A chemical plant in southeast China's Jiangsu Province has revealed that it is close to getting the green light to launch a massive greenhouse gas reduction project.

The announcement by Changshu 3F Zhonghao New Chemicals Material Co Ltd follows its signing last December of the world's largest emission purchase reduction deal with the World Bank.

Spokeswoman Cai Fen said the company is likely to get approval for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project by mid-June.

If its application is approved by the International CDM Executive Committee, 3F will become the second listed company in China to launch a CDM project after Zhejiang-based Juhua Co Ltd, which signed an emission reduction purchase deal with Tokyo's JMD Greenhouse Gases Reduction Co Ltd, said Cai.

The project will not only result in improved energy efficiency and be good news for the environment, but will also reap an annual profit of at least 80 million yuan (US$10 million), according to market analysts.

But Cai insisted that the company's profit margin would be narrower, due to the huge costs of bringing in equipment and expertise.

The company signed a US$530-million greenhouse gas emission reduction purchase agreement with the World Bank's Umbrella Carbon Facility last December, which was believed to be the world's largest deal of its kind.

Under the agreement, the World Bank will purchase reductions in the company's emissions of HFC-23 (trifluoromethane), which has a global warming potential that is 11,700 times that of carbon dioxide and is one of the six most potent greenhouse gases responsible for global warming as defined by the Kyoto Protocol. The company is expected to reduce emissions equivalent to about 73 million tons of carbon dioxide between 2007 and 2013.

The Chinese Government will retain 65 per cent of all HFC-23 revenue and invest it in projects related to climate change in sectors such as energy efficiency, renewable energy and methane recovery and use in coal mines, according to a memorandum of understanding signed between the World Bank and the Ministry of Finance

"Relatively few enterprises in China are currently aware of CDM projects. More are likely to apply for them when they find out about them," Sun Cuihua, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, was quoted by the Beijing News as saying.

But Sun warned that the country still lacks sufficient expertise to guide Chinese companies applying for CDM projects.

(China Daily April 17, 2006)