Pellet fuel facilitates development of previous poverty-stricken village

A small village in Inner Mongolia, which recently managed to take itself out of official poverty levels, is now taking steps to make itself more environmentally-friendly.

A picture shows Liangzhongchang Village of Balagedai County in the northern reaches of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. [Photo: China Plus]

Holding itself up as the first village to successfully pull itself above the official poverty line in Balagedai County in the northern reaches of Inner Mongolia, Liangzhongchang Village is now famous for transforming straw into pellet fuel. 

Excess straw has traditionally been used for heating and cooking in the winter in the village.

The straw itself was divided up among the households, creating major piles outside each home.

A picture of Pang Xuewen, the Party Secretary of Liangzhongchang Village. [Photo: China Plus]

To avoid waste and excess environmental pollution, the village officials started thinking of ways to make better use of the straw. 

"At first, we planned to use the straw as feedstuff, but by this meant we could only use part of the straw. But then we came up with a new idea to make more efficient use of the straw by making it more compact," said Pang Xuewen, the village Party Secretary.

To make the straw more compact, it is now put through a feed-processing machine, turning into small pellets.

A picture showing straw being turned into small pellets. [Photo: China Plus]

By turning it into pellets, each household can now store a lot more straw, meaning there is virtually no leftover material.

Wang Guohui is in charge of the county's environmental protection work.

He says eliminating major piles of straw in the village has improved living standards, as well as safety in the village.

"Villagers have got rid of the habit of piling up the straw, which is good for fire prevention. This can guarantee the villagers' safety and their property safety, and at the same time, the environment has been cleaned up," he added.

A picture shows the feed-processing machine in the Liangzhongchang Village of Balagedai County in the northern reaches of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. [Photo: China Plus]

Over the past three years, the village has also set up breeding cooperatives, crop planting cooperatives and agricultural cooperatives.

Aside from receiving basic incomes and dividends from it, villagers can also make extra money by working in the cooperatives.

Village Secretary Pang Xuewen says the flat nature of the village also provides them with another opportunity: Solar power generation.

"This move has brought a lot of convenience to villagers' lives. In the past, each household needed to spend 1,200 yuan on electricity tariffs each year. The installation of the photovoltaic panels has not only solved people's own electricity problems, but also helped them to make a profit by selling the excess electricity power to the local grid. If we were to sell all power generated by the photovoltaic panels, the annual benefits for every villager would surpass 2,000 yuan," said Pang.

Last year, the per capita annual income in Liangzhongchang Village reached 12-thousand yuan.