Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is now widely viewed as imperative for global climate stabilisation. Coal is the world’s fastest growing fossil fuel, and coal combustion is now the largest single source of anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

China’s coal sector is the world’s largest and the rapid industrialisation of China is inexorably tied to the same process that fuelled the West’s development - burning coal. International Energy Agency (IEA) projections suggest that China will have 1,332 gigawatts (GW) of coal power generation capacity by 2030, compared to 583 GW in the US and EU combined.