為因應2008年北京奧運會，北京市當局表示2007年將採取新措施，讓良好空氣品質的天數提升至67%，並在今年內減少10%二氧化硫的排放量。然而，北京的空氣品質不完全掌握在北京市的控制之下，新研究顯示，污染是從該區域中的其他市鎮蔓延過來的。
北京環境保護局13日表示，為了控制燃煤污染，北京市將使用新開發能源以取代煤炭，並將市中心剩下的1105個燃煤反應爐燃煤量控制在20頓以下。因此，其他來源的新能源將取代煤炭，並供給東城區和西城區住在平房的2萬戶人家，以及住在五環路城鄉交界的居民使用。
Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Beijing Municipality says it will employ new measures to raise the number of days of good air quality to 67 percent and cut down the emission of sulfur dioxide by 10 percent this year. But control of Beijing's air quality is not entirely in the city's hands. New research shows pollution blows in from other cities in the region.
The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said today that to bring the coal-burning pollutants under control, the city will use new energy sources to replace coal for the 1,105 remaining coal-fired boilers under 20 tons in the downtown area. Coal will be replaced by other sources of power for the 20,000 families living in one-story houses in the Dongcheng and Xicheng districts, and for residents living within the Fifth-Ring Road, an area where urban and rural areas overlap.
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