In the summer of 2008, Beijing did what seemed impossible: it brought blue skies to the notoriously polluted city for a month as part of a commitment to tackling pollution for the Olympics. Now, as China prepares for the winter games, the stakes are arguably even higher, as global attention to climate change puts the country under a new level of scrutiny.
As the world’s biggest polluter, China hopes to use the occasion to demonstrate its commitment to fighting climate change and fend off criticism that its rhetoric and policies amount to nothing more than greenwashing. To this end, the Beijing Organizing Committee has pledged to hold “low-carbon” games through a series of measures.
However, beyond just proving it can host a green or even carbon neutral event, China is also under pressure to show it is capable of using technologies that can have a lasting impact beyond games. It won’t be easy, especially as an economic downturn puts even more pressure on officials to balance the need for jobs and growth with the country’s energy transition.
“At most, it’s something where, the fact that the Chinese government wants to project leadership in green energy and so on around the world – I think that’s important,” said analyst Lauri Myllyvirta. at the Energy Research Center based in Finland. and Clean Air. “To the extent that the Olympics will reinforce that kind of image, that’s important.”
Clean energy
Among the most ambitious measures is a plan to supply all venues in the Olympic Village with carbon-free electricity. The plan involves thousands of solar panels and wind turbines, hundreds of miles of high voltage power lines and the world’s largest battery.
Zhangjiakou, a city 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Beijing that also hosts some of the competitions, is home to some of China’s best renewable resources and will generate electricity. It will be transmitted by direct current power lines to the Olympic venues and to the Fengning pumped hydroelectric power station in Hebei province, which will store excess power during the day and send it back to keep the lights on at night. Fengning will be the world’s largest energy storage facility when complete, and it fired up its first turbines late last year to meet Olympic demand.
The whole system should be able to transmit 14 billion kilowatt hours of green electricity to the capital annually, or about 10% of its total consumption, local media reported. And that’s just a microcosm of the country’s renewable ambitions. China plans to have enough solar and wind capacity to generate 1,200 gigawatts of electricity – the equivalent of all of the electricity needs of the United States – by 2030.
“He leaves behind a very good legacy that will facilitate Beijing’s low-carbon transition,” said Ma Jun, founder of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a think tank in Beijing. “China has quite a few similar regions with rich wind and solar resources, so a key issue it needs to address is how to make good use of those resources to move away from its dependence on coal while ensuring a supply. stable energy.”
green ice cream
Another Olympics-related innovation is the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a cooling agent instead of Freon to make ice, making it the first host city in Olympics history to use this. type of technology. The ice-making process is 30% more energy efficient, the official Xinhua News Agency said in May last year.
Five of the nine Olympic rinks will use natural CO2, which is kinder to the ozone layer and has a much lower effect on global warming than the refrigerant organizers had originally considered, according to Xinhua. By comparison, the organizers of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games pledged to make it the first zero-emissions event in Olympics history, but the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant that was used in all of its skating rinks is 3,922 times more powerful in warming the climate. than CO2.
“In recent years, air conditioning has experienced rapid growth in China. And the country has not yet phased out its fluorinated gases, so emissions have increased very rapidly,” Myllyvirta said. “It’s a type of technology that can make a big difference,” he added.
Yet for CO2 to work as a coolant in household appliances like refrigerators, the components of the refrigeration system must be able to withstand much higher pressure than what is required for traditional refrigerants, which makes more expensive to adopt on a large scale for everyday use. .
Recycled sites
The fate of buildings such as arenas and stadiums is another highly scrutinized aspect of the Olympic Games.
Beijing has renovated six venues that were used for the 2008 games with recyclable materials to make them compatible for both the upcoming winter games, as well as other upcoming events, according to the city’s legacy plan. organizing committee announced in June, which details how venues and other infrastructure will be managed once the games are over.
For example, the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, which served as the site for aquatic events in 2008, will host curling events after a swimming pool was redesigned with an overwater structure.
The plan also lays out a plan for the future use of the sites. The Zhangjiakou area, for example, where three of the four competition venues were built just for the event, will be transformed into a winter entertainment center and a summer vacation resort after the games, which is also in line to the broader political objectives of developing winter sports in the country.
During the Pyeongchang Games, venues including the “throw-away” Olympic Stadium, which cost around $60 million to build, were demolished shortly after the event.
Balancing law
Nevertheless, Beijing’s collective efforts are coming up against a delicate balancing act at a time when the economy is facing multiple headwinds. The goal of creating a prosperous nation required continued economic growth. Breaking this link between growth and emissions will require policies aimed at reducing fossil fuels, which could affect regional economies that are highly dependent on these fuels.
For example, in 2008, after the end of the Olympics, steel mills shut down to make the sky blue resumed production and the country’s emissions increased on a yearly basis.
“China is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, especially coal, and this energy structure needs to change before it can truly achieve carbon neutrality,” Ma said. “The Olympics is just a one-time event.”
