The Chinese government should include northern Shanxi into the nation’s modern coal chemical bases and give support to relevant projects, in an effort to turn the fossil fuel into clean energy, suggested deputies to the 12th National People's Congress from the coal-rich province.

Shanxi, which has long been a major energy supplier in China, has all the necessary conditions to develop modern coal chemical base in northern Shanxi, said Zhu Xiaoming, director of the province's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.


The move will increase the province's supply of coal-transformed gas, oil, hydrocarbons and other processed products to the rest of the country rather than just coal or coal-generated power, Zhu said.

And, the base will make full use of low-quality coal, an ideal material for coal gasification, whose production capacity is estimated to exceed 200 million tonnes per year by the end of 2015, according to Zhu.

Once established, each year the base will produce 30 billion cubic meters of coal gas, 6 million tonnes of coal-liquefied oil, 1.2 million tonnes of coal-converted olefin and 1 million tonnes of coal-converted ethylene glycol, according to the province's officials.

Northern Shanxi not only has rich coal reserves (around 95 billion tonnes), but also boasts water resources, natural gas pipelines and necessary transportation conditions, Zhu said.

Premier Li Keqiang said in a discussion with the province's deputies that the energy hub should develop new advantages based on the traditional industry and promote clean energy, which will help improve the quality and efficiency of the province's economy.