Developments towards environmental regulation of CCUS projects in China

Abstract

In 2012, China stated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that it is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. While climate change is an environmental issue for China, more importantly it is a development issue. China intends to advance its efforts to address climate change through sustainable development. There is growing recognition and acceptance by the Chinese Central Government, that Carbon dioxide Capture Utilization and geological Storage (CCUS) will be part of that sustainable development, and that CCUS will play a prominent role in China's climate change abatement strategies, particularly in the medium to long term. China is making significant progress in its rollout of integrated CCUS projects. China has enacted a new environmental law which will come into effect on 1st January 2015. For the first time in China the environment will be as important as socio-economic development. Despite this progress, there are currently no national environmental regulations specifically for CCUS projects in China. This paper examines China's plans to develop and implement environmental requirements for CCUS projects, the policy objectives and drivers. The paper also describes the CO 2 monitoring program at China's first end to end CCS project near Ordos; monitoring at China's first CO 2 EOR development at the Jilin Oil Field; and a program to monitor CO 2 in shallow groundwater in western China.