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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
An aerial view shows vehicles travelling on intersections at night in downtown Shanghai.

China, the world's top energy user, wants to turn coal in remote areas into gas and then pipe it to cities, where residential and industrial use for the fuel is growing rapidly.

From coal miners to power producers, from private firms to state energy giants, companies are in a push to convert China's abundant and cheap coal into gas, using a mix of locally developed and imported technology similar to that used to produce synthetic fuel in apartheid-era South Africa.

Beijing has approved four pilot projects able to supply 15 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year by 2015.

Let's have a look at some plants that China hopes will help boost its energy supply.

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
A hundred-meter-long (328 feet) lantern, featuring a dragon and made of 10,000 used compact discs and auto parts, is lit up in Hami, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Project: Qinghua Group

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 5.5 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2014

Project status: Approved

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
Contestants race camels during a winter Naadam event in Hulun Buir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Project: Datang Group

Location: Inner Mongolia

Capacity: 4.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2012

Project status: Approved

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
A woman practices tai chi with a fan after a snowfall in Shenyang, Liaoning province.

Project: Datang Group

Location: Liaoning

Capacity: 4.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2013

Project status: Approved

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
Nomads participate in a horse race on the Kerqin Grassland in Inner Mongolia.

Project: Huineng Coal Chemical

Location: Inner Mongolia

Capacity: 2.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2013

Project status: Approved

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
'Hadas', pieces of silk used as a greeting gift among the Mongol minorities, are displayed at a park in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia.

Project: CNOOC

Location: Inner Mongolia

Capacity: 3x4.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: N/A

Project status: Preliminary approval

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
Shepherds lead their flocks of sheep and cattle along on the Guozigou segment of the Lianyungang-Horgos expressway as vehicles drive past the other side of the expressway, in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.

Project: China Power Investment Company

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 6.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: N/A

Project status: Preliminary approval

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
Two tourists look at a sand sculpture in a desert in Turpan in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Project: Xinjiang Guanghui

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 0.5 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2012

Project status: Proposed

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
A shepherd rests in a pasture in Xilinhot in Inner Mongolia.

Project: Shenhua Group

Location: Inner Mongolia

Capacity: 2.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2013

Project status: Proposed

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
Tourists wave as they travel around the Kumtag Desert by a sightseeing train at a scenic spot in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Project: Henan Coal Chem Engineering

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 4.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2014

Project status: Proposed

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
A local farmer leads a row of camels at a tourism resort of the Kumtag Desert in Shanshan county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Project: China Coal

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 4.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2014

Project status: Proposed

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
Tourists in donkey-drawn carriages visit the ancient city of Gaochang, Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Project: China Huadian Group

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 4.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2015

Project status: Proposed

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
Tourists take pictures outside the Xinjiang International Bazaar, a major trading complex, in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Project: China Huaneng Group

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 6.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2015

Project status: Proposed

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
An ethnic Uighur man rides a horse in snow in Yili, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Project: WanXiang/GreatPoint

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 0.85 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2015

Project status: Proposed

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
A cotton picker works in a field in Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Project: Guodian Pingmei Nileke

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 4.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2017

Project status: Proposed

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15 Chinese plants that will turn coal into gas

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 09:22 IST
Labourers work on building a highway to connect Kashgar and Aksu by the end of October 2013 in Aksu, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Project: Sinopec Group

Location: Xinjiang

Capacity: 8.0 billion cubic metres

Date of start: 2020

Project status: Proposed

Source: REUTERS
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