Quotas to set energy use on campuses

University students will be expected to save energy by adhering to set quotas governing their use of water, electricity and gas in the near future, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Sunday.　

A document on per capita quotas for using energy on campus has been drafted and submitted for approval to strictly control the use of water, electricity and gas at universities, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment.

Many universities in Beijing worked to save energy before the quotas were created. China Agriculture University, for example, restructured its heating system, cutting 15 percent of its energy usage.

According to Zhang Jianhua, vice president of the university, the new system automatically regulates furnace outputs in accordance with the weather - a more scientific and accurate method that saves energy.

Zhang said three 75-kilowatt parallel water pumps were replaced by a 160-kilowatt frequency converter water pump, which has saved 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

A regulating valve has also been installed on the heating units in buildings on campus to respond to peak usage hours.

Teaching buildings receive less heat after classes and quiet study hours, and the heating in dormitories is regulated to be lower in the daytime, which can save 500,000 cubic meters of natural gas each winter.

Schools in Beijing are preparing to adopt an alternative heating system in the near future that will lower temperatures to less than 10 C in vacant rooms after school and during holidays. The heat will be programmed to kick on two hours before class begins.

Universities in Beijing had never set limits on energy use on campus before the draft came into being, although students' electricity use in dormitories has been regulated, with each room allowed to use a maximum of eight or nine kilowatts of electricity each month. No limitations are to be imposed on electricity use in laboratories and classrooms.

Per capita use of energy on campus including cafeterias, water supply rooms and furnace rooms will be calculated in the future so as to determine a school's overall energy consumption, allowing universities to formulate systems for energy-saving regulations.