Carbon capture tech mature but costly

China also realizes that no matter how much it does to promote solar, wind, or nuclear power, efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from burning coal are also required. The country gets 70 percent of its power from coal. Carbon capture technology has the potential to be the ultimate solution.

HuaNeng is China's largest electricity provider. This is the nation's first carbon dioxide capture machine to be installed in a coal-fired plant. Since beginning operations 16 months ago, the machine has captured 3,000 tons of CO2. The compound's liquefied form has 99.99 percent purity, and is a very valuable industrial material.

Cai Hongwang, General Manager of Huaneng Beijing Thermal Plant said "Four companies are trying to buy liquefied CO2 from us, but we can only meet the needs of one company. This machine is just a pilot model, and its operational cost is quite high. But we can still make some profit from capturing CO2."

The machine is designed, made, and used by a Chinese company. Thermal engineers say it can capture 85 percent of the CO2 emissions from a coal-fired plant, and can capture as much as 9 tons of green house gases per day.

Xu Shisen, Chief Engineer of Xi'an Academy of Thermal Engineering said "The cost of capturing CO2 from a coal-fired plant is around 50 to 70 US dollars per ton on the international market. China can keep the cost below 40 US dollars. This machine shows that the country's carbon capture technology is advanced internationally."

Liquefied carbon dioxide can used widely in different industries, including welding, food processing, and fire protection.

Though carbon capture technically looks prosperous, its infrastructure investment is huge, accounting for about 20 percent of the cost of a coal-fired plant. That means if China plans to equip all similar facilities with carbon capture machines, an investment of more than one trillion yuan will be needed. The nation is still working on ways to implement the technology on a practical scale.