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Low-carbon award
November 18, 2011, Friday
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WANG Guoping, director of the Standing Committee of the Hangzhou People's Congress, was honored as the 2011 Low-carbon Times Person of the Year in Beijing this week.
The award was bestowed upon Wang for pioneering the revitalization of Xixi Wetland and the public bike system. Both projects contributed to an improved quality of life in Hangzhou.
In September, the UK-based television network BBC selected Hangzhou's bike-sharing program as one of the eight best public bike services in the world. With more than 50,000 bikes and 2,050 bike stations, Hangzhou is also home to the largest bike-sharing program in the world.
More than 52 million people used Hangzhou's bike sharing system from January to August. About 220,000 bikes are used each day and the highest usage rate for a single day hit 320,000. Hangzhou's public transport group plans to set up 10 more round-the-clock public bicycle service stations by the end of the year.
Wang is also a professor at Zhejiang University and the China Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Drinking water
Hangzhou plans to invest 20 billion yuan (US$3.17 billion) to source drinking water from Qiandao Lake.
It is listed as the top priority among the city's 10 main water projects during the 12th Five-Year Plan period from 2011 to 2015.
Preparatory work on the project has begun and the draft proposal is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
The idea to supply about 4.62 million tons of water a day from Qiandao Lake to downtown Hangzhou was initially proposed in 2004, but was later abandoned due to opposition from academician Qian Zhengying. Qian said the priority for Hangzhou, at that time, was cleaning up the polluted Qiantang River.
Pollution in the river has been under control after Zhejiang Province started the "811" environment renovation project in 2004. Thus it is no longer a hurdle, said Cheng Zhou, an official from the Hangzhou Forestry and Water Administration.
BRT line
Part of Hangzhou's first bus rapid transit line across the Qiantang River will open by the end of the year to ease traffic congestion.
BRT buses on Line B5 will first run along Jiangnan Avenue in Binjiang District after construction of five stops is completed.
The construction of bus stops along downtown Qiutao and Puyan roads have been temporarily suspended due to road renovation work.
The red BRT Line B5 will run from the East Railway Station, across the Qiantang River on Fuxing Bridge, and reach Puyan Bus Terminal, according to the plan.
The 25-kilometer route will have 21 stops.
Traffic improves
Vehicles in Hangzhou are moving between 15 and 30 percent faster on average since the city launched a series of measures to ease traffic congestion on October 8, officials said at a consultation meeting open to the public on November 12.
The measures included allowing private vehicles to be used on alternating days based on the license plate number - odd-numbered plates one day and even-numbered plates the next.
Since the policy took effect, traffic has moved quicker on Zhonghe-Shangtang Elevated Road. Buses are also moving about 7.9 percent faster than before.
However, officials said traffic pressure will continue for the foreseeable future as construction of the northwest section of Metro Line 2 will pass through 20 major streets, including Qingchun, Fengqi, Yan'an, Tiyuchang and Moganshan roads.
Treating trash
THE first solar-powered garbage treatment station was completed in Lin'an.
The garbage treatment station looks like a normal house. But this house is not filled with a happy family - it's full of trash.
Solar power collected from the roof heats up the garbage and speeds up the natural fermentation process. After treatment is complete, the garbage is about 10 percent of its original size and can be used as organic fertilizer.
Lin'an environmental protection authority plans to add about 20 solar garbage treatment stations to the area in the future.
The award was bestowed upon Wang for pioneering the revitalization of Xixi Wetland and the public bike system. Both projects contributed to an improved quality of life in Hangzhou.
In September, the UK-based television network BBC selected Hangzhou's bike-sharing program as one of the eight best public bike services in the world. With more than 50,000 bikes and 2,050 bike stations, Hangzhou is also home to the largest bike-sharing program in the world.
More than 52 million people used Hangzhou's bike sharing system from January to August. About 220,000 bikes are used each day and the highest usage rate for a single day hit 320,000. Hangzhou's public transport group plans to set up 10 more round-the-clock public bicycle service stations by the end of the year.
Wang is also a professor at Zhejiang University and the China Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Drinking water
Hangzhou plans to invest 20 billion yuan (US$3.17 billion) to source drinking water from Qiandao Lake.
It is listed as the top priority among the city's 10 main water projects during the 12th Five-Year Plan period from 2011 to 2015.
Preparatory work on the project has begun and the draft proposal is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
The idea to supply about 4.62 million tons of water a day from Qiandao Lake to downtown Hangzhou was initially proposed in 2004, but was later abandoned due to opposition from academician Qian Zhengying. Qian said the priority for Hangzhou, at that time, was cleaning up the polluted Qiantang River.
Pollution in the river has been under control after Zhejiang Province started the "811" environment renovation project in 2004. Thus it is no longer a hurdle, said Cheng Zhou, an official from the Hangzhou Forestry and Water Administration.
BRT line
Part of Hangzhou's first bus rapid transit line across the Qiantang River will open by the end of the year to ease traffic congestion.
BRT buses on Line B5 will first run along Jiangnan Avenue in Binjiang District after construction of five stops is completed.
The construction of bus stops along downtown Qiutao and Puyan roads have been temporarily suspended due to road renovation work.
The red BRT Line B5 will run from the East Railway Station, across the Qiantang River on Fuxing Bridge, and reach Puyan Bus Terminal, according to the plan.
The 25-kilometer route will have 21 stops.
Traffic improves
Vehicles in Hangzhou are moving between 15 and 30 percent faster on average since the city launched a series of measures to ease traffic congestion on October 8, officials said at a consultation meeting open to the public on November 12.
The measures included allowing private vehicles to be used on alternating days based on the license plate number - odd-numbered plates one day and even-numbered plates the next.
Since the policy took effect, traffic has moved quicker on Zhonghe-Shangtang Elevated Road. Buses are also moving about 7.9 percent faster than before.
However, officials said traffic pressure will continue for the foreseeable future as construction of the northwest section of Metro Line 2 will pass through 20 major streets, including Qingchun, Fengqi, Yan'an, Tiyuchang and Moganshan roads.
Treating trash
THE first solar-powered garbage treatment station was completed in Lin'an.
The garbage treatment station looks like a normal house. But this house is not filled with a happy family - it's full of trash.
Solar power collected from the roof heats up the garbage and speeds up the natural fermentation process. After treatment is complete, the garbage is about 10 percent of its original size and can be used as organic fertilizer.
Lin'an environmental protection authority plans to add about 20 solar garbage treatment stations to the area in the future.
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