China, US expand EcoPartnership agreements

Improves energy efficiency and promotes smart electricity grids.

The agreement recently signed by China and the United Sates will add six partnerships to the original group of 18. China said six pairs of Chinese and American institutes will join the partnerships.

Under the agreements, China's Yangtze River Delta Circular Economy Technology Research Institute and US giant Coca-Cola will work together to develop a way to use agricultural waste to produce Coke's plastic bottles while Peking University will cooperate with New York Institute of Technology to protect groundwater resources.

Tongji University will team up with Stony Brook University to test a suite of cutting-edge landfill-gas-to-liquids technologies. Guizhou International Cooperation Center for Environmental Protection and Raven Ridge Resources will jointly seek to open China's market for draining and utilizing coal mine methane.

Beijing Energy Conservation and Environment Protection Center and US Natural Resources Defense Council will partner to improve smart grid's energy efficiency and management, while China's National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation will come into partnership with the US Institute for Sustainable Communities in efforts to help translate national- level clean energy policies into local action.