Construction of China's first large coal-to-gas project started in northern China Sunday to ensure natural gas supply to Beijing and promote clean energy use.

Located in Chifeng city of the coal-rich Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, the project is designed to transmit four billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Chinese capital annually through a 381-kilometer-pipeline when the project is completed in 2012, according to the China Datang Corporation, the builder of the project.

Prior to that, it is expected to supply 1.34 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2010, and 2.68 cubic meters in 2011.

Beijing needs seven to eight billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. The demand is growing by 20 percent every year.

The new project could solve the deficiency of natural gas supply to Beijing and reduce the city's dependence on limited gas sources and transmission lines to ensure the capital's energy security, said Qin Jianming, deputy general manager of the Datang International Power Generation Co., Ltd.

Wu Guihui, chief engineer of the National Energy Administration under the National development and Reform Commission, said the coal-based clean energy project will massively reduce emission of pollutants, help facilitate energy development restructuring and improve Beijing's air quality.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2009)