One response, put in place after sustained urban energy blackouts in 2003, is strict controls over air conditioning thermostats. Stand, or sit, inside any Shanghai shopping mall, hotel or office building and the air-conditioned temperature is noticeably less frosty than in equally hot summertime cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Another problem is product quality. A Shanghai restaurateur this week bemoaned the fact that his China-made air-conditioning units repeatedly break down when forced to deal with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius. He has since imported higher-spec models from Japan, which incur a considerable import tax penalty. The price of keeping cool is indeed rising.

China's search for solutions to its energy woes – it is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the largest net importer of oil – continues apace this summer. Hosting the energy-guzzling Olympic Games has given it a new power headache – after all, how do you sustain the slogan "Green Games" when the host city itself is notoriously lacking in environmental credentials?

Despite closing power plants and implementing strict traffic control measures this week, Beijing remained shrouded in a murky gloom. With 19 days to go before the flame is lit, the Chinese capital's air quality is far from Olympian – and the cost of attempts to refresh the city's lungs is escalating.

Beijing's latest, carefully timed, green announcement is that a new wind power plant has become operational in suburban Beijing. The Guanting wind far "began operations on Saturday" and is "considered a major step towards making 20 per cent of the power supply to the city's Olympic venues wind-generated" according to state media.

Actually, the plant has been in operation since January, and has supplied around 35 million kWh of "green power" to Beijing. Once fully operational, it is expected to supply 100 million kWh of electricity per year. The Guanting plant could also help cut yearly emissions of carbon dioxide by a neatly rounded-up "100,000 tonnes" and save "50,000 tonnes of coal" each year. Maybe then, we will be able to turn the air conditioning up a notch or two.

Last update : Sunday, 20 July 2008

Keywords : Review, Energy, Olympics, Beijing

Average user rating

   (0 vote)