Money really is power in China

China's economic growth may be cooling down, but the energy sector has plenty of money to burn.

A power plant in Luoyang City, in the central Henan province, is using old banknotes rather than coal as fuel for its furnaces and to provide power for the region.

According to reports from the official Xinhua News Agency, a ton of blazing banknotes can help contribute 660kilowatt-hours of energy and generates far less pollution than the fossil fuel traditionally used - a bonus in a country notorious for smog.

The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, has approved incinerating the banknotes, according to Xinhua, and this is the first time they have been used as fuel.

"With Henan's current unused paper money counted, the company can help generate 1.32 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which is equal to burning 4000 tons of coal," a bank source told Xinhua.

China is not alone in having money to burn. The Bank of England destroys billions of pounds worth of banknotes every year as they become worn out.

Each year, it receives about 700 million tons of notes that have been withdrawn from circulation.

The notes are run through "disintegrators" and compressed into briquettes that are used to make compost.