earthtalk
Dear EarthTalk:
The 2008 Summer Olympics in China are drawing a
lot of attention right now for political reasons. I’ve
heard, though, that one ray of light is China’s effort
to make the event as green as possible. What’s going
on in that regard? — Josh Rogers, Concord, NH
pollution, green building and sustainable with ETFE pillows and is expected to cut
community development. energy use by 30 percent. And when it
According to China’s Technology has finished serving its purpose as an
The ‘Birdcage,’ one of seven
Minister Wan Gang, the Beijing Olympics Olympic venue, it has been built to be
Olympic stadiums being built
are expected to generate some 1.2 mil- converted to a shopping area and leisure
in Beijing for the upcoming
lion tons of carbon dioxide, in large part center, with tennis courts, retail outlets,
because of the flying the world’s athletes nightclubs and restaurants.
2008 Summer Olympics.
will do to get to and from the games. To All seven main Olympic stadiums are
All are equipped with solar
offset these potent greenhouse gases, equipped with solar generators capable
generators that will provide
China will take a series of measures, Wan of outputting 480 kilowatts of energy.
says, including planting trees, closing Ninety percent of the lighting outside
most of the outdoor lighting.
1,000 small coal mines before and during the stadiums, as well as the entire hot
The entire hot water supply
the games, and banning up to a million water supply for the Olympic Village, will
for the Olympic Village will
cars from city streets. be powered by solar energy. Also, the
Beijing’s Olympic Village, where main stadiums will receive power from
be powered by solar energy,
the Chinese government has been busy Beijing’s first wind farm.
and the main stadiums will
erecting dozens of stadiums and other While the Olympic Games will last
receive power from Beijing’s
structures according to rigorous green only two weeks, environmentalists hope
standards, is emerging as an example of the greening of Beijing will continue
first wind farm.
sustainable community development. beyond the summer of ‘08. Proposals
—Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
The steel-looped Beijing National Sta- include building 14 wastewater treat-
dium, for instance, includes a rainwater ment facilities to achieve a 90 percent
collection arrangement, a natural ventila- treatment rate in Beijing, and extending
I
t’s true that China is using the upcom- tion system and a clear roof with inflat- potable water to the entire city.
ing Beijing Olympics as a sustainability able cushions made from ETFE (Ethylene Also, the municipal government
showcase, going so far as to dub the Tetrafluoroethylene), a kind of plastic of Beijing has invested in expensive
event the ‘Green Olympics’. Through a that increases light and heat penetration. energy-efficient heating and transporta-
partnership with the U.S. government Another example is the ‘Water Cube’, tion equipment that will greatly improve
and the Maryland-based International a spectacular-looking structure that looks environmental quality for decades to
Center for Sustainable Development, like a building made of bubble-wrap. come. Beijing, where 1,000 new cars roll
China is giving Beijing a green makeover Officially known as the National Aquat- onto the streets every day, also plans to
to make the city a model for net zero ics Center, it is completely surrounded source clean energy from other parts
of China and through the purchase of
pollution offsets via a quickly expanding
international market.
Contacts: ICSD Beijing 2008 Green
Olympics Initiative, solarcities.org/bei-
jingolympics.htm; Beijing 2008 Olympic
Games, http://en.beijing2008.cn.
Got an Environmental Question?
Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environ-
mental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport,
CT 06881; submit it at: emagazine.com/
earthtalk/thisweek/, or email: earthtalk@
emagazine.com. Read past columns at
emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.
40 Broward County
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