What choices should enterprises make?, Faced with the challenge of "from 1 to 0"
On the eve of the Industrial Expo, participating company Delta Company was still struggling with the theme of the exhibition - whether it was positioned as "low-carbon" or "zero carbon"? Until recently, Delta Wujiang Plant 5 was awarded the China Energy Conservation Association's five-star zero carbon factory standard. Delta finally decided to focus on the theme of "zero carbon factory".
If we refer to technological progress from scratch as "from 0 to 1", then transitioning from low-carbon to zero carbon is undoubtedly a "from 1 to 0" challenge for enterprises. However, just as the theme of this year's Industrial Expo is "carbon circulation, new industry, and new economy", low-carbon, and even "zero carbon" is becoming a common goal of the industry.
How to achieve "zero carbon"
Simply put, a "zero carbon factory" refers to a factory that achieves comprehensive zero carbon emissions through technical measures such as carbon reduction and offsetting during the production and manufacturing process. In fact, "zero carbon factories" do not completely produce greenhouse gases, but rather companies can choose to purchase carbon credits to offset the carbon emissions generated.
Delta's Chief Sustainable Development Officer, Zhou Zhihong, said, "Last year, Wujiang Plant 5 reduced electricity consumption by 778000 kilowatt hours; achieved 100% renewable electricity through the construction of in plant photovoltaic projects and the purchase of green electricity; the absolute amount of greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 54% compared to 2021, and combined with carbon offsetting measures, achieved 100% carbon neutrality. Therefore, it was rated as a five-star 'zero carbon factory'."
At this year's CIIE, Delta moved all aspects of this factory into the exhibition booth, showcasing comprehensive solutions related to zero carbon factories. From the aspects of green smart manufacturing, smart health offices, and microgrids in the factory area, this paper presents the technical advantages of Delta in emission reduction.
The Taida Company Exhibition Area of the Industrial Expo attracts a large number of visitors to visit
Tan Yizhong, General Manager of Delta Group's Zhongda Diantong, stated that currently, "carbon neutrality" is driving enterprises towards digital and low-carbon transformation. To further reduce carbon emission intensity, clean energy should be vigorously developed and used. "The implementation path of Delta zero carbon factory includes four steps: carbon verification, carbon reduction, carbon offsetting, and zero carbon certification. By verifying the enterprise's carbon footprint and product carbon footprint, the Delta 3D zero carbon digital management platform is used to integrate green intelligent manufacturing, factory microgrids, and low-carbon office, achieving overall refined management and intelligent energy-saving operation and maintenance of the factory."
Building more "zero carbon factories" is consistent with the development goals of many enterprises. Schneider Electric China Consulting General Manager Lv Jinhan said that Schneider Electric has 65 "zero carbon factories" worldwide and 17 "zero carbon factories" in China. By deploying diverse digital operation systems, the overall energy consumption of the supply chain in China has been reduced by 13%.
"Carbon emissions not only exist in the enterprise itself, but also in the upstream and downstream supply chains." Lv Jinhan said that in addition to achieving carbon neutrality on its own, Schneider Electric has also committed to achieving carbon neutrality in the end-to-end value chain by 2040 and achieving net zero carbon emissions in the end-to-end value chain by 2050. "At present, we have built an end-to-end green value chain that covers green design, green procurement, green production, green delivery, and green operation and maintenance."
Not only zero carbon factories, there are also many links in industry that can save carbon. For example, at this year's Industrial Expo, Midea's subsidiary Ande Logistics showcased a set of "integrated low-carbon supply chain solutions" on site. Through digital management of the production, distribution, and user ends, coordinated allocation adjustments were made to reduce resource waste and increase transportation sales, thereby achieving energy conservation and carbon reduction. According to calculations, through full chain carbon reduction, Ande Logistics can reduce annual transportation fuel consumption by 1.2 million tons and paperless operation by 180000 tons.
Industry Expectation Standards
To achieve low-carbon, even zero carbon, we cannot rely solely on enterprises to fight alone. Currently, enterprises often face the problem of fragmented implementation in the practice of energy conservation and carbon reduction. It is difficult for a single enterprise to carry out comprehensive, systematic, and regional design planning in industrial parks for new energy construction. Therefore, the zero carbon development of industries also requires the implementation of more national and industry standards.
On September 19th, at the Industrial Expo site, Shanghai Electric, representing 15 industry units and enterprises, officially released the group standard "Implementation Path Planning and Evaluation of Zero Carbon Industrial Parks". Together with East China Construction Group, Shanghai Environmental Energy Exchange, Shanghai Energy Efficiency Center, Johnson Controls, Meijin Energy, Nomura Comprehensive Research, Schneider Electric, China Gas, Titanium and Certification, Puni Certification and other enterprises and units, they jointly studied the construction and application of zero carbon industrial park standards.
According to Wang Deyuan from the New Energy Development Department of Shanghai Electric Group, the industry is very eager for the introduction of standards. He told reporters that because some companies are located in Beijing, standard setting needs to be discussed online and offline together, and there have been some debates during this period. "But it is because of everyone's serious attitude that standards can be more applicable.".
Shanghai Electric proposes to build a "three-dimensional zero carbon park"
From an industry perspective, industrial parks are a powerful tool for promoting collaborative carbon reduction among enterprises. According to the China Academy of Industry Research, as of 2022, there are a total of 2543 national and provincial-level industrial parks in China, contributing more than 50% of the country's industrial output value. Meanwhile, industrial parks at or above the provincial level in the Yangtze River Delta region account for about one-fifth of the country's total, and the vast majority are export-oriented. One of the important ways to cope with the impact of carbon tariffs is to build zero carbon industrial parks and promote export-oriented manufacturers to gather in the parks, influenced by the "carbon boundary adjustment mechanism" implemented by the EU plan.
At present, the circle of friends of the drafting group of the "Guidelines for the Implementation Path Planning and Evaluation of Zero Carbon Industrial Parks" has expanded from 11 to 15 now, covering multiple links from planning and design to investment and operation, equipment manufacturing, qualification certification, and public services, forming an industrial chain closure, which is conducive to promoting the implementation of standards in the future.
