08:43, May 06, 2009

"In the past, a four-member family usually used six to seven cu m of timber for cooking and heating annually. That means burning 0.27 to 0.33 hectare of a wood," said Zhang Yongze, director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Environment Protection Bureau.
Since 2007, China has spent 5.43 million yuan on energy development in Tibet's rural areas, such as promoting the use of solar cookers, solar water heaters and small facilities for wind power generation in 13 counties.

"Now, Tibet has an agricultural installed generating capacity of 165,000 kw. It is roughly estimated that 1.1 million cu m of timber, 300,000 cu m of coppice woods and 100,000 cu m of alpine meadow are saved each year," Zhang said.
The Lhakpas in Lhasa's Dagze County is the first household to use biogas. With government's financing of 3,000 yuan, he has built a biogas pit and a vegetable greenhouse, saving a fuel cost of 1,000 yuan annually.
By the end of 2008, 210,000 residents from 4,3000 households in 33 counties of five prefecture-level cities had benefited from such clean and efficient fuel, according to statistics from the Regional Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department.   Source: Xinhuanet