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Hinggan Mountains pioneers in low-carbon lifestyle

By Zhang Zhao (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-05 07:48

Local government plans to adopt a low-carbon economic development model for the Greater Hinggan Mountains. Liu Daxin / For China Daily

The Heilongjiang provincial government plans to build the nation's first low-carbon economic demonstration zone in its Greater Hinggan Mountains.

The mountain area is one of China's major timber sources and has provided 120 billion cubic meters of timber. But, uncontrolled development of the area over the past four or five decades has lead to ecological devastation.

The government's new plan is intended to change all that, while integrating local industries such as farming, mining, wood processing and tourism.

The area is home to more than 2,000 species of animals and plants, making it an ideal base for biotechnology-related industries, such as organic food, using fewer pesticides and is higher in quality.

More than 40 different types of mineral resources have been found in the area. The coal reserves alone amount to 120 billion tons.

Thanks to the ecological and natural resource advantages, the local authorities believe that a low-carbon economy is the key to development for the future.

They are planning a low-carbon economic system and will take another five years to establish a low-carbon industrial cluster based on farming, forestry and trading.

They figure that local people will have got used to a low-carbon lifestyle by that time, and that the rates of resource consumption and pollution emissions will be far lower than the economic growth rate.

From 2021 on, the government figures it will take another 10 years to complete the low-carbon economic model, with zero pollution for the demonstration zone.

Plantations are being added now to restore the plant system, which includes trees, bushes, and grass.

A clean, recycled energy system is in the works, with plans for a water control project with 5 billion yuan ($760.5 million) in backing to make better use of water from local rivers.

The waste from wood processing will be used as a resource for other industries to cut pollution and costs.

Another addition will be a smart grid - an electric power network using digital technology, which saves energy, cuts costs, and increases security.

(China Daily 03/05/2011 page6)