China's vast rural areas have a huge potential for energy saving
and emission reduction, vice minister of agriculture Wei Chaoan
said on Wednesday.
"Tapping into this huge potential will help farmers raise their
living standards, boost farm production and protect the
environment", said Wei.
"If 1.4 tons of coal are required to make one ton of nitrogenous
fertilizer, then every one percent rise in the utilization ratio of
the fertilizer in China can save 2.5 million tons of coal", he
said.
"Every year, China produces 600 million tons of straw and its
livestock and poultry produce 2.5 billion tons of dung and
droppings", he said, adding that "the waste can be used to generate
a lot of clean energy".
Marsh gas currently provides 22 million rural households in
China with the clean energy equivalent of 13.5 million tons of coal
every year.
About 190 million households are using energy efficient cooking
ranges, which saves China another 50 million tons of coal every
year.
"These projects involve more people than any other energy saving
project in the world", said Wei.
A "clean countryside" project initiated by the ministry in pilot
areas saw 30,000 rural households improve their living conditions
by treating 90 percent of household refuse and waste water and
turning 90 percent of straw into energy resources.
(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2007)
