China's 4,000-kilometer-long natural gas pipeline, linking the
gas-rich Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest with east China's Shanghai
Municipality, will officially start commercial operation on
Thursday.
"Opening of the pipeline will greatly increase the energy supply
in east China," said Xu Dingming, head of the energy bureau of the
National Development and Reform Commission, on Monday.
The East-west Natural Gas Transmission Project, a landmark in
China's mammoth western development drive, has a designed capacity
of 12 billion cubic meters, but Xu said the state would strive to
lift the volume to 17 billion or 18 billion cubic meters as soon as
possible.
A natural-gas-fired power plant has also been constructed to
alleviate electricity shortages in east China.
Xinjiang has substantial natural gas reserves. The Tarim Basin
alone is estimated to hold 8.0 trillion cubic meters, enough to
keep supplies stable for
up to 30 years.
China consumed less than 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas
in 2004, accounting for less than 3 percent of China's primary
energy consumption and far below the world average.
Natural gas is a relatively clean fuel, with low sulfur and
carbon monoxide emissions, and has high thermal efficiency.
Construction of the pipeline, which crosses Xinjiang, Gansu,
Ningxia,
Shaanxi,
Shanxi,
Henan,
Anhui,
Jiangsu,
and Zhejiang?on
its way to?Shanghai, started in July 2002 and was completed on
October 1 this year.
(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2004)
