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Nation plans large-scale investment in new energy

By Mai Dou (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-23 08:44

China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer, plans to spend 800 million yuan (US$100 million) over the next 10 years to study next-generation fuel, called natural gas hydrates, that could possibly ease the nation's increasing reliance on oil imports in the long run.

The country expects technology to be viable between 2010 and 2015 for the trial exploration of the new energy source, a crystalline compound of water and natural gas with methane as its major ingredient, said an industry report posted on the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) website.

The picture shows the transportation pipeline for gasohol, an oxygenated blend that contains 10 per cent ethanol, at a petrochemical plant in Dalian. The fuel is becoming more frequently used in China's petrol stations nationwide recently. [China Daily]

"But further technical breakthroughs need to be made before the fuel can be commercially developed," said a report published on Monday.