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Tibetans to Shelve Oil Lamps
Some 11,000 households in a Tibetan area once dependent on oil lamps will receive solar-powered electricity, the Ministry of Science and Technology reported.
Ministry sources said the State Development and Planning Commission and the State Power Corporation have launched a plan to give the Ngari Prefecture electricity by 2003, ending its history of using oil lamps.
Some 8,000 power-generation sets will be built by 2001, turning on lights and televisions for all families.
Also by 2003, schools, clinics and hospitals in the prefecture are expected to install solar electric facilities, the ministry's Planning Department said.
Solar power is one way the government will accelerate economic and social development in Tibet, as well as in the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, and Qinghai and Gansu provinces. Solar power will work in these areas because of extensive daylight.
More than 20 million people in these areas do not use electricity. Topography also makes it difficult to popularize coal and other conventional power sources.
Solar power technology is still developing in these areas, according to a State Development and Planning Commission survey. To get the combined population of 20 million used to sun and wind power, the commission launched its China Bright Project late last year.
The Ministry of Science and Technology and other departments are also helping advance the economy in other sectors.
The ministry has used Tibet's rich biological and mineral resources to help it develop cancer-resistant herbs and high-yield vegetables.
In 1996, the ministry began to mobilize the country's scientific agencies to aid Tibet. Similar agencies in more developed provinces have donated 14 million yuan (US$1.7 million) to Tibet over the past few years, the ministry's statistics indicate.
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