Zero Net Emissions for Beijing 2008 Olympics
by TreeHugger on 01.28.05
The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City were the first zero net emissions Olympic Games, and Beijing is set to follow suit in the summer of 2008. By asking companies to “donate” emissions reductions, Salt Lake organizers were able to reduce the carbon emissions of the games by about 300,000 tons. The Summer Games are generally thought to emit even more carbon. The International Center for Sustainable Development is working with American and Chinese experts to help Beijing move towards a similar reduction through both offsetting and minimizing emissions.
Sustainable planning and green building will help both the structures erected temporarily and the one that’ll stick around, leaving a lasting environmental impact (the baseball venue, to be built with ecologically sound materials, is pictured). Green belts are already being built on rooftops; Beijing also hopes to have its fleet of 118,000 buses running on compressed natural gas in time for the Games. ::ICSD ::Beijing 2008 [by KK]
