Bureaus Exclusive
Guangyuan to provide 10,000-ton carbon emission reduction quota
By Huang Zhiling (China Daily Sichuan Bureau)
Updated: 2010-11-09 21:10
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In order to reduce and neutralize carbon emission generated by the travel of people during the Guangzhou Asian Games, Guangyuan city in Southwest China's Sichuan province will provide a quota of 10,000-ton carbon emission reduction.
The quota will be spent on the implementation of the Yangchengtong Low Carbon Commuting Card, said Zhang Jianyu who is in charge of the Green Commuting Project during the Guangzhou Asian Games.
Unlike ordinary commuting cards, each Yangchengtong card has a one-ton carbon emission trading quota, Zhang said.
Using this card means the reduction of one-ton carbon dioxide, he said during a ceremony held in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, on Monday in which he and a representative of the Guangyuan municipal government signed the agreement to provide the carbon reduction quota to the Guangzhou Asian Games.
It is another step taken by Guangyuan to contribute to the reduction of carbon emission, Zhang said.
In April, Expo 2010 Shanghai worked with the Green Commuting Fund (GCF) under the China Association for NGO Cooperation to introduce the world's first low-carbon Commuting card in Shanghai.
The card, intended to promote the use of public transportation, costs 40 yuan ($5.97), with half the amount being allocated to green projects.
Card buyers can also check which projects their money has gone to by typing in the card number at the official website, cleanair.net.cn.
A quota of 20,000-ton carbon emission reduction from Guangyuan found its way into the card.
Located in the northernmost part of Sichuan, Guangyuan, an ecological screen in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, was hard hit in the Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008, which killed 69,000 and left 18,000 missing.
In its post-quake reconstruction, Guangyuan has made use of its amply supply of natural gas, solar energy and water and geothermal resources and stressed the reduction of carbon emission, said Luo Qiang, Party chief of Guangyuan.
It has built more than 60,000 wooden houses with the light steel structure in its post-quake reconstruction, which means each household has reduced the use of 25,000 bricks, all the houses have reduced the use of 392,000 tons of coal and the emission of 977,000 tons of carbon dioxide, Luo said.
A total of 317 enterprises in the city have given up coal and use natural gas instead. All the taxis and 96 percent of the buses in Guangyuan now use natural gas as fuel.
Thanks to its efforts, Guangyuan has been named as one of the first cities in China contributing greatly to low-carbon development, Luo said.
Li Yu contributed to the story