A media war on energy wasters has been launched in Beijing.
? Last week, two telephone hotlines were set up by the Beijing
Municipal Commission for Development and Reform for anyone to
report companies or individuals who waste energy or water - and
once the report is made, local media will be notified and will run
"name and shame" stories about the culprits. The name and shame
campaign is scheduled to run until the end of June.
The campaign coincides with the onset of summer, which is
typically a time of peak energy consumption with air conditioners
and electric fans being turned on to battle the suffocating
heat.
"In fact, two hotlines are not enough," said Guo Dehong, who
answers the telephone at the resource conservation centre
affiliated with the Beijing Municipal Commission for Development
and Reform.
Most of the complaints he receives are about leaking taps and
lights turned on round-the-clock at building sites.
He remembers one complaint, made about a tap that ran 24 hours a
day for a year at a colliery in Daxing District.
"Cases like this are to be reported to the relevant authorities
and put under the media spotlight," Guo said.
Beijing's power resources have reached desperately low levels,
said Liu Yinchun, an official with the commission.
The city relies a great deal on resources from other provinces.
About 70 percent of its power, 95 percent of coal, 100 percent of
natural gas, and 80 percent of crude oil supplies are imported.
North China's Hebei
and Shanxi
provinces and the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region are the major sources of power for
Beijing.
"Beijing is about 1 million kilowatts short of satisfying its
total demand of about 10.7 million kilowatts this year," said Chen
Tiecheng, chief of the coal and power division with the
commission.
(China Daily May 31, 2005)