Beijing to switch from coal to gas to go green

Beijing is to take action to make its coal-fired power plants and heating facilities go green amidpublic concern over the city's poor air quality, said a government official.

Zhang Gong, director of Beijing municipal development and reform commission, said that anestimated 80 billion yuan ($13 billion) will be invested to switch the city's coal-fired power plantsand heating facilities to natural gas.

 

Beijing Jingneng Thermal Power Co Ltd, one of the capital city's largest coal-fired heating and powerplants, is located beside Lianshi Lake in Shijingshan district, about 20 kilometers west of Tian'anmenSquare. 

"We want to make sure that power plants and heating facilities will be fueled by natural gas inthe coming three to four years, reducing the use of coal as much as possible," Zhang said onthe sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

Zhang said the move is set to improve Beijing's air quality and ease public concern over PM2.5,particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which can be hazardous afterreaching a certain concentration.

Emissions from coal-fired power plants and heating facilities, aswell as from the 5 million cars running in Beijing, are a majorsource of PM2.5 in the capital, according to research conductedby the municipal government.

Coal consumption in Beijing was around 26.3 million tons in2011, with coal-fired heating and power plants accounting for 73percent. The remainder was for industrial use, Zhang said.

"So reducing the use of coal is our priority to cut theconcentration of PM2.5 in the city," he said, adding Beijing willuse more green energy in the near future.

PM2.5 has been put higher up the government agenda amidgrowing concern over poor air quality in China's big cities.

According to a statement by the State Council at the end ofFebruary, the four municipalities - Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin andChongqing - and 27 provincial capitals, as well as three keyregions - the Yangtze and Pearl river deltas and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region - will monitor PM2.5 this year.

More than 100 smaller cities will adopt the new air quality standards in 2013. The statement saidthe standards will be extended to all cities by 2015.

Beijing has been releasing the data on the concentration of PM2.5 to the public since January.

Replacing coal-fired plants with natural gas-fueled ones will make significant contribution towardimproving air quality, said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, aBeijing-based non-governmental organization.

"However, it may take longer than expected," Ma said.

He said Beijing is actually a relatively small consumer of coal compared with its neighbors inHebei province and Tianjin.

"The hard work done by Beijing alone is not going to improve the overall air quality unless theneighboring cities also make an effort," he said.

Zhang from the reform and development commission of Beijing said that the experience ofWestern countries shows that improving air quality is a long and complicated battle.

"The government is no longer focusing solely on the economic growth of the city. We want tohave sustainable development and create a livable city for the people," he said, adding that isthe reason that the government has set an annual target of 8 percent GDP growth during the12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15) instead of the double-digit growth of previous years.

Read More

China ups bullet train brake test record

 

China has completed the construction of a powerful test bench for a train braking system, setting a world record by allowing a maximum test speed of up to 530 kilometers per hour, a railway researcher said Sunday.

 

Li Heping, a political adviser and researcher with the China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS), said that as a key technology for high-speed trains, the test bench has been put into operation at a state key laboratory for the high-speed railway system at CARS.

 

The test bench can simulate the high-speed train braking process in different conditions like dry or humid environments, as well as airstream, low temperature and snowfall, Li told Xinhua on the sidelines of China's annual legislative session.

 

The CARS-developed high-speed train brake disc and brake lining have both passed tests at the new bench under maximum-speed conditions, said Li.

Read More

China starts manufacturing third lunar probe

China has begun designing and manufacturing the flight model entity of its third lunar probe, Chang'e-3, according to the administration of China's lunar probe project.

As a key part of the second step of China's three-phase lunar probe projects, the Chang'e-3 mission has entered the flight mode phase from prototype phase, according to a statement from the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) on Tuesday.

The third probe will carry a lunar rover and other instruments for land surveys, living conditions assessment, and space observations.

Chang'e-3 is scheduled to be launched in 2013. Its predecessor, Chang'e-2 was launched on October

Earlier last month, China published a full coverage map as well as several high-resolution images of the moon captured by Chang'e-2, which are the highest-resolution photos of the entirety of the moon's surface thus far.

Also in the SASTIND statement, China has started the comprehensive construction of its high-resolution earth observation system.

China will begin to develop a new-type satellite for the construction of the system from 2013. The system is expected to be set up around 2020, said the statement.

As one of China's 16 major scientific projects set in its national outline for scientific and technological development (2006-2020), the system will be used to provide information service and policy-making support for fields such as modern agriculture, disaster prevention and reduction and public security.

Read More

China aims to launch 100 satellites by 2015

China has set a target of completing a space mission of "100 rockets, 100 satellites" during the five years between 2011 and 2015, a senior space executive said Saturday.

On average, China will complete about 20 launch missions each year before 2015, said Zhang Jianheng, deputy general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC).

"The densely arranged launch missions and flight tests have posed an unprecedented challenge to the country's space program," Zhang, a deputy to the country's top legislature, the National People's Congress, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the ongoing parliamentary session that started on Monday.

According to Zhang, China launched 19 satellites, a target orbiter Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-8 spacecraft with 19 Long March rockets last year, a record high for China's space program in launch numbers.

China has surpassed the United States, which completed 18 launches in 2011, to become the world's No. 2 in terms of launch numbers following Russia's 36 launches, Zhang said.

In 2012, China has planned 30 satellite launches with 21 rockets, including the launch of Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, which is scheduled to carry out China's first manned space rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1 between June and August.

Zhang said CASC raked in 100 billion yuan ($15.87 billion) in operating income in 2011, bringing the company's total assets to more than 200 billion yuan.

He said the company will keep a growth rate of about 20 percent annually and its operating income is expected to hit 250 billion yuan by the year 2015.

Read More

Manned spacecraft Shenzhou-9 to be launched

China will launch the manned Shenzhou-9 spacecraft between June and August this year and achieve space rendezvous and docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module, a spokesman for China's manned space program said Friday. 

The new space docking mission will be realized by astronauts' manual operation, another chance for China to test its docking technology, he spokesman said.

The three crew members of Shenzhou-9 will enter Tiangong-1 vehicle to live and work there, conducting space science experiments.

The target module Tiangong-1, blasted off on September 29, 2011, went into long-term operation in space awaiting docking attempts of Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 after completing China's first space docking mission with the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft in early November.

Read More