In the face of stiff competition from Paris and Toronto, Beijing won the bid to host the 2008 Olympics partly on its pledge to leave a strong environmental legacy behind and play catch-up with its "greener" rivals.

One of the key tools to help the city fulfil this pledge to host a "Green Olympics" is its investment in cleaner, or renewable, energy to generate power.

From 2000-2008, Beijing's natural gas consumption will have risen seven-fold to 5 billion cubic meters. The authorities plan to build on this move to lessen the city's reliance on air-polluting coal and oil.

If all goes according to plan, and so far it is, the forces of nature will be harnessed to enrich Beijing's clean energy portfolio.

"About 500 kw of solar power will be supplied at some Olympic venues during the Games," said Yu Xiaoxuan, vice-director at BOCOG's Venue Planning, Construction and Environmental Activity Department.

In the Olympic Village, a 6,000-square-meter solar energy-heating system, which will supply hot water for the showers during the Games, will be installed in its roof garden. The Olympic Center, most of the new venues for the Games and even the underground parking lot will also rely on solar energy for some of their lighting.

China's National Development and Reform Commission has forcast that the country will almost double the amount of energy created by wind generation by 2008 to about 5 gigawatts, partly to produce clean power for the Beijing Olympic Games.

"When Beijing bid for the Games they said that 20 percent of the electricity that will be used to power the Games will be wind-powered," said Greenpeace Beijing's Olympic spokesman Lo Sze Ping.

"Right now they're actually looking to see if this proportion can be increased, because the wind-powered development in areas nearby Beijing has been much faster and bigger than what they were planning in 2000."

China Energy Conservation Investment Corp, a state-run company that promotes energy saving, started building a wind farm with a capacity of 200 megawatts at Zhangbei in North China's Hebei Province on April 29. The plant is about two hours' drive from the capital city. After its operational start-up, most of the power will be sent to support Beijing.

A pump that recycles waste water will also be making its debut in the Olympics next year to furnish the Olympic Village with a central cooling system rather than resorting to more coal use.

"The waste water is about 13C so it is much cooler than room temperature. Beijing has several processing plants for this so there will be no problems in terms of supply," said BOCOG's Yu Xiaoxuan.

"This is the biggest energy conservation project in the Olympic Village," he added.