China invests US$16B to double gas output

摘要

After more than a century of supplying coal to neighboring regions, the Shanxi province in Northern China is in the midst of a gas boom, Reuters reported April 11. China wants to increase its use of coal-bed methane (CBM) by 2015, reducing pollution and slowing greenhouse gas emissions. Coal seam gas is set to rise to 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) this year. China is prepared to invest 100 billion yuan (approximately US$16 billion) in an effort to double output by 2015. Last year, CBM output reached 5.3 billion cubic meters, just over five percent of China's total gas output of 102.5 bcm. According to Chinese executives, the country's annual production of CBM could eclipse that of the U.S., currently around 50 bcm per year.