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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