U.S. to help China reduce greenhouse gases

CHICAGO, July 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in China and elsewhere around the world.

The EPA, along with the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development, signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday to collaborate on international sustainable development projects.

The initial focus will be on China, where the EPA and the council will collaborate with the China Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Chinese State Environmental Protection Agency in three areas:

-- Creating a sustainable strategy for cement production in China, the world's leading producer.

-- Expanding use of clean technologies to convert waste to renewable energy.

-- Implementing by-product synergy, a system that allows companies from one industrial sector to use their waste as raw input materials for production in another sector.

"Promoting clean power solutions and clean energy innovations both domestically and internationally is an EPA commitment," said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. "Through today's MOU signing, we're joining forces with the U.S. BCSD to deliver an economically and environmentally brighter tomorrow."

Johnson and Sabrina Watkins, chairman of the U.S. BCSD and environmental technology manager at ConocoPhillips, signed the initiative during a Chicago ceremony.