Beijing 2022 can be springboard to greener future

To reach its goal, officials in Zhangjiakou have pledged initiatives such as accelerating power pricing reforms, encouraging private companies to invest in the construction of "smart grids" and more energy storage facilities, and promoting a trans-regional power-trading mechanism.

If it manages to put such plans in place, Zhangjiakou could become a global model for renewable-energy utilization.

Although the share of electricity generated from renewable sources continues to grow in China, the effective use of wind and solar power continues to be a challenge.

In the first six months of this year, more than 15 percent of the electricity generated from wind power in China had restrictions placed on it, a 6.8 percent rise on the previous year.

Similarly, about 1.8 billion kilowatt-hour electricity generated from solar power had the same, mainly in northwest China, according to the energy regulator.

The main reasons for the curtailments were a lack of transmission capacity, with the power grids still giving priority to coal-powered plants.

Given such circumstances, quicker industry reform is needed to promote both trans-regional cooperation, and larger amounts of electricity generated from wind and solar must be bought by the power grid companies.

Zhangjiakou officials plan to transmit any excess clean energy from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to energy-guzzling central regions of China.

They have also pledged that all its public transportation, roughly 40 percent of urban power consumption, and half of all commercial and public-building power consumption will be generated from renewable sources by 2020.

Some skeptics still fear that vehicles powered by electricity generated from coal-fired power stations will still result in more emissions than conventional cars powered by petrol.

But Zhangjiakou's idea of embedding cleaner vehicles into the fabric of China's future energy development must surely be a model for other cities across the country.

By winning the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, China's efforts at cleaning up its skies for good will take center stage, and act as a springboard for its renewable energy industry.

Contact the writer at lanlan@chinadaily.com.cn