China plans $925 million energy efficiency fund

China will this year launch a fund valued at 7 billion yuan (US$910 million) for energy-saving projects, such as efficient light bulbs, as it seeks to curb soaring demand for electricity. “We are facing a very vital situation to cut energy use,” the China Daily quoted Ma Kai, head of the energy policy setting National Development and Reform Commission, as saying. Beijing hopes to roll out 50 million efficient light bulbs this year under the scheme, which will also pay for alterations to boilers, power generation with excess heat and development of oil substitutes, the China Daily reported. The energy fund alone aims to save 35 million tons of coal, China’s main source of energy. Another 2.5 billion yuan (US$325 million) will pay for biogas units in China’s countryside, which will create gas sourced from human and animal waste. (August 27, 2007)