Natural gas will replace coal as the major energy source for the generation of electricity and heating in the Chinese capital by 2008, when the Olympic games take place.

Chai Xiaozhong, vice-director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, said the central government has approved a group of electricity-generating projects that will use natural gas, not coal, to ensure cleaner and bluer skies in the capital.

He said the city plans to build a large gas electricity generating station in the Taiyanggong area, which is about 4-5 kilometres from the Olympic Games Park in the northern suburbs of the capital. The generating plant, which will supply electricity and heat at the same time, will replace about 40 heating supply stations which currently burn coal.

 "When the project is finished and goes into operation, the condition of the air in the Olympic Games Park area will be greatly improved,'' said Chai at yesterday's opening ceremony for a three-day Sino-German workshop on "Smart and Green Building'' in Beijing.

Chai said Beijing has achieved considerable success in implementing clean energy sources and will explore more ways to use solar energy and geothermal energy to prevent air pollution.

At the workshop, a senior energy official said the country will try every possible means to improve energy utilization efficiency in buildings and houses.

 "Efficiency of energy utilization in this area is at a low level compared with what is being done in other countries,'' said Wu Guihui, deputy director general of the Energy Bureau of the State Development and Reform Commission.

Statistics indicate that 26.7 per cent of China's total energy consumption take place in houses and buildings. This ratio is two or three times higher than in other countries at the same latitude.

To achieve higher efficiency of energy utilization in these buildings, workshop participants said, intelligent technologies must be introduced.

 "Such technologies, especially those with automatic controls, should be widely used in residential and office buildings because energy on the earth is too limited,'' Bernd Wagner, product manager of ABB (China) Ltd, told China Daily.

He said German has already set an example in energy saving and smart building and their experience will be helpful for China in its current endeavour.

China has put a lot of work into smart building research and is now working with third-generation smart buildings -- which rely on the fast development of computer technology, control technology and communications technology.

With optimized integration of auto-controls, and management and communications systems, smart buildings run more efficiently with low energy consumption levels.

Statistics indicated that China has invested 33 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion) in developing smart buildings, and the investment is expected to reach 80 billion yuan (US$9.6 billion) by 2005.

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