By NNN-PTI
Beijing : Coal-rich China has launched its largest coal-bed methane liquefaction project that would also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, media reports said today.
The project, based in Qinshui Basin in the major coal producing province of Shanxi in north China, is expected to produce one million cubic meters of liquefied coal-bed methane everyday when it becomes operational next January, a senior official with the China United Coalbed Methane Corp. Ltd. (CUCBM), developer of the project, said.
The production lines will be completed at the end of this year. The annual output is expected to reach 150,000 tonnes and the annual sales may hit 200 million cubic meters, the official was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
He said a Hong Kong-listed company has signed a liquefied coal-bed methane purchasing contract with the company in Beijing earlier this month.
Coal-bed methane is usually burned during mining in order to avoid gas explosion accidents. A proper use of the gas would not only make the best use of resources, but also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
CUCBM, owned by China National Petroleum Corporation and China National Coal Group Corp., is the only Chinese company entitled to cooperate with foreign companies to exploit coal-bed methane resources. Its coal-bed methane drills take up to 85 per cent of China’s total.
The company has signed 21 production sharing contracts with 10 foreign companies, with a total foreign investment of USD 119 million.