Danish embassy showing the green way in Beijing

A new pump and solar panels have been installed

Apr 7, 2014

In order to contribute to helping Beijing overcome its heavy pollution problems, the Danish embassy in Beijing has implemented a number of environmentally-friendly solutions at its embassy compound.

The embassy recently installed new pumps that reduce the embassy’s energy consumption and erected solar panels on its rooftop to reduce the embassy’s energy usage by 30 percent.

“Here at the Royal Danish Embassy, we want to show that we walk the talk when it comes to energy efficiency,” the Danish ambassador Friis Arne Petersen, told Chinese news outlet People’s Daily Online.

“Therefore we have now installed energy-efficient pumps that regulate our heating system as well as solar panels on the embassy rooftop. By doing so we save energy, and the best energy is the kind you do not use.”

The new pumps will regulate the heating, cooling and hot water circulation and will reduce the energy consumption of its heating system by 40 percent.

“It’s a matter of credibility. When we as a government try to promote environmentally-friendly technology, we need to show that we also want to use it ourselves,” Petersen said.

“When the environmentally-friendly systems help us reduce our energy consumption, it is only obvious that we use them.”

A greener future
The embassy, constructed in 1973 and located in the Chaoyang district of Beijing, believes that the new green installations will reduce the energy it requires from the Chinese energy grid by up to 72 kilowatt hours per square metre annually.

“Pollution in China has a significant personal and financial impact – including flight delays, traffic congestion and increased medical costs,” Petersen said.

“We might not be the largest institution in Beijing, but we hope to change behaviours with the aim of creating a greener China, and we will continue to embrace green solutions here at the embassy.”

According to Petersen, the embassy hopes to be able to connect its rooftop solar panels with the Chinese energy grid to provide excess clean energy to Chinese consumers.

Air pollution in Beijing has recently been at more than ten times the air pollution safety levels recommended by the World Health Organisation.

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