Many of the capital's more than 10 million residents will be able to say goodbye to heavy smoke coming from heating facilities' stacks this winter as they begin to enjoy central heating from November 1.

Official statistics show that by the end of October, a total of 1,681 coal-powered boilers in Beijing had been converted to use cleaner energies, such as natural gas and oil, although coal is still the main energy resource in the city.

As a result of the improvement, the coal consumption for heating in Beijing will be decreased by 1 million tons, resulting in a reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions of 85 million tons and a reduction in smoke and dust emissions of 43 million tons.

At the same time, all the thermo-electric plants of the city, which still mainly depend on coal, have been making great efforts to improve their equipment in order to reduce pollution and better protect the environment.

For example, the Beijing Co-generation Branch Company of CLP Guohua Power, which provides about 25 per cent of the city's heat, has passed an examination by the State Environmental Protection Administration, said Xu Jianhua, general manager of the company, yesterday.

The release amounts of waste gas, water, residues and other pollutants have met and even come in below the State standards as a result of comprehensive technology improvements for environmental protection that have under way since 1996.

(China Daily October 30, 2002)