Biz Scene: LOCAL

Gas pipeline

A new natural gas pipeline that will supply clean energy to residents in Beijing's suburbs has recently been completed.

The 110-km pipeline, which runs parallel to the city's 6th ring road from the southern district of Daxing to Changping in the northwest, will carry 3 billion cubic meters of gas a year, Xinhua reported.

The expanded gas supply will cut down the use of coal by 2.6 million tons, cutting emissions, including sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and soot.

The pipeline, which has been under construction since 2005, cost 1.4 billion yuan.

Qingdao water storage

The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, co-host of the 2008 Olympic Games sailing event, has begun to store water from the Yellow River for domestic and industrial use, a move that will also help alleviate water supply pressures on the city during the Games, Xinhua reported.

The sluice gates of the Yellow River water diversion project opened on Tuesday at Boxing County, in Shandong Province. Qingdao is expected to receive 160 million cubic meters of fresh water from the Yellow River, almost equal to the annual consumption of the city's urban areas.

Water will be moved to Qingdao through a channel at 25 cubic meters per second and is expected to reach the Jihongtan reservoir in suburban Qingdao in 10 days, said Liu Jing, a senior engineer with the Shandong office of the Yellow River Engineering Bureau.

(China Daily 11/22/2007 page15)