US and China team up to fund clean tech university research

The agreement between the US and China to co-operate on the development of critical clean technologies has delivered some of its first tangible results this week after US Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a $125m joint US-Chinese research programme that will provide funding to two academic consortia.

The funding, awarded as part the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Centre initiative, will focus on advances in clean vehicles, along with developments in clean coal, including carbon capture and storage.

"Both the US and China have abundant coal resources - but neither country can afford to burn coal in the 21st-century using 20th century technologies," said officials at the Department of Energy.

The clean vehicles program, led by the University of Michigan, will focus on electrification of cars and other vehicles. General Motors, Ford, Toyota, and Chrysler join Ohio State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Joint BioEnergy Institute in the research consortium.

Under the terms of the funding agreement the US government will provide $25m in funding and the consortium will need to provide match funding, creating a total of $50m in research capital from the US. This will be matched by China, creating a total of $100m in fresh funding.

The West Virginia University leads the second $25m project focusing on clean coal. Other parties involved in the project include General Electric, Duke Energy, American Electric Power, and universities including the university of Wyoming.

The US-China Clean Energy Research Centre was launched last November, when Chu accompanied president Obama on a trip to Beijing

Another $12.5m funding award will be made later this autumn, to a consortium focusing on building energy efficiency, the Department of Energy said.