A new upsurge of cooking with marshgas, one of the cheapest renewable energy sources, is spreading toa larger area in rural China with a marked improvement in the technology.

The Ministry of Agriculture predicted that households equipped with new type methane-generating pits in rural China will be increased to 20 million by 2005. The figure is expected to climb to 50 million by 2010. About 200 million people will benefit from the project.

The move, described as an "energy revolution" in rural China by some Chinese environmentalists, will alter the century-old cookinghabit of millions of Chinese farmers, improve the rural sanitary environment and farmers' living quality and alleviate the work load of housewives.

The new type methane projects were developed on the basis of methane pits built in the 1980s.

Hong'ya County in southwest China's Sichuan Province was a pilot for pushing ahead with the new bio-energy system. Local farmers poured crop stocks, garbage and night soil into the methane-generating pits equipped with new technology and cooked meals with marsh gas.

The central government will issue 1 billion yuan (about 120 million US dollars) of bonds this year to help build methane-generating pits at 6,000 villages in 24 provinces.

When the project completes, southwest China's Yunnan Province, where more than 1 million farm households have built methane pits,will save 2.4 million tons of firewood annually. Each farm household will cut its expense on fuel by 500 yuan (60 dollars) a year.

Popularization of marsh gas in rural China has also improved environmental conditions. Statistics of Hong'ya County, alone, showed the annual poultry excrement in the county totaled 1.32 million tons. The county will build 40,000 new type methane pits to solve pollution arising from poultry excrement.

Source: Xinhua