President Hu Jintao and President Obama issued a circular on the establishment of the joint U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) In November 2009. On November 17, US Secretary of Energy Zhu Yiwen, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang and Director of the National Energy Administration Zhang Guobao signed an agreement to launch the China-US Joint Research Center for Clean Energy, which includes the Clean Coal Technology Alliance, the Clean Automotive Technology Alliance, and Building Energy Efficiency Technology Alliance.

China-US clean coal technology (including carbon capture and sequestration) project involves clean use of coal and carbon dioxide capture, use and storage. China and the United States are relatively rich in coal resources, widely used in their energy systems, but also the core of their economic growth, which is both a challenge and an opportunity for environmental protection, greenhouse gas emission reduction and related industrial development.

China and the United States chose "Huazhong University of Science and Technology" and "West Virginia University" to lead their respective research teams to form the China-US Clean Coal Technology Alliance. The   two alliances (collectively known as U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center Advanced Coal Technology Consortium, CERC-ACTC) will implement a five-year work plan to vigorously promote technological advances in clean coal, including carbon capture, use and sequestration, between the two countries. The CERC-ACTC is looking forward to improving the clean and efficient use of coal in both countries (including carbon capture, storage and utilization).

The teams have identified key research tasks ranging from clean power generation, clean conversion, new low-cost carbon capture technologies to geological storage and application research. The research project proposed by the Clean Coal Technology Alliance of the Clean Energy Joint Research Center has identified the first batch of key projects. It is expected that the Clean Coal Technology Alliance will work through the Clean Energy Joint Research Center to address the many challenges facing China and the United States. According to the Sino-US Clean Joint Energy Center Agreement and its intellectual property attachment, the two sides in the agreement on technical management to start the "CO2 capture and storage based on IGCC", "CO2 capture, use and storage Technology", "geological storage capacity and recent opportunities", "micro-algae carbon sequestration and utilization", "oxygen-enriched combustion research, Development and demonstration "and" Coal multi-cogeneration and CO2 capture" and other cooperation activities.