An aerial view of plants in Jining, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/jnnews.tv]

Jining in East China's Shandong province has been intensifying its efforts to upgrade the city's energy structure by shutting down polluting businesses and promoting clean energy.

In the past three years, over 160 enterprises have been closed because of their high energy consumption, serious pollution, and meager profits, said Li Yadong, an official at the Jining bureau of industry and information technology. He added that the city also encourages companies to lower energy consumption by improving technologies.

Shengfa Coking, a chemical plant based in Jining, shut off a 4.3-meter-tall coke oven last April and then put a new 6.25-meter-tall oven into operation, reducing 20 percent of energy consumption per unit of GDP as well as 40 percent of pollutant emissions.

In addition to cutting coal consumption, Jining is working to promote a variety of clean energy sources, such as wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar energy, said Gu Xiangguo, deputy director of the Jining energy administration.

A national level photovoltaic center located in Weishan county in Jining can generate 550 million kilowatt hours every year, reducing 3,600 tons of SO2 emissions.