China to build largest dimethyl ether project (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-08-18 13:42
China is to start construction of its largest dimethyl ether (DME) project
with an annual output of three million tons to reduce rising oil consumption.
Coal-based DME is a clean-burning alternative to liquefied petroleum gas,
liquid natural gas, diesel and gasoline.
Located in Ordos city of north China's energy-rich Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region, the project will cost 21 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars), the
Shanghai Securities News reports.
Compared with the current annual output of 120,000 tons of DME each year, the
project will make a huge difference to China's alternative energy sector, said a
statement from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
A pipeline will be built to transfer the DME from Ordos to the port city of
Tangshan in north China's Hebei Province.
This would then enable it to be shipped to provinces in east and south China
which are crying out for energy sources.
The participants in the project include power giants China National Coal
Group Corporation, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation and the
Shanghai-based Shenergy Group.
Facing oil shortages, China is speeding up efforts to develop an oil
substitution program to reduce its reliance on oil imports and offset the
effects of rising oil prices.
But as a sustained coal supply has remained a challenge for China, NDRC has
banned any coal-based DME project with a design capacity lower than one million
tons. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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