Beijing Winter Olympics will be commenced from February 4, 2022. The Winter Paralympics will also be held from March 4 to 13. It will offer China an opportunity to showcase sporting prowess and environmental credentials. It seems that artificial robots will easily monitor athletes’ health to wearable thermometers and perfectly chilled ice rinks, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics are going to set a new benchmark for sustainable and intelligent Games.
As Olympic venues have been completed and impressive high-tech and green innovations are showcasing China unmatched green energy technological superiority and strong political commitment to reduce looming threats to climate change. Hopefully, it will be winter sports gala.
Regional and global power politics have started to realize sporting spirits of China and decided to participate in the upcoming international sports event. Even US has confirmed participation of its 300 athletes in the Beijing Winter Olympic (BWL) 2020 which is a good omen for globalization.
It seems that Chinese holistic green technologies implementation of innovative solutions at all venues during the upcoming BWL will help to contain COVID-19. According to organizers of the BWL, green technologies will be used along with advanced equipment for large-scale health monitoring, environment disinfection and instant responses.
In this connection, the trial of those new devices and services during the test events have now been tested and proved effective and efficient enough which will guarantee the safety of all games-related staff.
To make it more secured and convenient the number of operational staff and service volunteers has been drastically reduced and artificial intelligence robots have taken charge of disinfection, body temperature checks and environment monitoring against aerosol transmission of the novel coronavirus. Moreover, the organizers have already tested efficacy of these green artificial technologies in international trial events for speeds-kating, figure skating, short-track speedskating and wheelchair curling started and consequently, the robots have now been deployed at official hotels and sports venues.
In addition to this over 700 wearable thermometers were given to operational staff working at an ice hockey tournament at the Wukesong Arena in western Beijing. Each thermometer has a fingernail-sized chip that sticks to a user’s skin to report any significant body temperature rises, allowing the medical and epidemic control team to immediately identify any risks and react accordingly.
The organizing committee of the BWL supported by property owners and the Ministry of Science and Technology, has used 133 new approaches, integrated applications and tech innovations in venue renovations, security, transportation, medical services and broadcasting, thus transformed it a totally green sport event. A further 228 approaches and innovations are at final stage of and will be implemented in the buildup to the games.
The BWL 2022 has selected to replace Freon with carbon dioxide as a cleaner and more efficient refrigerant at some venues. Carbon dioxide will be used as a refrigerant at four ice sports competition and training venues, including the newly built National Speed Skating Oval, to reduce energy consumption, waste discharge and carbon emissions.
According to organizers, the switch over to carbon dioxide at the skating rink, which has a 12,000-square-meter surface, is expected to save 2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually compared with the old system. Hopefully, the new installed system will help to maintain the consistency of the ice within a range of 0.5 C, making the rink easier to skate on.
Moreover, the construction of a lightweight roof above the National Speed Skating Oval, using a saddle-shaped cable-net structure, reduced the use of steel by about 3,000 metric tons. To cater to the growing audience appetite for a more interactive Games experience, the BWL 2022 organizers and venue operators have tested new broadcasting technologies, such as 8K ultrahigh definition live streaming and 360-degree instant replays, enabled by the 5G network, for large-scale implementation at the games.
It hopes that the use of new green artificial technologies and diversified applications will enhance the BWL experiences for athletes and all other participants. Moreover, those innovations can benefit the promotion of winter sports in China, urban development in the hosting areas and the relevant industries after the Games.
China is leading towards the BWL 2022 and Paralympic Winter Games (PWGs) and shows its eagerness to highlight its strong commitment to make the said event as environmentally sustainable as possible.
The BWL games organisers recently published a 53 page sustainability plan that termed and confirmed the events as “green, inclusive, open and clean”, in line with the UN’s sustainable development objectives.
It outlines Beijing’s goal of a low-carbon Games, with newly built venues constructed according to green standards and run on power sourced from renewables. The BWL has a budget of about $4bn.
In this context, large Chinese banks have already sanctioned loans for Olympic projects including environmentally sustainable buildings and clean transportation in preparation for the Games.
China’s government is keen for the 2022 Games to have a green legacy by creating new renewable power and transportation projects. The Games’ commitment to meeting international standards for sustainability will heighten the importance of green finance. So, green bond is being offered to generate funds for green BWL.
China is a world leader on green finance and it is a key soft power play for the Chinese government?coupled with the Winter Olympics, which are a soft power play for any government.
The objective is to use the 2022 Games to create an anchoring effect to catalyze broader change across Chinese society’s consideration of environmentalism.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will provide an opportunity to elevate China’s role in fostering international solidarity, peace, and the green transition. It will also showcase the Chinese nation’s soft power, ecological civilization model, and its sterling performance in the COVID-19 battle.
Moreover, it will demonstrate its international cooperation resolve, putting forward some of the best infrastructure aimed at strengthening the spirit and outcomes of the games. It will further foster unity and human ingenuity which ultimately good for the whole humanity.
Beijing has chalked out a comprehensive and holistic road map and a solid plan to enhance the safety of international athletes. China’s has now decided to offer COVID-19 vaccines to participants at BWL besides promoting regular screening and other pandemic control measures which is commendable. China’s enviable track record in containing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has made Beijing one of the most qualified nations to stage the Olympic Games. Thus Western false and fake propaganda do not have any weightage,
It is commendable that for the first time in the history of the Olympics, the 2022 edition will be powered by green energy, hence marking a significant milestone in blending sports and climate action. It will further enhance scope of cultural diplomacy, multiculturalism, peaceful co-existence, interfaith harmony and last but not least tolerant society. It will make bridges of cultural, political and ideological convergences and will shun unjust spirits of prejudice, enmity, hatred and bigotry.
Unfortunately, climate activists have long criticized the BWL Games for the environmental damage through unfriendly construction, long-distance transportation, and the accumulation of waste. However, China will be holding total greener, cleaner and environmentally friendly games. Hopefully the BWL will offer a playbook for future hosting countries to create greener and more sustainable games.
To conclude, the BWL 2022 will be the greenest and cleanest Olympic Games ever. It is the first time in the history of the Olympics that all venues are 100 percent powered by green energy, with the ice-making technology adopted producing zero emissions.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for Beijing 2022, highly praised China for dedicating enormous attention to sustainability and delivering its promise on holding a carbon-neutral Games.
In this connection, to achieve the goal of total greener BWL, the Beijing Organising Committee (BOC) for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) issued a Carbon Management Plan, proposing 18 measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in guiding its endeavors towards achieving a carbon neutral Games in 2019. Green power supplies, green venue construction, and low-carbon transportation are some of the highlights among these policy measures.
At the outskirts of Zhangjiakou, the co-hosting city for Beijing 2022, the Zhangbei flexible direct current power project just completed its annual assessment before the start of Beijing 2022. The project, which has been put into operations since 2020, is able to deliver 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity generated using wind, photovoltaic, and other green and clean power sources to Beijing every year, fully meeting the power needs of all 26 venues for Beijing 2022.
In this regard, 19 venues for the Games have been powered by green electricity in advance during construction and all venues will use the clean energy supply during the Games. By the end of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, these venues are expected to consume 400 million kilowatt-hours of green power, which will reduce standard coal combustion by 128,000 metric tons, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, by 320,000 tons.
To make the upcoming BWL Games as environmentally sustainable as possible, China has prioritized the construction of green venues. All of the newly-built venues use optimized construction materials that meet the three-star standard of green buildings.
To successfully holding of a greener, cleaner and environment friendly BWL, various advanced technologies have been adopted at venues to reduce carbon emissions. For instance, four venues, including the National Speed Skating Hall, have made use of the most advanced and environmentally-friendly ice-making technology in the world, with its carbon emissions footprint close to zero.
Interestingly, for the first time in Olympic history, carbon dioxide is used as a refrigerant during the ice-making process at skating rink venues. Compared with the traditional refrigeration approach, this method for making ice requires less time and is 30 percent more efficient.
Apart from the newly-constructed green venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, China has revamped eight of the venues constructed for the Beijing 2008 Summer Games in an attempt to save space and reduce unnecessary waste from demolishing and constructing new structures. The Water Cube will be transformed into the Ice Cube, with the revamped venue set to host the curling events. Moreover, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will take place once again at the Bird’s Nest.
Moreover, China will use a green transportation during the upcoming BWL games. Transportation services will make use of a clean energy supply and promote hydrogen fuel vehicles. Clean energy vehicles will account for 100 percent of the passenger cars and 85.84 percent of all the vehicles used at Beijing 2022.
Beijing 2022 will be the Olympic Winter Games deploying the highest proportion of environmentally-friendly vehicles in history.
During the event, the application of the new energy vehicles is expected to reduce about 11,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the carbon sequestration of more than 30 square kilometers of forest in a year.
The most prominent green legacy created by Beijing 2022 will be its new renewable power and transportation project. The Zhangbei power project will continue to deliver clean electricity to tens of millions of Beijing residents after Beijing 2022, drastically reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The project is expected to save 49 million tons of standard coal and 12.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
The transportation network for Beijing 2022 will lay a solid foundation for further developing green transportation systems in the two cities serving the Games for many years to come. With an eye on encouraging the adoption of green energy vehicles, charging facilities have been built at venues and along roads between Beijing and Zhangjiakou. After Beijing 2022, the charging facilities will be operated for community use, meeting the energy supply-demand needs of hydrogen fuel and pure electric vehicles in the future.
In keeping with international sustainability standards, venues serving the Games will be given a second life after Beijing 2022. Being transformed into public sporting facilities, these venues will be opened up to the public, helping to position the region as a winter sports hub looking forward. Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, the venue that will host freestyle skiing and snowboard competitions during Beijing 2022, will reopen as a ski resort to the public and for sightseeing, while the Winter Olympics Village in Zhangjiakou will be converted into ski lodgings for winter sports lovers.
Green was the Chinese leadership commitment for the BWL games. Green is the motto of upcoming BWL games. Last but not least, Green will be the way forward in the future. The BWL games will be learning experience for the world to hold a greener, cleaner and environment friendly games in the days to come.
