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The first coal-bed methane gas station in Taiyuan, capital city of north China's Shanxi Province started operations on Friday, according to a Shanxi Evening News report.

 

The station provides natural gas as fuel to reconstructed vehicles in Taiyuan, including 200 buses and 100 taxis. It can dispense up to 8,000 cubic maters of methane gas a day.

 

"Methane gas is much cheaper than gasoline!" said an excited taxi driver. He explained that petrol costs taxi drivers 90 yuan per day at 4.9 yuan per liter, while natural gas costs only 46 yuan a day at 2.3 yuan per cubic meter.

 

The Taiyuan Urban Construction Committee plans to build 20 coal-bed methane stations in Taiyuan by the end of the year, supplying a total of 190,000 cubic meters of gas to 1,000 buses and 4,000 taxis. By 2010, 45 stations will provide 300,000 cubic meters of gas a day.

 

China has the third largest coal-bed methane reserves in the world after Russia and Canada. Coal-bed methane has a similar composition to methane and can be used as an alternative to natural gas. Developing the market for coal-bed methane fuel could potentially relieve China's reliance on natural gas imports, as well as reduce methane emissions and gas explosions in coal mines.

 

The Taiyuan Bus Company general manager, Gao Chao, said methane is still transported in a gaseous state, which adds to the cost. Prices will drop further once liquefaction technology is introduced.

 

(CRI September 18, 2006)