The Ordos government encourages businesses to use eco-friendly technologies in coal production to mitigate the production of greenhouse gases and pollutants, which are normally associated with coal burning.

In 2016, about 90 percent of local coal mining activity was carried out by machines, higher than the 85 percent goal set by the central government for the 13th Five- Year Plan period (2016-20).

About 86 percent of the coal produced in Ordos is processed in coal preparation plants to remove waste materials, such as soil and rock, to increase its market value.

The city government has also invested heavily in recovering the environment around mining areas, and solid waste, such as coal gangue, is used to backfill mine subsidence areas and open pits.

The coal-fired power generation capacity of Ordos reached 18.36 million kilowatts by the end of 2016, top of all cities in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. New technologies have been introduced by the local power plants to increase the efficiency of their desulfurization and denitration.

In 2016, the sulfur dioxide emissions of the coal-fired power plants in the city totaled 105,000 tons, decreasing 12.7 percent year-on-year.

Nitrogen oxide emissions fell 22 percent to 115,000 tons over the same period.