Soon after Sochi got the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) approval for hosting the 2014 XI Paralympic Winter Games, the organizers have geared up to make the event as green as is possible. The climate neutral games promise to be in perfect harmony with nature. The game venues will hug a sustainable development process all through their construction phase.
Dmitry Chemyshenko, President Organizing Committee Sochi 2014, says…
Games preparations are performed in accordance with rigorous local, national and international environmental regulation and IOC requirements as well as in line with the proposals and recommendations of public ecological institutions. Moreover, Sochi 2014 opens the doors for the best practice and experience of environmentally friendly and efficient development.
Basing its environmental strategy (PDF file) on the Gateway of the Future concept, which will further lead to the Olympics Diamond concept, the character of Russia will come to the fore. Delivering and staging the Winter Games in Sochi’s unique natural environment will involve preserving the invaluable nature of Sochi — the Sochi National Park and the borders of Caucasian Biosphere Reserve. Aside from this, the further steps will include:
• Sustainable electricity generation and supplies, including heat supplies;
• Water supplies, water draining and sewage, waste water treatment;
• Waste management, including separate waste collection and processing of waste into recoverable raw materials;
• Sochi urban environment quality improvement;
• Environmental monitoring and natural phenomena forecasting; and,
• Expanding territory of the specially protected natural areas (SPNA) in Sochi region.
You will see a new transport system in Sochi, which will enable online traffic control to avoid traffic jam formation. Moreover, some of public transports in Sochi will use clean fuel (e.g. natural gas); and hopelessly outdated motor vehicles will be replaced by environmentally friendly ones.
During the preparation for the Games, existing waste landfills throughout the Games area will be reactivated or replaced with new comprehensive polygons. A hazardous waste treatment system will be installed in Sochi. When the games are on, the garbage will be collected, composed and sorted with no breach of rules. Finally, when the games are over, the temporary infrastructure will be liquefied so that the component parts could be reused.
The run-up to Sochi 2014 will see 193 new facilities built to lessen the load on the city’s power grid. By the time the Games begin, the total load on the Sochi grid will increase up to 1,000 MW. So, three new thermal power stations in Adler, Kudepst and Dzhubga will be installed, while the Sochi thermal power station, the Tuapse heating plant and the Krasnopolyanskaya hydroelectric power station will undergo renovation.
