Olympic hopeful closes another power plant
Print Edition
Beijing is intensifying its fight against air pollution ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics city-deciding vote.
Yesterday, workers stood in front of a distinctive chimney on Chang’an Avenue in downtown Beijing, waiting to take one last group picture.
They were bidding farewell to the Guohua Beijing Thermal Plant, once a major pillar in Beijing’s heating system. The plant, whose chimney soars 240 meters into the sky, was recently shut by the government.
Beijing has been closing a number of coal power plants in a bid to bring back “APEC Blue” — a phrase coined to describe the city’s clear skies seen during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in November.
The efforts are badly needed in a city frequently enveloped in acrid smog, particularly as the capital and Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei Province pursue a joint bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
According to official figures, the Guohua plant’s closure will help slash Beijing’s coal use by 1.3 million tons, or 14 percent of its total goal for the year, and cut emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide and dust by 1,410 tons, 2,690 tons and 420 tons respectively.
Guohua is not the only thermal plant to fade into history. Its shutdown came a day after the closure of another 93-year-old thermal power plant run by Beijing Energy Investment Group in western Beijing. Of the four major coal-fired power plants in Beijing, three have been closed so far and the last is scheduled to be closed next year.
Smog has alarmed the capital’s residents and prompted local authorities to take action to prevent it worsening, including closing high-polluting companies, banning substandard vehicles and increasing funding to fight pollution.
Last year, Beijing shut down 392 companies that cause pollution, upgraded 116 types of environmental protection equipment and slashed 2.3 million tons of coal use by closing the Gaojing Thermal Power Plant, one of the four major coal-fired plants.
Meanwhile, regional cooperation is high on the agenda for Beijing authorities in tackling foul air.
Wang Anshun, Beijing’s mayor, has said that the city is to map out a long-term plan to combat smog and air pollution with neighboring Tianjin and Hebei Province. Tianjin and Hebei have also been shrouded in smog in recent years.
The host city of the 2022 Winter Games — either Beijing or Almaty in Kazakhstan — will be named on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur.
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