The Asian Development Bank has agreed to provide a 500,000-US-dollar technical assistance (TA) grant to prepare a 100-million-dollar environmental project in Liaoning, China.

The TA will prepare the Liaoning Environmental Improvement Project to establish model commercially-viable programs to produce and utilize coal-based methane in several coal mining areas in the province.

Due to geological conditions, the northeastern province is a major producer of the greenhouse gas, coal-bed methane, accounting for 20 percent of the country's total. This has seriously polluted the air in Liaoning, causing its two major cities, Shenyang and Benxi, to be among the most polluted cities in the world.

The project will also improve the gas distribution system in the province. In addition, it will bring in gas sector reforms and improve corporate governance. The TA is scheduled for completion by April 2003.

The TA will assess the gas market in the province and technical feasibility and produce forecasts, cost estimates, and procurement arrangements. It will also recommend enterprise and sector reforms, evaluate poverty and environmental impacts, and establish a project performance monitoring mechanism.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2002)