The Beijing municipal government has said the city's energy
supply is sufficient to meet the demand during the summer Olympic Games and the city will take measures
to reduce traffic volume on the road, the Beijing Times
reports.
The Municipal Commission of Development and Reform estimates the
maximum power usage during the games period will stand between 14.6
million to 15 million kilowatts. The peak demand last summer was
11.9 million kilowatts. With the completion of several more
electricity transmission projects, the city's power supply capacity
will increase by around 34 percent to meet power demand.
The Commission notes the city's commercial reserve stock of
refined oil products has reached 290,000 tons. The reserves can
meet 18 days of consumption on the calculation of the present daily
sales of 16,000 tons. The city government will coordinate with
Sinopec and Petrochina, the country's top refined oil producers, to
increase market supply.
The city will also issue traffic limits to reduce the number of
private cars on the road and increase the usage of public
transportation.
Meanwhile, starting on March 1, gasoline and diesel sold at all
outlets in the capital city must meet the new China IV standards,
which are equivalent to the European Union's Euro IV standards, to
further cut sulphur dioxide emissions.
(CRI January 10, 2008)