When U.S. President Barack Obama and China President Xi Jin Ping met for at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, they made a deal to fight climate change for good.
Two global powerhouses- the U.S. and China joined forces and pledged for "a greener future" as they outline the ways they intend to lower down their greenhouse gases emissions.
Both detailed an ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target-the U.S. aims to lessen its emissions below the 1990 levels, while it pushes China to get one-fifth of its power from low-carbon sources by 2030.
China and getting 70 percent of its power from coal and is the world's biggest coal consumer, and, as the International Energy Agency predicts, will consumer over half the world's coal in 2030.
This "coal addiction" called for the country to find ways in order to generate cheaper energy sources, as it outlined in the strategic plans with the U.S.
China's plan calls for a major pilot project to study carbon capture and sequestration, a technology intended to capture carbon dioxide from coal plants and either bury it underground or repackage it for use as an industrial chemical.
China's renewable energy sector, already one of the world's biggest, would exponentially grow over the next decade should the plan push through.
China would need to roll out additional 800 to 1000 gigawatts of low-carbon energy sources by 2030. Aside from that, the deal would open up opportunities for the clean energy sector, as it would also generate funding for research and development projects focused on energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean vehicles.
China and the U.S. have started off on a rocky path since they butt heads over thepast few years over solar power. American solar panel manufacturers were complaining that Chinese companies were giving low quality, cheap solar panels in the U.S., prompting the U.S. Commerce Department to increase tariffs on Chinese solar technology.
