Dec 22 - Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

Two new unique power plants that are fueled by straw are under construction in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Construction began in Jurong on Wednesday and Suqian Sunday and both plants, with an installed capacity of 24,000 kilowatts each, are expected to start operation in December 2006.

They are being built by China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC). China began to build its first straw power plant in Shanxian County in east China's Shandong Province in October.

Such a plant can provide enough power to 400,000 households, a staff with Suqian power supply bureau told Xinhua by telephone.

The plants are expected to burn 400,000 tons of crop stalk every year. Local farmers will earn an additional income of five or six U.S. dollars from every mu (667 square meters) of cropland by providing the stalk, People's Daily reported Wednesday.

In many parts of China, straw and crop stalks used to be burned beside the fields or on nearby highways, not only causing serious pollution to the environment but also posing a potential hazard to drivers and pedestrians.

CECIC is the only state-owned national investment corporation in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection.