Taking the cue from Beijing's local authorities, who are sprucing up the capital city for the 2008 Olympics, China's national government has decided to give the entire country an environmental facelift. In keeping with this resolve, it is reportedly curtailing the construction and expansion of coal-fired power plants in major cities to check sulphur dioxide emissions. But the safeguard simply may not suffice in view of the country's constantly rising demand for electricity.

Significantly, coal-fuelled power plants now account for almost 35 per cent of China's annual 6.6 million metric tonnes of sulphur dioxide emissions, which in turn are primarily responsible for plaguing nearly a third of the country with acid rain. The national government's recent directive stipulates that apart from Beijing, coal power plants operating in Shanghai