To make this Winter Olympics the first carbon neutral games, China has retrofitted buildings from the 2008 summer games, is using renewable power and procuring vehicles fueled by hydrogen, natural gas and electricity, and has secured offsets greater than the Games' likely footprint. Beijing has repurposed seven venues and all 13 new buildings have received the highest rating under a Chinese green-building certification system. Five temporary structures will have a limited carbon footprint. These Olympics are the first to use natural CO2 as a refrigerant to cool the skating venues, instead of synthetic hydrofluorocarbon, saving up to 26,000 tons of carbon. Beijing has committed to source entirely renewable electricity for all 25 venues.

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