Driving down from the fifth ring road in the south of Beijing, anyone entering Beijing E-Town will be attracted to the gas station at the corner of Yizhuang Culture Park. 

Its roof is adorned with neatly arranged solar panels, which contrast against the clean, smooth lines of the canopy that stretches out against the blue sky. 

Under the canopy, you'll find a car wash that integrates car washing and maintenance, a convenience store that sells a complete range of goods, and a fuel pump with a smart screen.

Yizhuang Gas Station is the first carbon neutral gas station in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, to have been awarded the Carbon Neutral Certificate by the Tianjin Emissions Exchange.

The certificate shows that the gas station has written off 6 tons of certified emissions in voluntary carbon reduction, which will be used to neutralize the carbon emissions generated throughout its operation from Jan 1, 2021 to Dec 31, 2022, effectively achieving carbon neutrality in 2021 and pre-carbon neutrality in 2022, and zero emissions from electricity consumption.

Carbon Neutral Certificate awarded by the Tianjin Emissions Exchange to the Yizhuang Gas Station [Photo/beijingetown.com.cn]

The roof of the gas station uses its 112 monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic panels to take advantage of the bright weather to absorb sunlight, which it transfers to a 60KW Huawei inverter to convert into electricity.

A view of the Yizhuang Gas Station [Photo/beijingetown.com.cn]

With a capacity of 545W, the power generation effect of these photovoltaic panels varies with the sunlight. But, on average, it can produce 200 kWh of electricity daily.

Using the conversion of 0.1229KG of standard coal per kilowatt-hour of electricity, annual photovoltaic power generation can save 8.9 tons of standard coal.

Deducting the electricity consumed by the gas station, this process saves 4.9 tons of standard coal per year.

As night falls and the skydarkens, the lights at the gas station automatically turn on. The color gradient light strip emits a soft light, and together with the bright LED lights, it illuminates the station.

The station boasts an intelligent light control system. There is a sensor installed in the canopy and the luminous flux is set to 1025 lumens, which is used as the dividing line to sense when to turn on and off the lights.

Smart lighting system of Yizhuang Gas Station [Photo/beijingetown.com.cn]

At night, when the sensor detects that there are no vehicles or pedestrians nearby, it will automatically reduce the light intensity to 40 percent.