The European Commission set out a plan on Thursday to help finance the design and construction of a power plant to demonstrate carbon capture and geological storage (CCS) technology in China.

The commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU), said it has programmed funding of up to 50 million euros (US$70 million) for the construction and operation phase of the project, out of a total of 60 million euros (US$84 million) that has been earmarked for cooperation with emerging economies on cleaner coal technologies and CCS.

But the funding is only a fraction of the project's total cost, which is estimated at 300 to 550 million euros (US$420 to 770 million). Therefore, the commission called on EU member states and China to contribute additional funding.

The commission said CCS is an important technology in the fight against climate change and has the potential to cut emissions from power generation in fast-developing and coal-dependent emerging economies, such as China.

The technology involves separating carbon dioxide from gases produced in large power plants, compressing it into liquid and burying it deep underground or under the ocean bed.

So far, EU leaders have committed themselves to the establishment of a network of up to 12 CCS demonstration plants in the 27-nation bloc by 2015.

"We have taken action to put in place the regulatory framework and the incentives to facilitate CCS demonstration in Europe and now we are making good on our promise to China," EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement.

"This important cooperation between the EU and China on CCS can act as a model for cooperation under the post-2012 global climate change regime the world must agree in Copenhagen in December," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2009)