"Science has shown that we are altering the destiny of our planet. The consequences of what we are doing today will not be fully realized for at least 100 years," U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said in a speech at Tsinghua University, Xinhua state news service reported.

Chu suggested that China and the United States, the largest greenhouse gas emitters, increase cooperation in clean energy sectors such as carbon dioxide capture and transformation.

In his speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke said that China and the United States both share responsibility to address global warming. China has now surpassed the United States as the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide.

"Fifty years from now, we do not want the world to lay the blame for environmental catastrophe at the feet of China," Locke said, The New York Times reported.

Clean energy, Locke said, represents "the greatest economic opportunity" of the 21st century, and both countries "are uniquely positioned to create the solar, wind, biofuel and other renewable technologies that the world wants and needs," Xinhua reported.

"We are here to advance what can be one of the most beneficial areas of cooperation in the history of U.S.-China relations: the development, production and deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency technologies," Locke said.

Widespread deployment of energy efficiency and clean energy technologies, Locke said, is "the only way our economies can continue to grow" while preventing the catastrophic effects of climate change.

"We need to empower U.S. and Chinese entrepreneurs and innovators to create and collaborate free from artificial trade barriers."

"Meeting the challenge will require more than just concerted governmental action," Locke said, pointing out that American companies have considerable advanced technology that can assist China in its clean energy transition.

Chu and Chinese officials Wednesday announced a U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center. Joint research and development will initially focus on clean coal, energy efficiency for buildings and clean vehicles. The United States and China together pledged $15 million for initial financing, with headquarters in each country at locations not yet determined.

Thursday meetings for Chu and Locke included a briefing by State Grid officials on efforts to help China's power transmission infrastructure use more clean and renewable energy.

They also met with Huaneng Group Chairman Cao Peixi regarding the company's integrated carbon capture and sequestration project under way at the company's power plant in Tianjin.

Chu said the United States would cooperate with China on such projects, under the Joint Clean Energy Research Center announced Wednesday. CCS, for example, could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from a conventional power plant by as much as 95 percent.

In addition, Chu announced a joint China-U.S. project on energy-efficient building designs and renewable energy-based communities. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, China accounts for nearly half the new floor space built in the world.

China is the world's largest consumer of coal, more than double that of the United States. Coal accounts for nearly 80 percent of China's electricity generation.

earlier related report

Top US officials meet China PM on climate
Top US trade and energy officials met with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Thursday as the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases sought to step up cooperation on climate change.

US Trade Secretary Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, both ethnic Chinese, arrived here on Wednesday seeking to open China's markets to US green technology while urging Beijing to set hard targets on gas emissions.

"The US and China are two great nations, and clean energy is one of the great opportunities of our time," Chu said Wednesday as he announced the establishment of a US-China Clean Energy Research Centre.

"Working together, we can accomplish more than acting alone."

The centre, which will have headquarters in both countries, is aimed at allowing scientists and engineers from the two sides to work together, according to the US government.

It is also intended to serve as a clearing-house for information, with key issues initially to be looked at including energy efficiency, clean coal technology and low-polluting cars.

Locke and Chu met with Wen on Thursday afternoon, with the environment, as well as a host of trade and other issues, on the agenda.

Their visit to China comes as officials prepare for the first US-China strategic and economic dialogue, to be held in Washington next week.

It also comes ahead of a UN meeting in Copenhagen in December when over 180 nations are due to negotiate a new climate agreement to replace the existing Kyoto Protocol.

China and other developing nations are refusing to agree to compulsory cuts in emissions under the new deal, saying developed countries must shoulder the responsibility for the decades of emissions that have led to global warming.

But the US officials in China have been trying to convince Chinese leaders that the world has no choice but to work together more closely.

"Mother Nature... doesn't discriminate between carbon that comes from the United States or China... we share the same atmosphere and if we do not act, we'll all suffer," Locke said here during a business lunch on Wednesday.

"As the two biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, the United States and China have a special responsibility to take action."

During a visit to China last month, US climate change negotiator Todd Stern sought to get China to commit to accepting slow increases in its greenhouse gas emissions until it hit a "peak year," beyond which a real decrease must occur.

But Beijing has refused to agree to any compulsory targets.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang indicated the visit by Locke and Chu had no impact on China's climate change policy.

"The most important point is to stick to the principal of common but differentiated responsibilities to cope with the challenges faced by the international community on climate change," Qin told reporters.

Without such cuts from China, the US Congress will be hard pressed to pass a bill setting its own cuts, US officials have said.

Congress is currently considering legislation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, and 83 percent by 2050.

China has said that such cuts are not enough and that developed nations must make a bigger effort.

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