In the first quarter of this year, 14 laboratories in Shanxi were added to the lists of national and provincial key labs. It demonstrates a surge of innovation capacity building in the province.
One such project is the laboratory for the research on clean and efficient utilization of coal-based energy resources in Taiyuan University of Technology.
The lab has a history of 36 years in coal-related research. Now it is focusing on how to converting coal into new energy resources, for example, hydrogen and gasoline as well as new materials such as graphene and synthetic chemicals. The lab is expected to play an important role in reducing pollution from coal, said Xie Kechang, its founder.
"Coal is the most important energy resource in China. However, it is also one of the largest sources of pollution," Xie said. "Promoting the clean and efficient use of coal is the only solution to this problem."
Coal can be turned into a clean energy resource if its utilization efficiency substantially improves, Xie said. "Technologies for the complete combustion of coal and the use of advanced sulfide and nitride recycling devices can significantly reduce emissions while improving the utilization rate of resources."
The scientist added that developing coal-based chemicals with clean production processes represents another important direction for the clean utilization of coal.
Source: China Daily
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