China has a huge potential for carbon capture and storage (CSS), a mechanism that could prove crucial in the fight against climate change, said Serge Abou, EU ambassador to China.

"No projections beyond 2020 give any realistic hope of stopping the climate crisis without applying CCS in the power sector," he told China Daily yesterday. "So it is time now for the European Union (EU) and China to decide on the active promotion of CSS."

Abou was speaking following the results of the first phase of the China-EU Near-Zero Emissions Coal project, which is aimed at examining options for CCS in China, as well as the potential capacity and expertise.

According to key findings, the mechanism could one day be a low-carbon option for coal-based energy supply, there is potentially significant storage capacity in saline aquifers and oilfields in eastern and northeastern parts of the country.

Appropriate regulations and standards of liability and safety would be necessary for CCS deployment, the results showed.

The cost of deployment would be 25-30 euros ($37-45) per ton of carbon when the mechanism is commercially established, said Abou.

The EU has earmarked 57 million euros for the China-EU program.

"The Chinese government has taken an important step by establishing a leading group to cooperate with the EU on CCS," said Ma Yanhe, director-general of the Ministry of Science and Technology. "China supports research and development of CCS

"It is a promising technology that can help achieve near-zero emissions from combustion of coal, although there are several outstanding issues."