Gas Pipeline Project to Help Shanghai to Readjust Energy StructureAs the preparatory work for the China's west-east gas pipeline project is going well, this eastern China metropolis will readjust its energy structure in the coming years.The city will cease to build coal-burning power plants and coal gas plants, and will bring coal-burning facilities under control, a government official said Wednesday. It will also accelerate the construction of gas-burning power plants and expand natural gas services to residents, the official said at a meeting on readjusting the city's energy structure. The west-east gas pipeline project is aimed at transferring over 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to Shanghai from the Tarim Basin in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, home to one of China's largest oil and natural gas reserves, with more than 200 billion cubic meters of proven natural gas. The pipeline's construction, which will take about six years to complete, is scheduled to begin next year. The 4,200-km-long pipeline will wind its way through nine autonomous regions and provinces before entering Shanghai. Now the annual coal consumption in Shanghai is about 42 million tons, accounting for 70 percent of the total energy consumption in the city, resulting in heavy pollution. According to the official, Shanghai will speed up the construction of a gas pipe network with diversified investment. By 2005, the natural gas consumption in the city will reach three billion cubic meters. |
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