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Government to turn off air conditioners
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-09 10:47
As Beijing approaches its unbearably hot summer, the Beijing Development and
Reform Commission is turning off its previously running around-the-clock air
conditioners for 12 hours per day, in an attempt to appeal to the whole society
to save electricity.
The municipal government of East China's Nanjing, capital of the country's
most affluent Jiangsu Province, has recently ordered every department under its
jurisdiction not to turn on air conditioners unless the temperature is above 32
degrees Celsius.
This week, which is energy conservation week in China, the State Development
and Reform Commission issued an energy saving guidance book for the public. It
included requiring that temperatures in government offices and State-owned
enterprises' offices must be controlled at 27-28 degrees Celsius for electricity
conservation. And in the future, governments must purchase energy-saving
computers, air conditioners and water coolers.
The first quarter of 2004 saw 24 provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities of China in great shortage of electricity. Local blackouts
frequently occurred.
"The electricity strain this year could be more severe than last year due to
the influence of insufficient supply of coal and high temperatures in summer,"
predicted Shi Yubo, vice president of the State Electric Power Regulatory
Commission, saying that reserve electricity is nowadays in great shortage,
although all the country's electricity generators are working at full capacity.
And some electricity generating facilities have been in poor condition.
He urged the government to speed up construction of an electricity grid and
to organize a cross-regional electricity deal.
Last Friday, Premier Wen Jiabao presided over an executive meeting of the
State Council, which decided that the fundamental way to ease the energy
shortage is to improve macroeconomics regulation and control, curb blind
investments and copy-cat projects in some industries and cut irrational demand.
On Sunday, Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan inspected an energy-saving product
showcase booth in one of Beijing's urban communities, calling on energy
conservation.
Beijing's 24 star hotels recently made a joint proposal, calling on all
hotels to adjust hotel room temperatures one degree Celsius higher than before
this summer, saying that one degree Celsius higher could drop electricity
consumption by eight percent.
Zhao Jiarong, a senior official with the State Development and Reform
Commission said "to relieve the electricity strain, we must construct more
electricity generators on one hand, and appeal to the whole society to save
electricity on the other hand."
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