Pint-sized and eco-friendly hydropower stations have sprung up over the past decade, supplying power to more than 300 million people, nearly one fourth of the nation's population.

To farmers who previously did not even know what electricity was, the small power stations represent a different type of energy resources.

Visitors to Namka's home could find the middle-aged Tibetan man lighting cigarettes with a 2-kilowatt electric stove rather than the usual lighter or matches. "Each kw-hour electricity costs only 20 fen (2.5 US cents). It produces no smoke, and is very convenient," he said.

The Tibetan Autonomous Township of Qiaoqi, where Namka lives, in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, replace firewood with hydropower several years ago.

Hundreds of Namka's fellow villagers have also benefited from hydropower and not only use it to light cigarettes, but also to turn on their TVs.

Over the past decade, the central government has strongly advocated the establishment of small-scale hydropower stations in rural areas, taking into account both economic development and environmental protection.

Experts estimate that a family of four people like Namka's would burn at least 20 kilograms of dry wood daily. Their annual consumption is more than 7,300 kilograms, which is nine to 14 cubic metres of timber.

"The environmental damage is even more serious. One household can save about 0.3 hectares of wild forest a year by using electric power," says Dong Wei, deputy head of Baoxing County in Sichuan Province. About 40 per cent of Baoxing people use electricity instead of firewood; while the forest region has been set up as nature reserve.

Chen Huizhou, a Beijing official in charge of China's electricity development, said the building of a small hydropower station would reduce forest logging by over 130,000 hectares per year, saving about 9 million cubic metres of wood.

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2002)