COLUMBUS, Ohio — The top executive of one of the largest coal-burning power companies in the U.S. has signed a deal with China’s largest utility to develop solutions to cut global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Jim Rogers, chairman, president and chief executive of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy, on Monday signed an agreement in Beijing with China Huaneng Group that provides for the companies to share information on renewable energy and clean-energy technology with the goal of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions.
The countries have a lot in common when it comes to energy. China is the No. 1 producer of greenhouse-gas emissions, and the U.S. is No. 2. The two countries account for 40 percent of the world’s total emissions. Both also heavily count on coal to drive their economies. State-owned China Huaneng produces about 10 percent of China’s electricity.
“We’ll see if in working together we can develop the capability to solve this problem,” Rogers said in an interview with The Associated Press before he left on his trip to China.
The agreement comes as China and the U.S. are looking for ways to cooperate on climate change in preparation for United Nations-led talks in Copenhagen this year that will attempt to forge a framework for a global climate-change treaty.
