ADB's first results-based lending program to improve China's air quality
The Asian Development Bank as approved a $300 million results-based lending program with private sector involvement to continue improving the air quality in Henan Province in the greater Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei China.
The project will help Henan Province transition from coal - provided about 72% of the province’s primary energy needs compared to the national average of 59% - to using cleaner fuels, particularly natural gas and biogas, notably among the unserved rural population.
The Henan Cleaner Fuel Switch Investment Program is the first infrastructure results-based loan in China.
The ADB program is expected to help Henan Province reduce the percentage of coal use in primary energy consumption to 65% by 2023 and 58% by 2030. The program will use dry fermentation technologies to produce biogas from agriculture waste that would otherwise be burned and would contribute further to the problem of air pollution. This will be the first utility-scale application for piped biogas supply in China.
