Zhang Lei: China Should Speed Up The Construction Of Zero Carbon Industrial System

The consensus and actions of major global economies to achieve carbon neutrality in this century will not only promote the energy revolution, but also usher in a zero carbon industrial revolution. At present, China's manufacturing system is based on relatively high carbon emissions. Therefore, China, as the "world factory", will face unprecedented challenges under the background of setting the global carbon neutral target.

During the two sessions last year, Zhang Lei, deputy to the National People's Congress and CEO of vision technology group, brought a bill calling for the establishment of a carbon neutral timetable as soon as possible and setting an example for the global response to the climate crisis. At the end of last year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council repeatedly stated that China has set its own goal of "carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060".

"After the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization has been established, the development of wind energy and photovoltaic has become a top-down consensus in China." Zhang Lei said, "at this stage, a lot of arguments are no longer necessary. I have not proposed a proposal on wind power this year. What we need to do now is" mathematical problems "instead of" debates. "

This year, Zhang Lei's motion emphasizes that China should seize the historical opportunity of carbon neutrality and accelerate the construction of a new zero carbon industrial system. He judged that the global industrial system would undergo earth shaking changes in the next 20-30 years. Not only will energy production completely turn to zero carbon renewable energy, but also the transportation, construction, steel, chemical and other industrial systems that use energy will undergo significant changes in technical routes and production equipment.

"China faces unprecedented challenges"

In Zhang Lei's eyes, the creation of a zero carbon industrial system is no different from the "industrial revolution" of a new era. He hopes that such an industrial revolution will take place in China, and China also has the soil for the birth of this revolution.

Carbon neutral transformation not only tests China's energy structure reform, but also challenges the entire industrial system. China's carbon emissions will reach 10 billion tons in 2019, accounting for 30% of global emissions. According to the industrial category, steel accounts for more than 14% of the total carbon emission, and the transformation is extremely urgent.

At present, the pricing of carbon emission rights has become a global consensus. At present, the carbon emission cost of EU has reached 30 euro / ton of carbon dioxide, which is predicted to be between 60-90 euro by 2030. The current EU carbon emission price equivalent to the additional carbon cost of coal-fired power is 0.23 yuan / kWh. Taking the iron and steel industry as an example, the additional cost equivalent to coke for steel production in EU is 400 yuan / ton.

Therefore, the EU is expected to propose a carbon border adjustment mechanism to impose a carbon differential price tax on imported products; similar mechanisms are being developed in the United States and the United Kingdom. When carbon emission control becomes a requirement under the framework of bilateral and even multilateral trade, it is too late to carry out the transformation of zero carbon industrial system.

At the same time, the restructuring brought about by decarbonization of the industrial system provides an opportunity for China's high-end manufacturing industry to "change lanes and overtake vehicles". In the field of transportation, China's power battery technology is replacing the engine technology that Germany is good at; in the field of power generation, China's intelligent wind turbine is replacing the gas turbine that the United States is good at; in the field of materials, China's rising biosynthesis technology will surpass the traditional chemical technology.

Therefore, the new zero carbon industrial system is not only conducive to China's dominant position in the international big cycle, but also will greatly promote the domestic big cycle and generate new development momentum and growth space. Low cost zero carbon energy system will effectively reduce the operation cost of the national economy, reduce the dependence on international fossil energy, and ensure energy security. On this basis, the new industrial system will also have a stronger ability to resist risks. China's industrial system will be independent, secure and take the initiative in global geopolitics.

From a practical point of view, China's current zero carbon industrial system reform does not exist much obstacles.

"The basis of the new zero carbon industrial system is the renewable energy system. China has abundant renewable energy resources, which can provide several times the needs of China's economy." Zhang Lei told reporters, "the cost of wind power in the three north regions and the photovoltaic cost in Qinghai and other places have been below 0.2 yuan / kWh, and the cost will reach 0.1 yuan / kwh in 2023

If China fully develops renewable energy and accelerates the construction of a new industrial system based on zero carbon energy, products made in China will not only get "green pass", bypass carbon tariff, but also have lower cost due to carbon removal. The advantages of made in China will be further highlighted. China will shift from "demographic dividend" to "green energy dividend", and become the center of global zero carbon new industry.

"I will pay more attention to downstream innovation in the future"

According to Zhang Lei, the peak value of carbon emission should be set before 2030, and the annual total carbon emission should be calculated according to the peak value. Only a clear and transparent total target system can help to decompose by industry level by level, help to determine carbon quota, and make carbon trading market operate reasonably and effectively price carbon emissions.

In addition, the top-level design and medium and long-term planning of the new zero carbon industrial system should be formulated. On the basis of formulating the schedule and roadmap of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization in various industries and fields, it is necessary to analyze the key technical routes and production equipment of carbon neutralization in this field.

"Vigorously develop renewable energy, expand the green energy equipment industry, and accelerate the cultivation of zero carbon energy application technology in key fields." Zhang Lei said, "especially when it comes to the technical routes and production equipment in these fields involving the use of zero carbon new energy, they will have some important changes. The state should also encourage the spread of these technologies. "

Take the steel industry as an example. At present, the cost of coke steelmaking in China is far lower than that of green hydrogen steelmaking. However, if China's iron and steel enterprises do not have the urgency of low-carbon transformation, when the competitors in Europe and the United States fully master such process, and face the increasingly high carbon emission cost, the transformation will probably lag behind.

"Enterprises engaged in the production of these technologies and equipment need to be promoted and encouraged for their innovation." "Because energy production is only one part of the entire zero carbon industrial revolution, China's wind power photovoltaic and energy storage industries have already taken the lead in the world," Zhang Lei said. These advanced equipment for the application of new energy in the future is also a propeller of the zero carbon industrial revolution. I will pay more attention to the innovation of downstream applications in the future. "

In addition to the innovation of equipment and technology, China's current system and mechanism also need to adapt to the new goal of carbon neutrality, so as to incubate and promote the zero carbon revolution of the entire Chinese industrial system as soon as possible.

"China's development has not yet been decoupled from energy consumption. Carbon emissions are closely related to energy consumption. In the past, controlling the total amount of energy consumption helped to control the total carbon emissions, but also slowed economic growth." Zhang Lei believes that "simply controlling the total amount of energy consumption will make China's vast areas rich in green energy miss out on valuable opportunities for industrial development."

Therefore, he believes that during the 14th Five Year Plan period, Chinese governments at all levels should make a transition from assessing energy consumption to assessing carbon consumption. Local governments are encouraged to make more use of renewable energy to meet the new energy demand. Regions rich in renewable energy resources can take the lead in establishing a green and intelligent energy system and turn local green energy into industrial advantages.

At present, China's areas rich in non water renewable energy resources are also the reserves gathering places of traditional fossil energy. Encouraging these places to try to distinguish "carbon consumption" and "energy consumption" first can not only limit the carbon emissions of these areas, but also help them find their own position in the new green and low-carbon industrial system and play their role as low-carbon energy base.

"At the same time, it is still necessary to transmit this signal through the market mechanism. So the carbon market is critical. " Zhang Lei believes that "we should accelerate the reform of the electricity market, carbon trading market and green electricity trading mechanism, allocate green power through market-oriented means, and make green power flow to superior enterprises." Qi Yu, reporting group of the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress of China Southern finance and economics all media group reports from Beijing

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