Early Reading | From a Cup of Carbon Neutral Coffee to See Why Enterprises Are Willing to Reduce Carbon Coffee | Shanghai | Enterprises

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At the Shanghai Carbon Expo, an energy group treated me to a cup of carbon neutral coffee

One spring day in ※, a farmer in Yunnan Province planted a coffee seed. Many years later, the coffee beans grown from this seed finally came to Shanghai and waited for guests to taste at the National Convention and Exhibition Center. Unlike regular coffee, it has a special identity-carbon neutral coffee.

At the first Shanghai International Carbon Neutrality Expo, which opened yesterday, starting from a cup of carbon neutrality coffee, reporters found that various industries have had intricate connections with "carbon peak and carbon neutrality". At the Carbon Expo, you can see energy companies like Shenneng, consumer goods companies like L'Oreal, automotive companies like Tesla, steel companies like Baowu, and financial companies like Shanghai Pudong Development Bank

For ordinary people, the topic of carbon seems a bit distant. But as long as you look and listen at the Carbon Expo, you will find that "carbon" has come to us. Whether positive or negative, it will soon affect the operations of every enterprise and the lives of everyone. It is becoming increasingly clear that low-carbon is not meant to be heard by consumers, nor is it meant to be seen by higher-level departments. As the person in charge of a participating company at the Carbon Expo said, low-carbon will be a necessary option for the future survival of enterprises.

Let's start from that cup of carbon neutral coffee and see why companies need to reduce carbon, and how the entire economy is linked to carbon.

Carbon neutral coffee comes from the Shenneng Group booth at the Carbon Expo. The taste of carbon neutral coffee is the same as that of regular coffee, but the difference lies in the fact that the coffee production process achieves carbon neutrality. That is to say, during the production process of this cup of coffee, the carbon emitted is equal to the carbon absorbed. Xu Wenxi, the assistant general manager of Shenneng Carbon Technology, a subsidiary of Shenneng Group, explained, "We achieve carbon neutrality through two channels. Firstly, we try to use clean technology to reduce carbon emissions during coffee production and transportation. Secondly, we purchase carbon emission reductions or use carbon quotas. After cancellation, we can neutralize the actual carbon emissions generated by coffee production. This way, the coffee in your hands will achieve carbon neutrality."

An energy group produces carbon neutral coffee not for the coffee itself, but to showcase the company's path to carbon neutrality. Why are companies willing to reduce carbon emissions? The most direct answer is that carbon is also a tradable commodity. On December 30, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the Implementation Plan for Setting and Distributing the Total Amount of National Carbon Emission Trading Quotas from 2019 to 2020, and 2225 power generation enterprises were included in the list. These enterprises have carbon emission quotas, and unused quotas can be sold on the national carbon emission trading market. If not enough, quotas need to be purchased.

Carbon emission quotas can not only be used for trading, but also as collateral for asset financing. In this way, the financial industry has also been linked to carbon. In May 2021, Shanghai Branch of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank issued a loan of 5 million yuan to Shenneng Carbon Technology, which was used as collateral for the company's carbon assets.

At present, the only industry in China that includes carbon quotas and carbon trading is power generation. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment stated that the preliminary preparation work for carbon emission data for seven other high emission industries, including steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, petrochemicals, chemicals, papermaking, and aviation, will comprehensively consider the situation of economic and social development, and mature one industry into one industry.

For the vast majority of industries and enterprises without mandatory carbon emission targets, where does the driving force for carbon reduction come from? After all, carbon reduction is an additional constraint that may bring additional costs to enterprises in the short term.

Of course, one of the driving forces is social responsibility, but more importantly, market logic.

"From a sustainable perspective of the entire business, we don't have many choices," said Li Jingcheng, Vice President of Asia Strategy and Development at automotive parts company Foggia. "Downstream OEMs in the industry chain are increasingly concerned about carbon emissions reduction, and as upstream enterprises, we must follow the requirements of the OEMs. If we don't meet these basic indicators, we may not even have the opportunity to participate in bidding competition in the future." For example, Volvo has proposed to suppliers such as Foggia to fully use renewable energy electricity by 2025.

In order to achieve the carbon reduction goal, the group affiliated with Faurecia has formulated three phased goals for carbon neutrality strategy: by 2025, achieve carbon neutrality of internal emissions of the enterprise; By 2030, reduce carbon emissions from upstream and downstream activities in the industrial chain by 45%; Starting from 2045, achieve carbon neutrality on all scales.

Li Jingcheng said that carbon reduction is a new constraint for enterprises and may also bring new opportunities. For example, a natural hemp fiber interior material developed by Faurecia is not only 10% -25% lighter than traditional materials, but also reduces carbon emissions by up to 80%. Since mass production in 2013, this material has been used in millions of cars.

Li Zhiqing, Director of the Environmental Economics Research Center at Fudan University, said, "Carbon reduction is a global development trend, and China's development goal of 'peaking carbon and achieving carbon neutrality' is also based on this trend. The signal is already very clear. Whether enterprises are passive or proactive in reducing carbon, it is a response to future trends. I believe that after the ecological development goals are determined, the space for enterprises to move has become smaller and smaller. If they do not take action in advance, the losses may be even greater in the future."

The cup of carbon neutral coffee from the Carbon Expo is still a novelty today and may become the flagship product on every coffee shop's menu in the future.

§Shencheng

Yesterday morning, the keynote forum of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival "Science Fiction Film week" and the press conference of Shanghai Science and Technology Film City were held in Songjiang District. The participants gave a keynote speech on the theme of "Science Fiction, the perspective of all mankind and Chinese stories", "exploring the unknown and sci-fi feelings", and shared the theme of "Science Fiction Film and surreal Wonders". And the round table theme forum of "International Vision and the context of Science Fiction Film.

●Yesterday was the 7th China Organ Donation Day. This year's theme is "There are stars in the eyes, walk with light". The theme event sponsored by the China Organ Transplant Development Foundation was held in Shanghai. Data from the National Health Commission show that at present, the number of voluntary registration of human organ donation in China has exceeded 6.26 million. Although the number of voluntary donations is increasing year by year, experts believe that there is still a certain gap with developed countries. We call on the whole society to create an atmosphere of voluntary donation of human organs, so that more lives can be continued. Chen Zhu, President of the Red Cross Society of China, and Qiu Xin, Secretary of the Party Committee of Fudan University, attended the meeting.

●In order to fully reflect the many Shanghai strengths and Shanghai wisdom that Shanghai's batch after batch of Xinjiang aid cadres and talents have contributed to the economic and social development of Kashgar in the past 13 years, the Shanghai People's Broadcasting Station and the Shanghai Municipal Government Cooperation and Exchange Office will start from June 11. Launched the first panoramic all-media program "The Voice of Construction Aid" that records Shanghai's counterpart construction assistance work. Every Sunday from 12: 00 to 13: 00, it will be broadcast on FM93.4 Shanghai News Radio. Archimedes and Chatterbox APP will be launched simultaneously.

A few days ago, Kokai Chemical Co., Ltd. "annual output of 60000 tons of additives project" held a groundbreaking ceremony in Shanghai Carbon Valley Green Bay Industrial Park. The project covers an area of about 40 mu, with a total planned investment of 0.25 billion yuan. After the whole line reaches production, the estimated annual output value is about 0.7 billion yuan, and the annual tax revenue is about 70 million yuan.

§domestic

The fourth volume of Xi Jinping on governing the country is published in eight languages, including French, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Japanese and traditional Chinese, recently published by foreign language publishing houses and distributed at home and abroad. The book "Excerpts from Xi Jinping's Excerpts on the Work of Women and Children and Women's Federations" edited by the Party History and Literature Research Institute of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was recently published by the Central Literature Publishing House and distributed nationwide.

●The reporter learned from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Henan Province that as of 17:00 on June 11, the wheat harvest in Henan had basically ended. According to reports, the large-scale machine harvesting operation in Henan Province started on May 30 and basically ended on June 11. It lasted 13 days and the province put into operation 216000 combine harvesters. During the wheat harvest period, there are 5 days when the daily harvest exceeds 9 million mu.

● On the 11th, the final joint of the deep-middle channel subsea immersed tube tunnel, a major national project, was successfully launched. The measurement results show that the joint realizes the precise docking with E24 pipe section, marking the formal closure of the world's longest and widest steel shell concrete immersed tube tunnel. So far, Shenzhen and Zhongshan, which are located in the east and west banks of the Pearl River Estuary, have "joined hands" at the bottom of the Lingdingyang Sea ".

●The reporter learned from the State Grid that the Ningxia-Hunan ± 800 kV UHV DC transmission project started construction on the 11th. This is my country's first UHV power transmission project outside the "Shagehuang" wind and solar power base.

Yang Yinkai, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, said in Shanghai on the 11th that at present, China's installed capacity of non-fossil energy power generation accounts for 50.9 percent, historically exceeding the installed capacity of fossil energy power generation.

●On June 11, about 200 political and business representatives from China and Honduras gathered in Beijing to attend the China-Honduras High-level Entrepreneurs Exchange Meeting. This is the first high-level entrepreneur exchange meeting since the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras on March 26, injecting new impetus into the deepening of practical economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

●Liaoning Province is selecting 2.4 million acres of arable land in 27 counties in the province to carry out subsoiling operations, and provides financial subsidies to promote the combination of black land use and cultivation, enhance soil water storage capacity, and achieve stable and high yields.

§International

According to a survey released by Gallup Consulting on the 9th, 54% of adult respondents believe that the current moral values of the United States are "bad", which is 4 percentage points higher than last year's similar survey, the highest in the 22-year history of the survey.

●According to a report by the Ukrainian National News Agency on the 10th, Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau that Ukraine's counter-offensive operations have begun. Zelensky pointed out that he maintains daily contact with senior Ukrainian commanders such as Zaluzhin, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces. Zelenskiy gave no further details of the counteroffensive.

●South Korea police said on the 11th that many people were struck by lightning on a beach in Xiangyang County, Gangwon Province. One man died and five others were injured. The current situation is stable.

●A magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred in Hokkaido, Japan on the evening of the 11th. There are no reports of casualties and property losses. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake would not trigger a tsunami.

● According to data released on South Korea 11, solar power generation accounted for nearly 40% of the country's total electricity consumption during some periods in April, indicating that solar power generation is becoming one of the South Korea's main sources of electricity.

● Wildfires in Canada have continued for many days, causing air quality alarms in many parts of the East Coast of the United States. Many New Yorkers have searched the Internet for air purifier production methods, homemade equipment to purify indoor air. According to a report from the Associated Press on the 9th, the search volume of the term "purifier" on the Google search engine has skyrocketed recently, and many people have shared their experience in making purifiers on social media. They used the "Cosi-Rosenthal" method, in which four air filters and a fan are wrapped together with tape to make a simple air purification device.

Scientists from institutions such as the University of Sydney in Australia and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology have developed a new type of titanium alloy through unique alloy design and 3D printing technology. The new research provides a feasible method for more sustainable manufacturing of high-performance titanium alloys, which can be widely used in aerospace, biomedicine, chemical engineering, national defense and clean energy.

The focus of Jiefang Daily today

※ version 1 of the Chinese science fiction filmmaker "Songjiang on the sword"

※ version 2 low carbon will be the future survival of the enterprise will be the option

※ 4th edition of "old friend" is coming, Palestinian president to visit China