Power plant: bamboo

Bamboo may technically be a member of the grass family, but its potential is not so lowly. Growers in China are using it to create building materials and fabrics, revitalize forests, and rejuvenate rural economies, Erik Nilsson reports in Anji county, Zhejiang.

Bamboo's alchemic ability to be manufactured into nearly anything - from car speakers to calculators, and buildings to beer - is conjuring a gold mine in China. The country produces about 80 percent of the world's fastest-growing plant, hailed by many as "the next super-material" and the "timber of the 21st century". There are more than 1,500 uses for the "great grass". The World Bamboo Organization estimates the industry generates about 10 billion U.S. dollars a year, which could double by 2018. Bamboo's magic is enhanced by its organic production, rapid harvest cycles and ability to grow on mountainsides.

"Chinese culture is bamboo culture," says Xuan Taotao, an expert with Tianhuangping town's agricultural department in Zhejiang province's Anji county.

"Bamboo can make farmers rich and our environment healthy, so we must preserve bamboo forests and industries."

Anji creates 20 percent of China's bamboo products, generating about 12.5 billion yuan (2.03 billion U.S. dollars) annually, though it contains fewer than 2 percent of the country's bamboo forests. The county is covered by about 66,667 hectares of bamboo, about 57,333 hectares of which is moso bamboo, Xuan says.

Anji has been producing the plant since its founding 60 years ago.

It traded bamboo for rice with Shanghai, where the timber was used to build homes.