Other measures for the capital to become green

eijing has begun switching all coal-fire heating facilities, such as the one pictured above, to clean-energy powered systems. Fu Ding / for China Daily

Green heating

Beijing is striving to make its coal-fired heating facilities go green in response to public concern over the city's poor air quality, especially during the heating season.

The capital vows to shut down all coal-fired boilers by the end of 2015 in the central six districts of the capital.

Gas-fired plants with advanced environmental protection technologies will be the first choice to ensure heat supply to Beijing residents, according to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.

As part of the Clean Air Action Plan, which was unveiled in September, the city plans to restrict the amount of coal consumption to within 10 million tons by the end of 2017, a 13 million ton reduction compared with the 2012 level.

The government has started a project to replace coal-fired heating facilities in homes with electric ones since 2001. More than 200,000 residents in downtown Beijing have benefited from the project.

According to the capital's clean air plan, the homes of more than 440,000 downtown residents, mainly in the Dongcheng and Xicheng districts, will be switched from coal-fired heating to electric heating. Another 210,000 homes will turn green by the end of 2015.

"It's necessary the government further supply the residents with clean energy in heating and power supply," said Fang Li, a spokesman for the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.

The electricity powered heating facilities are equipped with an automatic temperature control system, which will suspend the heat supply automatically when the room temperature reaches a certain degree, in an attempt to conserve energy.

As a public social welfare project, the government will subsidize two-thirds of the electric heating facilities and the public will pay 750 yuan ($125), a third, of the price.

The project has reduced emissions of carbon dioxide by 524,000 metric tons, sulfur dioxide by 17 million tons, and nitric oxide by 14.8 million tons.

Clean energy will take up some 90 percent of energy consumption, with coal's share reduced to below 10 percent.

Green routes

People in Beijing will be able to enjoy more green space in the next five years, as city officials look to eco-friendly projects to curb pollution.

The city government said in July it aims to build more than 1,000 kilometers of green routes, including cycle lanes and paths, to improve air quality.