Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that China could face as much as $400 billion in costs over a 30-year period to install systems to capture carbon dioxide from power plants and sequester it underground.

The publication described these costs as “staggering” – and they’re right. Deploying carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology on a commercial scale is expensive. And we’ve long said—and demonstrated—that private-public partnerships are one of the best ways to drive down the cost to deploy new technologies.

Of course, other partnerships are beneficial as well. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global issue that warrants a global solution. In fact, during his summer trip to China, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said, “I know we can accomplish more by working together than by working alone.”

By teaming up on technologies like CCS, we could develop large-scale, emissions-reducing solutions more quickly—helping us meet global emissions reduction goals that much faster.

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. and China have already begun negotiations on a two-way agreement to reduce emissions in preparation for the upcoming U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

It’s reassuring to know that we’ll be attending the summit fully armed with realistic solutions to one of the most important issues of our time.