Beijing’s Pollution Raises Olympic Worries

The president of the International Olympic Committee says some events at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing may be postponed due to air pollution.

Jacques Rogge said one year before the scheduled start date of the Beijing Games that some events may face delays due to poor air quality, the BBC reported Wednesday.

It is an option, he said. Sports with short durations would not be a problem, but endurance sports like cycling are examples of competitions that might be postponed or delayed.

Meanwhile, China has been working to make Beijing a more eco-friendly city ahead of the games, with new technologies being used for transportation, power supply, water and waste management, Xinhua, China’s official government-run news agency, reported.

The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement the city plans to have 100 hybrid-electric buses and several hundred electric vehicles in use at all Olympic venues.

Additionally, 26.9 percent of power supplied to all the venues will come from clean energy, including solar energy, wind and geothermal power.