We start with some ground-breaking news about shale gas, natural gas trapped in shale. China's shale gas production is setting records again, as one of its wells just hit a national best production volume. And authorities say that more new exploration and development bases are in the works, as China stays on the fast track to be powered by clean energy. Sun Ye has more.

 

One of these Fuling wells became the country's most productive this September. 250 million cubic meters of shale gas has been extracted since 2013 from the single well, enough to power a city of 4 million people for a whole year.

 

The entire Fuling shale gas field, in southwestern China, is already the world's second largest. By the end of this year, it will be putting out 10 billion cubic meters of shale gas.

 

And there's more to come. Chinese geological authorities say several large-scale shale gas fields have been found in nearby areas and they anticipate the Yangtze River area to become a large shale gas development zone.

 

YU HAIFENG, DIRECTOR GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION DEPT, MINISTRY OF LAND AND RESOURCES From the upper reaches of the Yangtze, all the way to its middle reaches and downstream areas, we have found large deposits of shale gas. We think new exploration and development bases can tap into them. Especially now that the Yangtze region is one of the country's most important economic growers, the clean shale gas provision nearby will make sure it has the right kind of power.

 

Green growth is a national plan. For now, China is still heavily reliant on traditional fuels like coal and petrol. But it vows to make natural gas one of its main sources soon.

 

By 2020, natural gas will account for at least ten percent of primary energy consumption. Right now, it's less than 7 percent. Experts are confident of closing that gap on time.

 

KANG YUZHU, MEMBER CHINESE ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING Going clean is the national decree to do that we have to turn to natural gas, because we have a such big stock of it. That's including the shale gas production which is growing fast. I think it's reasonable to predict 15 percent natural gas usage in the energy consumption mix.

 

Fuling's shale gas has already powered up local vehicles and households. Soon, more of the country will be running on the same clean energy. Sun Ye, CGTN