The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee re-released its promotional video highlighting its use of CO2-based refrigeration systems at the event’s ice rinks to mark Earth Day, April 22.
The video, released on the Beijing 2022 Youtube channel, highlights the ongoing construction of a new “National Speed Skating Oval,” which will use a CO2-based refrigeration system, explains Liu Yumin, Director General, Venue Planning and Construction Department, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, in the video.
“Besides the National Speed Skating Oval, other ice venues are getting substantial research on carbon dioxide refrigeration technology,” said Yumin. “Using carbon dioxide as refrigerant for our ice rinks is sending a strong signal that China is committed to protecting planet earth, our shared home.”
Titled “A Look Inside Beijing 2022’s Sustainability Initiatives,” the video was originally released on the official International Olympic Committee’s YouTube channel in June of last year when plans to use CO2 refrigeration systems were first announced.
“In a landmark decision guided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), natural CO2 refrigeration systems will be used in most of the Beijing 2022 ice venues,” according to a statement on the Olympics.org website last year. “This will be the first time the technology is used in China and at the Olympic Games.”
“This is a landmark decision which could potentially help address the issue of climate change, both in China and even globally,” said Juan Antonio Samaranch, chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, in 2019. “We are pleased to see that the IOC’s close collaboration with Beijing 2022 has resulted in such an important outcome.”
Using carbon dioxide as refrigerant for our ice rinks is sending a strong signal that China is committed to protecting planet earth, our shared home.”
Liu Yumin, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee
