At 9am on August 28, the Guangzhou natural gas utilization engineering project was officially launched, marking the beginning of the city's clean energy era and the beginning of cooperation on energy projects between China and Australia.

The Mayor of Guangzhou, Zhang Guangning, Ms.Kerin, an official of the Consulate General of Australia in Guangzhou, Ling Weixian, First vice Mayor , Xue Xiaofeng, secretary-general of the Guangzhou Committee of the CPC, and Chen Guo, secretary-general of the Municipal Government of Guangzhou City, attended the commissioning ceremony at Jinshanmen, Panyu.

According to the plan, this year 20,000 households in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center and areas in Haizhu district will use natural gas instead of petroleum gas. In early September, more than 2,000 apartments in the Mega Center and 145 canteens will become the first users.

Chen Guoping, the general manager of Guangzhou Gas Company, said that all piped gas users in Guangzhou will gradually change over to the use of natural gas by the end of 2009. The combustion efficiency of natural gas is 50 percent greater than that of petroleum gas, and contains fewer impurities. The use of natural gas will make the air of the city cleaner.

Mr. Wei Lingxian said that the successful implementation of the liquefied natural gas project will further optimize the energy structure of Guangzhou, improve the quality of the environment and the life of residents, reduce the pressure on the demand for petroleum products and the reliance on liquefied petroleum gas and other energy products, and has profound meaning for the concerted social and economic development of Guangzhou.

The Guangzhou natural gas utilization project is a key part of "Guangdong liquefied natural gas project", a provincial project of the Tenth Five Year Plan with a planned investment of RMB 2.3 billion. It is also an energy optimization project and an environment renewal project, designed to "create a good living and working environment for the city's residents". The first phase project has now been successfully completed and the first stages of the second phase will begin next year.

Editor: Yan