Use of Shanghai's wind and solar power resources will help close the city's electricity supply gap, according to report provided by the Shanghai municipal meteorological bureau.
   
Xu Jialiang, a noted researcher with the bureau, said Friday he found the offshore areas of the municipality endowed with ideal resources for wind energy. There are 3,560 hours to 4,904 hours of wind with effective speed in Shanghai a year, but there are 7,564 hours of wind with effective speed at the offshore areas near the estuary of the Yangtze, the longest river in China.
   
"Developing wind-based electricity industry in offshore areas is viable and money saving," said Xu.
   
Shanghai currently has three windmills, which account for a meager 0.05 percent of the city's total installed capacity.
   
The city also has plentiful, but under-utilized, solar resources. The average sunlight in its urban areas was 1,930 hours last year, and there was 2,318 hours of sunlight at its Chongming Island in the estuary of the Yangtze River.
   
The meteorologists suggested in the report that solar panels should be included in future city planning, development of residential quarters in Shanghai and construction of an eco-friendly Chongming Island.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2005)