UK energy strategists are in China this week to help the country’s government tackle climate change and secure its future energy supply.

With the UK’s assistance, China’s Energy Research Institute (ERI) is adapting the UK government’s ‘2050 Calculator’, which calculates the risks and trade-offs of pursuing different energy futures, to China’s own situation.

The online tool will be made available to the public, as it has been in the UK as ‘My2050’, to model different energy scenarios and balance the use of nuclear power, renewables or other new technologies.

ERI’s version of the 2050 Calculator, the China Calculator, will allow users – both experts and the general public – to decide how China will meet its energy needs up to 2050.

“The 2050 Calculator is a ground-breaking tool to help countries better plan their future energy strategy, in a transparent and evidence-based way,” says UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey.

Following the success of the collaboration with China, the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s director of strategy Ravi Gurumurthy says he hopes to expand the initiative to other developing and developed countries.

“We are collaborating with China and other countries in building a wider base for this innovative and practical analysis, and I would like to invite other interested countries to join us in enriching this collaboration further,” he says.

The development of the China Calculator has been supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Prosperity Fund, which aims to tackle climate change, boost energy security and encourage an open economy in emerging nations.

For further information:
www.decc.gov.uk/2050
my2050.decc.gov.uk/
www.fco.gov.uk/en/global-issues/economy/strat-prog-fund-climate

Related stories:
Chinese per capita emissions now equal the EU (19-Jul)
UK Government puts energy policy in public’s hands (3-Mar 2011)
UK and Scotland sign up to low-carbon collaboration with China (11-Jan 2011)