The Beijing municipal government has said the city's energy supply is sufficient to meet the demand during the summer Olympic Games and the city will take measures to reduce traffic volume on the road, the Beijing Times reports.

The Municipal Commission of Development and Reform estimates the maximum power usage during the games period will stand between 14.6 million to 15 million kilowatts. The peak demand last summer was 11.9 million kilowatts. With the completion of several more electricity transmission projects, the city's power supply capacity will increase by around 34 percent to meet power demand.

The Commission notes the city's commercial reserve stock of refined oil products has reached 290,000 tons. The reserves can meet 18 days of consumption on the calculation of the present daily sales of 16,000 tons. The city government will coordinate with Sinopec and Petrochina, the country's top refined oil producers, to increase market supply.

The city will also issue traffic limits to reduce the number of private cars on the road and increase the usage of public transportation.

Meanwhile, starting on March 1, gasoline and diesel sold at all outlets in the capital city must meet the new China IV standards, which are equivalent to the European Union's Euro IV standards, to further cut sulphur dioxide emissions.

(CRI January 10, 2008)