In a bid to alleviate power storages during summer, Guangzhou city authorities plan to promote natural gas powered air conditioners in the second half of the year following completion of the city's natural gas system.

Guangzhou's RMB 2.3 billion natural gas project was officially launched on March 31, 2005. So far, over 50 kilometers of high-pressure piping has been installed. Workers are currently racing against the clock to complete the project in the second half of this year.

Natural gas will be supplied to local residents, public utilities and small businesses for use in small-scale boilers, air-conditioners, motor vehicles powered by compressed natural gas, distributed energy stations, and certain power plants.

According to the local gas company, gas-powered air conditioners are multifunctional pieces of equipment powered by natural gas for the purposes of power generation, refrigeration, heating, and hot water supply.

Taking up little space, requiring minimal investment and using no electrical energy, gas-powered air conditioners could help reduce peak electricity consumption in summer, increase the off-peak usage of natural gas in summer, expand the use of clean energy and cut back on the pollution caused by coal-fired power generation.

Editor: Yan