A vast expanse of solar panels shadows the solar photovoltaic power station in Wulanmulun town in Ejin Horoo Banner in Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The city of Ordos in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region is making the transition from heavily relying on coal and related industries to exploring the new path of high-quality energy development with ecological priorities and green development as its guide.

Inner Mongolia's vast coal reserves account for about 29 percent of the country's total, with Ordos representing about half of that.

In the past, the city's coal and related industries accounted for more than 50 percent of its total economic output. "Coal mining and selling coal" was once the main driver of economic growth in Ordos.

But success has come at the cost of high carbon emissions, and now the city is making strong efforts to change this.

First, Ordos plans to focus on stabilizing coal production and supply. It is expected to continuously take advantage of its high-quality coal production capacity, promote the green and high-end development of the coal industry, and increase the clean and efficient utilization of coal.

Secondly, it will optimize the supply of new energy and make full use of vast deserts and coal mining areas in its jurisdiction to build an important national green energy supply base.

Third, it will promote green transformation. It plans to peak carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, and build four industrial clusters for wind power, solar power, hydrogen power, and energy storage.

On Sept 7, 2021, the Ordos Carbon Neutral Research Institute was established, which integrates R&D, incubation and industrialization.

On Oct 12 of the same year, the world's first zero-carbon industrial park, the Envision Zero-Carbon Industrial Park, officially unveiled its nameplate in Ordos. 

In 2021, 62 new green mines were built in Ordos, bringing the total number of such mines to 171.

Among them, 21 are included in the national green mine list, and 150 are included in the autonomous region's green mine list, ranking first in the region.

During the same period, Ordos supplied 720 million metric tons of coal to 18 provinces and municipalities across the country, hitting a record high and making significant contributions to ensuring national energy security.

Efforts to treat the ecological environment in Ordos have also delivered significant results. The forest coverage rate of Ordos has reached 27.3 percent, and the comprehensive vegetation coverage of grassland has stabilized at about 50 percent, while the proportion of days rated as good or excellent air quality came in at 85.8 percent.

Elsewhere, the on-site conversion rate of coal in Ordos has been close to 22 percent; energy consumption in the whole of society has decreased by 741,000 tons of standard coal compared with the same period of the previous year; and the energy consumption per unit of GDP has decreased by 8.8 percent year-on-year.