Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 8th (Xinhua) - Exploring Green "Rich Mines" - A Frontline Story of Low Carbon Development

The 2023 Taiyuan Energy Low Carbon Development Forum was held from the 6th to the 8th. In this forum with the theme of "Smart Energy Green Win Win Win", exploring new trends in green and low-carbon development has become a topic of common focus for experts and scholars at home and abroad.

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that promoting green and low-carbon economic and social development is a key link in achieving high-quality development.

According to interviews and research conducted by Xinhua News Agency reporters, from developed coastal areas in the east to energy rich areas in the central and western regions, from industrial transformation to changes in production and lifestyle, green practices are constantly being carried out in various regions, depicting a new landscape of low-carbon development.

The Story of "Zero Carbon Village"

In early autumn, the fragrance of fruits and melons wafts along the banks of the Yellow River, conveying a sense of harvest everywhere. The reporter arrived at Zhuangshang Village, Ruicheng County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province. On both sides of the clean and tidy road, the high and low roofs were covered with dark blue photovoltaic panels.

According to public information, in April this year, Zhuangshang Village was jointly awarded the title of "China Zero Carbon Village Demonstration Village" by the Global Environment Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, becoming the first village in the country to be listed as a "China Zero Carbon Village Demonstration Village".

Local officials introduced that since 2019, villagers in Zhuangshang Village have been using photovoltaic power generation, gradually bidding farewell to burning coal and oil. "Cooking doesn't require charcoal, agricultural machinery doesn't smoke, rooftops can generate electricity, and excess can be sold for money," said village official Zhang Peng, which is a reflection of the current production and lifestyle in the village.

The reporter saw that unlike traditional photovoltaic power generation, Zhuangshang Village uses a "photovoltaic storage direct flexible" power generation system. Zhang Hongze, the person in charge of the Shanxi project department of Nanjing Guochen DC Distribution Technology Co., Ltd., a research and development enterprise, said that each household has direct power generation and flexible grid connection of surplus electricity.

In the interview, although many villagers couldn't say the professional term "light storage is direct and flexible", their hearts were clear as a mirror: "The electricity generated on the roof can be used directly, and if not, it can be sold for money.".

Aerial photography of Zhuangshang Village, Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province.

Zhang Baomin was one of the first villagers in the village to participate in this "energy revolution". From the initial household electricity to agricultural machinery electricity, Zhang Baomin's family has achieved "zero carbon" emissions. "Cooking and heating all use electricity, and the lawn mower and pesticide applicator are also electric," Zhang Baomin said while showing to reporters.

Electricity is not only environmentally friendly, but also cost-effective. Zhang Baomin calculated for the reporter that agricultural vehicles that used to burn diesel could run 40 kilometers by adding 10 yuan of fuel to the county town. Nowadays, electric agricultural vehicles can travel the same distance for only 2 yuan when fully charged. The 68 photovoltaic panels installed on the roof have an annual rent of 20 yuan per panel, resulting in an annual rental income of 1360 yuan.

"The villagers rented out their roofs, and the harvest was not small." The person in charge of the project R&D revealed that Zhuangshang Village generated about 2.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity last year, which is equivalent to saving 1000 tons of standard coal. Excluding the 400000 kilowatt hours of electricity used by Zhuangshang Village, 2.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity were sold online, and the annual power generation income was 960000 yuan. The average annual income of 71 rooftop tenants increased by more than 1200 yuan.

Low carbon living has also changed the appearance of small mountain villages. Village officials said that with the theme of "zero carbon", the village has transformed barren slopes, wasteland, and abandoned cave dwellings into photovoltaic courtyards and corridors, integrating shading, lighting, and landscape functions. This summer, it has attracted many tourists from Shaanxi, Henan, and other places to visit and check in.

This kind of life change is happening in some parts of the country. From mountain villages to cities, more and more zero carbon living scenes are putting on "green new clothes" for beautiful homes.

In the Dabie Mountains, Hongfan Village in Xincheng Town, Dawu County is the first "zero carbon village" in Hubei Province. Surrounded by green mountains, with murmuring green water, the village is devoid of cooking smoke, and new energy vehicles are charging at the village head.

Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, launched the pilot construction of "zero carbon communities" this year, implementing green carbon reduction technologies in a classified manner, creating urban functional units with a sense of belonging and comfort, and forming a demonstration and driving effect.

"This is just the beginning," said Wang Jiuchen, Chief Advisor of the "China Zero Carbon Villages and Towns" Ecological Station of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. With innovative technologies and the construction of an efficient and circular energy utilization system, low-carbon new concepts and practices will penetrate into more aspects of people's lives.

The Story of "Zero Carbon Factory"

The Geely Automobile Xi'an factory located in Shaanxi is unique. In the spacious and tidy factory building, the reporter could not see the busy figures sweating profusely. Instead, robots were accurately stamping, welding, and gluing, and intelligent material trucks were orderly delivering materials along fixed routes.

"In this production workshop, machines can operate automatically and even when the lights are turned off, it can be called an intelligent 'black light factory'," said the on-site staff.

The robot in the stamping workshop of Geely Automobile Xi'an factory is automatically grabbing parts. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Chenrong

The factory manager told reporters that this factory, which plans to produce 100000 vehicles annually, is currently the largest, most invested, most high-end product, most advanced technology, and most intelligent vehicle production base of Geely Automobile Group. It is also a carbon neutral factory with the goal of "zero carbon".

"As a carbon neutral factory, it is necessary to actively engage in zero carbon practices throughout the entire production chain and accelerate the global zero carbon transformation of vehicle manufacturing." Chen Bin, Manufacturing Director of Xi'an Geely Automobile Co., Ltd., said that the factory has made energy-saving and emission reduction work layouts in production, technology, management, product, and recycling.

The software flashing work is currently underway on the assembly line of Geely Automobile's Xi'an factory assembly workshop. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Chenrong

Compared to the production process, Chen Bin introduced to the reporter that taking the production end as an example, the 52 MW super photovoltaic power station built by Geely Xi'an factory last year can generate an average annual power of 47.5 million kilowatt hours, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 27000 tons.

"In terms of technology, we actively explore energy-saving measures, fully utilize waste heat and pressure, and improve energy efficiency." Chen Bin said that on the product side, we have built a diversified new energy technology path, including pure electric, hybrid, methanol, and battery swapping, to improve energy efficiency and continuously reduce carbon emissions.

In addition, carbon reduction can also be achieved in management. Chen Bin explained that Geely's Xi'an factory has established an energy management system, combining technological transformation with energy-saving management. In the first half of 2023, the energy consumption of single vehicles decreased by 23.08% compared to the same period in the first half of 2022.

Crossing the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, such production scenarios are gradually emerging, injecting new momentum into the development of green and low-carbon industries.

In the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, the promotion of "zero carbon" is flourishing. At present, four "zero carbon factories", two "zero carbon parks", and one "zero carbon data center" have been established locally.

Speaking of the "decarbonization" journey of the "zero carbon factory" in the past 9 years, Wang Yihua, the Technical Operations Director of Shanghai Bolinger Ingelheim Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., gave a set of data: compared with 2014, the carbon dioxide emissions of the factory located in Zhangjiang Science City, Pudong New Area decreased by 12000 tons in 2021, which is equivalent to planting 45000 trees.

By cultivating demonstration units and building policy systems, many places are strengthening ecological support for green industries and promoting low-carbon development in industries.

We need to innovate talent training models and encourage higher education institutions to accelerate the construction of related disciplines.

The Story of "Carbon Metrologists"

"Building an intelligent platform and adding a 5-megawatt energy storage device can drive a significant reduction in enterprise energy consumption." At Nantong Xiangyu Marine Equipment Co., Ltd. located in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, Yang Zhenqiang, a carbon sink measurement and evaluation expert, proposed a carbon reduction transformation plan for the enterprise's energy consumption situation.

Although Yang Zhenqiang is an outsider in shipbuilding, it does not hinder him from providing guidance to a group of experienced shipbuilders, as shipyards require carbon sink measurement and evaluation experts like him to implement carbon reduction plans.

The picture shows a carbon sink measurement evaluator conducting carbon verification for a household appliance factory.

Carbon sequestration measurement appraiser is one of the emerging professions announced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security to the public last year. Yang Zhenqiang told reporters that his main job responsibilities include providing carbon footprint, carbon sink development, and green electricity green certificate trading services for high energy consuming and emission control enterprises. "Some textile and foreign trade enterprises need to calculate their carbon footprint and purchase carbon sinks to offset their exports," said Yang Zhenqiang.

Through standard methodologies, carbon sequestration assessors can "score" the energy consumption of specific industries and enterprises. In Yang Zhenqiang's view, every production link of a company can form a unique carbon emission number, and of course, this number can also be changed through technological improvements.

Journalists have found in multiple interviews that with the continuous promotion of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, some high carbon industries in the past have joined the ranks of carbon reduction. How to achieve normal production goals with less energy consumption has become an important factor for enterprises to consider. A group of new professions such as carbon sequestration measurement evaluators and energy conservation engineers have entered the forefront, becoming the "hot cakes" in the eyes of carbon reduction enterprises.

In Shanxi, where traditional energy enterprises gather, carbon sequestration measurement and evaluation experts are more active and have more diverse working methods. At the flange forging workshop of Tianbao Group in Dingxiang County, Shanxi Province, the reporter saw that over 100 key energy consuming equipment have all achieved online monitoring.

"The utilization rate of raw materials has increased by 20%, and energy consumption has significantly decreased." Wei Yan, the general manager of Shanxi Xiangrui Energy Low Carbon Cloud Center, which provides renovation plans, said that through virtual power plants and green electricity response, it is expected to help new energy enterprises consume 10 million kilowatt hours of green electricity annually and reduce their carbon emissions by 5000 tons.

The picture shows Tianbao Group's energy-saving and carbon reduction intelligent transformation.

Not only in industrial factories, but also in dense forests, vast grasslands, and remote mountain villages, the footsteps of "carbon reduction experts" constantly explore the carbon sink value scattered in nature.

"The more carbon dioxide absorbed by growing trees, the higher their carbon sequestration value." Carbon sequestration evaluator Song Min carefully studied the trees in the forest of Yunzhou District, Datong City, and quantitatively evaluated their carbon sequestration value.

The forest coverage area of Yunzhou District is 893000 acres. "Based on the current carbon price of 50 yuan per ton, the development of 200000 acres of tradable forest carbon sinks for 30 years can add a cumulative green income of 300 million yuan to Yunzhou District," said Song Min.

Wang Zhengtong, Chairman of Shanxi Xiangrui Energy Co., Ltd., told reporters that only Xiangrui Energy has conducted carbon verification for over 30 enterprises in Shanxi, providing nearly zero carbon solution design for 4 enterprises, and reducing carbon emissions by over 20000 tons.

Digging for green "rich mines", more new stories are on the way

Part of the images in the leadership text were provided by the respondents

Product: Huo Xiaoguang

Produced domestically by Xinhua News Agency