Eco-friendly facilities showcase nation's green gains

CHENGDU — The Chengdu FISU World University Games will serve as a shining example of China's green and low-carbon development amid rising power demand and scorching heatwaves.

The global sports gala, which opens on Friday, has embraced cutting-edge technology and will not only provide a refreshing experience for the young student-athletes during the summer heat but also leave a lasting green legacy for the event and residents of the Sichuan provincial capital.

Summers in Chengdu are hot and humid with little wind. To keep the buildings cool while maintaining low-carbon emissions, architects designed hourglass-shaped alleys inside buildings, which can increase air flow and dissipate heat.

Zhong Peng, head of design for the FISU Games Village, explained the science behind the "cool alley "he designed, citing statistics on the substantial energy savings achieved by replacing air-conditioning with continuous air flow.

"This place covers an area of 1,400 square meters. If the air-conditioning was on, the annual energy consumption would hit nearly 70,000 kWh (kilowatt hours), which is equivalent to the total energy use of 20 families for a year," Zhong said.

Alongside the cooling measures, the Chengdu Games also feature low-carbon technologies, with the self-driving experience of new energy vehicles (NEVs) being a notable highlight.

"For this event, our program has provided about 70 NEVs, which is fully in line with the concept of making the University Games a green event. Some of these vehicles are self-driving, which offers a high-tech travel experience for athletes, guests and media friends from all over the world," said Wei Jiaxing, a staff member from China's "experience program", which is also operational in many other provinces, including Hunan, Yunnan and Shandong.

China's NEV sector has entered a new stage of high-quality development marked by a steady increase in output, sales, exports, and consumption. The accumulative output of NEVs in China had exceeded 20 million units by July this year.

The robust development of the sector comes amid China's efforts to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

During a national conference on ecological and environmental protection last week, the Chinese leadership noted that the nation's economy and society have entered a stage of high-quality development marked by faster progress in promoting green and low-carbon growth.

Key points from the conference included: High-level environmental protection should be prioritized to create new drivers of development; a green, low-carbon and circular economy needs to be built; China should reduce the resources and environmental costs of development and increase the potential and sustainability of development.

The multipurpose gymnasium at Dong'an Lake Sports Park is typical of the sustainable, high-tech venues in use at the Chengdu Games. The gym, a competition and warm-up venue for artistic gymnastics events, features an energy consumption monitoring system which records real-time data and analyzes energy consumption of facilities.

In case of abnormal or excessive power usage in certain areas, the system will respond promptly to activate energy-saving measures, said Luo Xingxing, deputy manager for logistics support services of the venue.

Moreover, the Chengdu Games highlight the concept of green development in the energy generation process.

"The majority of Sichuan's power generation is derived from hydropower sources," said Han Wei, a staff member at a NEV charging station in Chengdu.

"Water from the distant snowcapped mountains is converted into electricity here, providing clean energy for electric vehicles."

Xinhua