Title: The promise and pitfalls of Japanese cleaner coal technology transfer to China

Authors: Stephanie B. Ohshita, Leonard Ortolano

Addresses: Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Terman Engineering Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4020 USA. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Terman Engineering Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4020 USA

Abstract: Cleaner coal technology (CCT) offers a solution to China|s increasingly severe air pollution problems, but technology transfer and diffusion pose many challenges. This paper examines a Japanese programme, carried out under the Green Aid Plan of Japan|s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), to transfer CCT to China. The programme has been successful in engaging policy makers in environmental dialogue and demonstrating the technical feasibility of some Japanese CCT in China. But the programme has also encountered project delays and uncertain markets, and it has not yet led to diffusion of the technologies in China. The lack of diffusion highlights a gap that currently exists between the demonstration of technical feasibility and the widespread adoption and operation of CCT by Chinese enterprises. Current programme efforts are aimed at bridging this gap by giving greater attention to economic feasibility and technology diffusion mechanisms.

Keywords: technology transfer; technology diffusion; environmental cooperation; China; Japan; clean coal technology; energy; air pollution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTTC.2002.001777

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2002 Vol.1 No.1/2, pp.56-81

Published online: 18 Aug 2003 *

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