China's biggest stalk power plant is to be built in Xi'an, capital of west China's Shaanxi Province.
   
Invested by a Canadian company, the stalk plant will help boost the region's power supply, provide a clean and more efficient method of electricity generation, and help reduce poverty.
   
Costing about US$57 million, the power project is designed produce 250 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
   
Local farmers can earn extra income totaling US$3.6 million annually by selling stalks to the power plant.
   
Crop stalks, abundant in Shaanxi, one of China's major farming provinces, have been burnt in the fields after harvest for hundreds of years, creating numerous environmental problems.
   
Statistics from the International Energy Agency show that two tons of stalks can produce the same amount of electricity as one ton of coal.
   
At the same time, burning them creates little pollution.
   
(CRI April 11, 2005)