Energy Secretary Chu Visits China's ENN Energy Company and

UNCLAS BEIJING 002089 STATE FOR SECC/STERN, EAP/CAMPBELL AND NORRIS, OES/MIOTKE, OES/EGC, EAP/CM, EEB/ESC STATE PASS USTR FOR LINSCOTT AND STRATFORD COMMERCE FOR KASOFF AND MELCHER ENERGY FOR SANDALOW AND YASHIDA SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG KGHG ECON SENV CH SUBJECT: Energy Secretary Chu Visits China's ENN Energy Company and Tianjin University (U) This cable is Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) and for official use only. Not for transmission outside USG channels. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Secretary of Energy Steven Chu met ENN Chairman Wang Yusuo on July 17 at ENN Headquarters in Langfang City, Hebei Province. Founded in 1989, ENN is an integrated energy company that is investing heavily in clean energy technology. China's largest private energy firm, ENN has active research and development projects in a number of high growth areas, including solar energy, coal gasification and algae-to-diesel technology. In the final stop of his trip, Secretary Chu visited Tianjin University in Tianjin, where his grandfather once served as the longest-standing president in the university's history. After he received a briefing on the university's clean energy research projects, Secretary Chu delivered remarks to students on the threat of climate change to China, and on the importance of the United State and China working in collaboration to develop energy solutions. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) After welcoming Secretary Chu to ENN Headquarters, Chairman Wang introduced ENN's major business and research areas. During the exchange that followed, Secretary Chu expressed his support for coal gasification technology as a way to replace coal peaking power. Chairman Wang responded that China shared this thinking, which matched well with ENN's polygeneration technology. ¶3. (SBU) After the meeting, Secretary Chu received a briefing on ENN's R&D strategy from Zhang Hongmei, ENN Director of Technology Strategy and Development, before touring ENN's solar manufacturing facility and science and technology center. ENN Solar Energy works in collaboration with Applied Materials to produce the largest thin-film solar module currently available, and ENN plans to establish overseas R&D centers to improve its innovation capabilities. Secretary Chu also viewed the laboratories and demonstration units for ENN's major research areas, including Underground Coal Gasification (UCG),coal-to-gas and algae-to-diesel technologies. ¶4. (SBU) On the final leg of his trip, Secretary Chu visited Tianjin University, where his grandfather served as the longest standing university president. First, Secretary Chu had a working lunch with Tianjin University President Gong Ke and other senior scientists and faculty. After providing general facts about the university, President Gong briefed the Secretary on the university's clean energy research areas. This included work on biofuels, smart grids and solar heating. During the question and answer period, one faculty member raised concerns about the difficulty of engaging in collaborative projects with scientists in United States as opposed to those in Europe due to funding restrictions. Secretary Chu responded that he supports deeper energy cooperation with China and would look in to these barriers. ¶5. (U) To conclude his visit, Secretary Chu delivered remarks to a group of 500 Tianjin university students. During his speech, Secretary Chu emphasized the threat of climate change to China, and also discussed the importance of technological cooperation in jointly addressing the global climate challenge and furthering economic recovery in both the United States and China. GOLDBERG