Inner Mongolian industry going green

The Inner Mongolia autonomous region will continue to strengthen industrial transformation and environmental protection, aiming to develop the region through green and eco-friendly principles.

With the largest amount of mineral resources in the country, Inner Mongolia has witnessed an industrial revolution to promote sustainable development through exploring new energies, said Bu Xiaolin, chairwoman of the autonomous region.

During a news conference on Friday, Bu said the new energy industry, including solar, wind, natural gas and geothermal energy, now accounts for half of the region's total energy output.

Wind and solar provide 30 percent of the region's energy capacity, and is expected to hit 40 percent by 2025.

Inner Mongolia has also implemented large-scale facility reconstruction to save energy. Currently, 23 percent of the region's annual electricity consumption is supported by new energy, equal to a reduction of 63 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year.

"To improve our technologies in clean energy exploration and coal-intensive processing, we will further deepen cooperation with experts overseas and aim for high quality development of the energy economy," Bu said.

Official statistics indicated that Inner Mongolia has now obtained more than 100 patents on coal-intensive processing.

Last year, the Inner Mongolia International Energy Conference was held in Ordos, which attracted experts, including three Nobel Prize winners, from about 20 countries.

Meanwhile, the region is going to support more green industries and eliminate outdated production under the principle of eco-friendly development, according to Li Jiheng, director of the standing committee of the regional people's congress.

"Moreover, we should take grassland and forestry protection as a priority in the region's ecological construction, and we won't tolerate any exploration or economic growth at the cost of environmental pollution," Li said.

According to the official statistics, forest coverage in Inner Mongolia has increased from 9.13 million hectares 70 years ago to 26.2 million hectares last year, and its grassland area has reached 88 million hectares.

Li said the region will continue its efforts on several major ecological restoration projects, such as the "Three-North Shelterbelt Program" and revert farmland to grassland and forest.

He quoted an ancient Chinese poem that described unpolluted natural scenery of Inner Mongolia: "between the vast sky and the boundless earth, flocks and herds appear as grass bends to wind".

"We are shouldering our responsibility to guard this green and beautiful land in our country's northern region, protecting its pureness for our descendants via green and eco-friendly development," he said.