Chengde Invests 1.5 Billion Yuan in Controlling Air PollutionThe 930-million-yuan (about 112 million US dollars) gas project in Chengde, north China's Hebei Province, has been completed as part of the city's effort to control air pollution.The project will bring the city's total investment in controlling air pollution to 1.5 billion yuan (about 200 million US dollars). Chengde is a tourist attraction best known for many historical relics, such as the Mountain Estate for Escaping the Heat and the Eight Outer Temples. These two sites, placed on the world cultural heritage list, receive three million Chinese and overseas tourists annually. However, Chengde has very severe air pollution because of its location in a mountainous basin. In order to make the sky clear, the city government has launched a comprehensive project to improve its ecology by means of science and technology. It has invested 120 million yuan (about 14 USdollars) in completing a central heating system. It has also discarded a total of 500 boilers for supplying heat and industrial use. By adopting these two measures, the emission of smoke and sulfur dioxide can be reduced by 1.2 billion cubic meters and 9,000 tons, respectively. The newly completed coking project can produce 591,000 tons of coking annually with a daily gas supply to the city of 470,000 cubic meters. It can replace 428,000 tons of coal a year. |
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