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