A source says the rural methane project went smoothly in Linyi, south of Shandong province. By the end of June, about 20,000 households had added, which improves local farmers' quality of life and the environment.

This year, the Linyi city government accelerated methane development at the rural level, and counted it as one of the ten practical accomplishments done for the community. The government aims to increase the number of methane users to 40,000 as it plans to build at least 50 large-and-medium-sized methane tanks and straw gasification stations in 2010.

To date, counties including Tancheng, Cangshan, Junan, Linshu, Yinan and Lingang industrial zones have finished more than a half of the 2010 goal. Among them, Tancheng, Cangshan and Junan counties have reached 3,000 new users ahead of schedule. Also, nine large-and-medium-sized methane tanks have been established within Tancheng, Cangshan and Feixian County.

Statistics shows that to date about 376,500 households have been using methane, which accounts for 27.97 percent of the total number when suitable for methane use. There are 163 large-and-medium-sized methane tanks, with a total volume of 181 million cubic meters of methane.