China: Stable energy supplies a priority
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-20 15:21

China is seeking technologies to ensure stable energy supplies, a top priority for economic planning, a senior government official said Monday.

"By developing these technologies, we can resolve issues restricting growth and enhance growth," Ma Songde, vice minister of science and technology, said in an address to a conference on energy cooperation with the European Union.

China, seeking oil and gas to fuel its booming economy, has been snapping up energy resources in places as far flung as Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Australia.

China would seek foreign investment and cooperation in power generation, particularly in clean energy, Ma said.

"Its already clear that China has to fully use opportunities to expand international cooperation," Ma said.

The EU's energy commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, said the grouping shared concerns about the need to diversify energy sources.

"Despite some improvements in efficiency, major oil discoveries are becoming rarer and rarer," Piebalgs said. "Underinvestment has led to a tightening of the market and higher oil prices that can undermine economic growth," he said.

European speakers at the conference stressed the vulnerability the continent is feeling following the disruption of natural gas supplies during a New Year's dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

"It has become painfully clear to all of us we need a sharper focus on energy security," said Austria's ambassador to China, Hans Dietmar Schweisgut.

Piebalgs and his Chinese counterpart were later scheduled to sign an agreement aiming to develop techniques to capture carbon dioxide from coal burning plants and store it underground to prevent it polluting the air.

China is dependent on coal for about 70 percent of its energy consumption.