research results on potential non-CO2 greenhouse gases emissions mitigation in China from a study by the China Energy Group and the Berkeley-Tsinghua Joint Research Center.

Dr. He Gang, an Assistant Professor at the Stony Brook University and a Visiting Faculty Affiliate for the China Energy Group, also attended the forum and delivered a speech on, “Modeling the Energy, Climate, and Water Nexus Challenges in China's Power Sector.” He has worked with the China Energy Group since 2011 with research work focused on low carbon development, energy modeling, and energy economics.

Background

U.S.-China Ten Year Energy and Environment Cooperation Framework 

In June, 2008, at the fourth meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED) in Annapolis, Maryland, the United States and China signed a Ten Year Energy and Environment Cooperation Framework (TYF), which called for the U.S. and Chinese national governments to work together in energy and environmental areas, in order to tackle global challenges on sustainable development, climate change and energy security. Currently, the TYF focuses on six priority areas: clean air, clean water, clean and efficient transportation, energy efficiency, forest and wetland ecosystem protection, and clean, efficient and secure power generation and transmission.

U.S.- China EcoPartnerships Program

In December 2008, during the fifth U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Beijing, the United States and China signed the EcoPartnerships Framework and launched the first seven EcoPartnerships. The Framework noted that the aim of the program was to spur development of new models of mutually beneficial voluntary arrangements between like-minded organizations at the sub-national level (e.g., non-government organizations (NGO), academia, enterprises, local government), and to promote energy security, economic growth, and environmental sustainability in both countries.

LBNL, together with the Shandong Academy of Sciences, joined the program in 2014, with a focus on collaboration on low carbon development strategy and policy tool development. Specific tasks include promoting and applying the Green Resources & Energy Analysis Tool (GREAT) and the Benchmarking and Energy Saving Tool for Low Carbon Cities (BEST Cities) tool, which recently won a prestigious R&D 100 Award, developed by LBNL's China Energy Group.

Group photo at the 3rd Sino-U.S. Energy and Environment Summit Forum

Dr. Yao Yuan delivering a speech on the "Value of U.S.-China EcoPartnerships Program"

Dr. Yao presenting recent research results on potential non-CO2 greenhouse gases emissions mitigation in China

Dr. He Gang presenting his work on "Modeling the Energy, Climate, and Water Nexus Challenges in China's Power Sector"