The Great Hall of the People, which was required to play an avant-garde role in China's energy-saving and emission-reducing efforts, has reduced its use of water, electricity and gas for nearly three years.
Located on the western edge of Tiananmen Square, the hall is among the structures built in the capital city to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China in 1959.
The landmark building's consumption of electricity, water and gas was reduced by four percent, 14 percent and four percent respectively in 2006 compared with 2005, said the building manager, adding they would be able to meet the 2007 target.
By 2010, the reduction rates were expected to reach 25 percent,20 percent and 20 percent on the basis of 2005, read the Guidelines of Resource-saving Work in the Great Hall of the People which mapped out a plan for a 2005-2010 energy-saving program.
The manager said the central heating, which would take up nearly 35 percent of the building's total electricity consumption, was turned down below 26 degrees Celsius during the summer.
Light controllers, with the help of cameras scattered in the building, would keep a close watch on light use and decide when to turn on and shut off the lights. Only passengers who go to the fourth floor or above were allowed to use elevators.
According to Government Offices Administration of the State Council, the government office buildings nationwide posted a 12-percent and 19-percent drop in electricity and water use per head in 2006. Deducting inflation, the expense per head declined by 5.8 percent to 203 yuan (27.4 U.S. dollars).
Meanwhile, the administration ordered managers to buy energy-efficient apparatus and products worth up to 1.1 billion yuan (149 million U.S. dollars) last year.
Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall has also joined in the nationwide efforts, leading the way to curb energy use together with the Great Hall of the People, said an official with the administration.
China's top leaders have decided that reining in a red-hot economy on the verge of overheating will be a priority in 2008, a year that they say is crucial to meeting the 2006-2010 targets of saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Leaders from more than 180 countries spent the past two weeks on Indonesia's resort island of Bali to discuss and adopt a road map which was expected to launch negotiations on a crucial international climate change regime up to 2009.
As the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted, climate change has become the defining issue of our time, set to transform the very way we live and the way our economies are structured. Being the world's second largest emitter, China obviously has a lot more to do.
Source:Xinhua
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