A proposal with a clear goal
——The building materials industry became the first industry that proposed to achieve carbon peaks in advance
Since September 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly mentioned "carbon peaks and carbon neutrality" on different occasions. The density, intensity, and indicators are unprecedented.
On January 16, 2021, the China Building Materials Federation issued the "Proposal for Promoting Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality in the Building Materials Industry" to the whole industry to "promote carbon emission reduction and achieve carbon peaks ahead of schedule", which stated that, In view of the different development stages and development levels of various building materials industries, and the actual situation that some industries are still in the process of industrialization and large-scale development, the Building Materials Federation solemnly proposed and proposed to the entire industry: my country's building materials industry should be before 2025 To fully achieve carbon peaks, cement and other industries should take the lead in achieving carbon peaks by 2023.
So, why does the building materials industry have to formulate such an urgent timetable?
"The building materials industry is an industry with high energy consumption, high emissions, and overcapacity. Therefore, it has also become an industry that will be the focus of the national carbon reduction work. The whole industry must realize that achieving a carbon peak by 2030 does not mean that it will not be reached by 2030. The building materials industry has reached its peak in the first year, but it needs to reach its peak in advance.” Yan Xiaofeng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Building Materials Federation, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China Building Materials.
my country is the largest developing country in the world. Especially after the United States withdrew from the "Paris Agreement" during the Trump administration, the world is also expecting China, the world's second largest economy, to take on more responsibilities. China has also lived up to expectations and has taken the initiative to increase its nationally determined contributions and made commitments to achieve carbon peaks and carbon neutrality.
On January 20, Biden signed a presidential decree to return the United States to the "Paris Agreement" immediately after taking office as the President of the United States. It also shows that the action to combat climate change is also an important manifestation of the game between major powers.
Climate change is a major global challenge facing mankind today. Actively responding to climate change is an inherent requirement for my country to achieve sustainable development. It is an important starting point for strengthening the construction of ecological civilization and achieving the goal of a beautiful China. It is also an important part of my country's promotion of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Responsible for history.
From the perspective of total carbon emissions, under the influence of the “carbon peak and carbon neutral” target, traditional industries will be most affected. Among them are the negative impacts of large carbon emissions and difficulty in pollution prevention, as well as technical equipment upgrades, Positive effects such as the strengthening of industrial linkages have provided new development opportunities for the rejuvenation of traditional industries. As Yan Xiaofeng said, as one of the industries with large carbon emissions in my country, the building materials industry must take practical and effective measures to fully promote carbon emission reduction, and make positive contributions to the country's overall achievement of the target of achieving carbon peaks and the vision of "carbon neutrality". . This is a social responsibility and an unshirkable mission that the building materials industry must fulfill. It is also an urgent need for the safe and high-quality development of the building materials industry to accelerate the formation of a new pattern of "dual cycle" development. In order to ensure the achievement of carbon peak and carbon neutral goals, the Party Central Committee, the State Council and various relevant departments have successively announced the timetable and roadmap for carbon reduction actions.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment stated in the "Guiding Opinions on Coordinating and Strengthening the Work on Responding to Climate Change and Ecological Environment Protection" that it is necessary to promptly formulate an action plan for peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and encourage the development of key areas such as energy, industry, transportation, and construction. The peak-reaching special plan promotes key industries such as steel, building materials, electric power, coal and other key industries to put forward clear peak-reaching targets and formulate peak-reaching action plans.
The document proposes that it will support qualified places and industries to take the lead in reaching the peak of carbon emissions, promote the areas that have reached the peak to further reduce carbon emissions, and support the areas with better foundations to explore and carry out pilot demonstrations of near-zero carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. Select typical cities and regions to carry out pilot demonstrations of "double reaching" air quality standards and carbon emissions peaking, and pilot demonstrations of coordinated control of air pollutants and greenhouse gases in steel, building materials and other industries.
Local governments will be encouraged to set up special funds to support technological innovation in response to climate change, publish a list of low-carbon technologies that the state will promote, and orderly promote the construction of large-scale, full-chain carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage demonstration projects; encourage collaboration between greenhouse gases and pollutants Research and development, demonstration and promotion of emission reduction related technologies. Organize and carry out pilot studies on greenhouse gas emissions and pollution permit management in key industries, promote the unified collection, mutual supplementation and cross-checking of pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions related data of enterprises and institutions, encourage enterprises to disclose greenhouse gas emissions related information, and support some The region took the lead in exploring a corporate carbon emission information disclosure system.
With the establishment of the goal of carbon neutrality, the transformation of my country's economic and industrial structure will also be further deepened, and the construction of a national carbon market will also accelerate. On October 21, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the National Development and Reform Commission, the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting Investment and Financing in Response to Climate Change". This is the first policy document in the field of climate investment and financing. The definition and scope of support for climate investment and financing have been formulated, and the top-level design of climate investment and financing has been made to guide the investment of various element resources such as funds, talents, and technology into the field of climate change.
In this context, forms such as "carbon trading" and "carbon finance" will accelerate. We all know that it is impossible to achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions in actual production and life. Therefore, the concept of "carbon neutrality" actually requires that you have an equivalent amount of carbon sinks or carbon credits to offset your own carbon emissions to achieve net carbon emissions close to zero. This is also the origin of "carbon trading".
Carbon trading is a market mechanism adopted to promote the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Recently, in order to regulate the national carbon emission rights trading and related activities, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment formulated the "Carbon Emission Rights Trading Management Measures (Trial)", which will be implemented on February 1. This approach is applicable to the national carbon emission rights trading and related activities, including carbon emission allowance allocation and payment, carbon emission rights registration, trading, settlement, greenhouse gas emission reporting and verification and other activities, as well as the supervision and management of the aforementioned activities.
Zhang Anping, chairman of TCC Group, believes that “carbon trading” is a cornerstone of the energy-saving and carbon-reduction policy, and a key tool for coping with climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a cost-effective basis. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the cement industry should Work together to help the government establish a pricing mechanism for carbon trading in the industry. Wu Qingtao, general manager of Beijing International Union Trust Certification Center Co., Ltd., advocates that low-carbon concepts should be widely and deeply popularized in the industry, low-carbon capacity building should be carried out, basic research should be strengthened, and a database of energy consumption pollutants and carbon emissions in the building materials industry should be established. , To find out the carbon background of building materials companies. Take the lead in achieving carbon peaks ahead of schedule, forcing industry structural adjustments
The building materials industry has always been one of the key industries for carbon emissions in the industrial sector. With the introduction of carbon peaks and carbon neutrality goals, the building materials industry is duty-bound to shoulder historical responsibilities. The whole industry should stand at the height of building a community with a shared future for mankind, stand at the height of implementing the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, stand at the height of realizing high-quality sustainable development, stand at the height of advancing and implementing the new development of "good for business and good for mankind" The height of the target, fully understand the importance of carbon emission reduction and carbon peaking, as well as the urgency and arduousness of this work.
Yan Xiaofeng emphasized in the interview that time is tight and tasks are heavy. The whole industry should take active actions and make early arrangements. It is necessary to research energy alternative technologies, reduce the use of fossil fuels, research and pay attention to the use of renewable and recyclable materials as soon as possible, and take the lead in realizing carbon in advance. Dafeng forced the structural adjustment of the building materials industry.
The main types of energy consumption in the building materials industry are coal, electricity, fuel oil, and a small amount of natural gas, coal gas, and coke. Among them, coal has the highest carbon content among all fossil energy sources. Whether it is directly burned as an energy source or used for non-energy purposes such as raw materials and reducing agents, it will inevitably produce a large amount of carbon dioxide. The total carbon dioxide emissions from coal combustion account for more than 85% of my country's total carbon dioxide emissions.
The cement industry is a "large carbon emitter" in the building materials industry and one of the main "contributors" to global carbon dioxide emissions. According to statistics from relevant international organizations, the global cement industry's carbon dioxide emissions account for about 7% of the global total emissions. The reporter learned that in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement, the global cement industry must reach the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, which means that it must reduce carbon by 40% by 2030.
The carbon emissions of the cement industry mainly come from fuel combustion emissions and process emissions. In the cement production process, carbon dioxide emissions from the decomposition of raw materials carbonates account for 60% to 70% of the process emissions. In 2020, my country's cement output was 2.377 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.6%. Given that clinker production is the biggest factor affecting carbon emissions in the cement industry, in 2020, my country's cement industry carbon emissions will rise by 7% (affected by the epidemic) in the context of a 7% reduction in global carbon emissions (affected by the epidemic), reaching 1.375 billion tons, accounting for the country's carbon emissions. The total emissions are about 13.5%.
The current situation of my country's cement companies is that each ton of cement clinker produced will produce about 860 kg of carbon dioxide, which is still high compared to the requirements of the Paris Agreement (the agreement requires that carbon dioxide emissions per ton of cement produced must be reduced to 520-524. kg). Although the current demand for cement has generally entered a plateau, and the China Cement Association predicts that cement clinker output will reach the peak consumption and output during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the initiative to achieve a carbon peak in 2023 will still bring difficulties to the cement industry. With little pressure, the entire industry needs to hurry up and make great efforts to this end.
Yuan Da, director of the Political Research Office of the National Development and Reform Commission, previously proposed that in order to achieve the new goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, it is necessary to vigorously adjust the energy structure, promote the clean and low-carbon development of the energy system, and accelerate the upgrading of the intelligent level of the energy industry chain; Industrial structure transformation, vigorously eliminate outdated production capacity, resolve excess production capacity, optimize existing production capacity, and strictly control new production capacity in high-energy-consuming industries.
Yue Quanhua, director of the Building Materials Division of the Department of Raw Materials Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, emphasized that peaking carbon is not only a problem of carbon emission reduction, but also a manifestation of leading the industry to transform the development mode in the future. Kong Xiangzhong, executive chairman of the China Cement Association, believes that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the cement industry must simultaneously advance technological and structural emission reductions, so that the cement industry's carbon peak will be implemented as soon as possible.
From a technical point of view, under the guidance of carbon reduction targets, the cement industry should increase investment in technological transformation, apply more low-energy and low-carbon technologies, and reduce petrochemical energy consumption; encourage cement companies to extend the industrial chain and take advantage of the natural advantages of the cement industry. Carbon emission reduction, such as the co-processing of municipal sludge, municipal waste, and waste incineration fly ash and other hazardous wastes in cement kilns; accelerate the development and promotion of low-carbon technologies, and accelerate the promotion of large-scale energy storage, hydrogen energy, carbon capture, utilization and storage, etc. Technological development. Relevant government departments also need to start with policies to increase support for digital intelligence, energy saving, emission reduction, co-processing, comprehensive utilization of resources, etc.; further improve the standard system and strengthen the leading role of standards; accelerate green mines and green factories And other construction work; strengthen supervision to promote the industry’s standard upgrading and transformation, transformation and upgrading, and force backward production capacity to withdraw.
It is believed that the "Proposal to Promote the Building Material Industry's Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Action" proposed the building materials industry's carbon peak target ahead of schedule, which will inevitably force the industry to change its traditional development mode and inertia, thereby bringing fundamental changes to the industry. Take the road of green and low-carbon circular development
For the resource-consuming, energy-dependent and environmentally sensitive building materials industry, energy saving and emission reduction is one of the important tasks in the future. Actively seeking change, taking the initiative, increasing investment in technological innovation, and accelerating the use of energy-saving and consumption-reducing technologies will be the inevitable choice for building materials companies to achieve sustainable development.
Focusing on the country’s climate action goals of “peaking carbon by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2060”, Zhou Yuxian, Chairman of China National Building Materials Group, said in an interview with the reporter of "China Building Materials" that China National Building Materials Group, as the only central enterprise group in the building materials industry, To play a leading role in green and sustainable development. On the one hand, it is necessary to achieve the development of basic building materials to reduce emissions, capture carbon dioxide and clean energy industries, and take the lead in achieving carbon peaks in advance; on the other hand, it is necessary to reduce carbon emissions, carry out carbon capture, carbon trading, and vigorously develop green energy business. New industries will be derived, and China National Building Materials Group has the responsibility to promote the high-quality development of other industries and industries in the real economy. Zhou Yuxian said that China National Building Materials Group will work more closely with associations and companies in the industry on carbon reduction business models to create a green future.
According to Cao Jianglin, general manager of China National Building Material Group, China National Building Material Group uses 150 million tons of industrial waste to replace raw materials every year to equip all cement production lines with waste heat power generation systems, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 6 million tons per year.
In addition, the Group has been involved in the two clean energy fields of solar power and wind power for a long time, especially in the field of wind power blades. It is an international leader. Under the incentive of carbon reduction targets, it is expected that the installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind energy will increase in the future, presumably China The building materials group will play an important role.
It is reported that negative emission technology is an important means of carbon emission reduction. It is to extract too much carbon dioxide from the air to reduce total emissions. It can be achieved by strengthening natural carbon sinks, adopting carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCS, CCUS) and other technologies. Means or a combination of ways to achieve. Carbon capture and storage technology involves a wealth of science and engineering technology. It is currently one of the most advanced environmental protection technologies in the world. It is also considered to be the most economical and feasible way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale and alleviate global warming in the future. As a "bottom" means of carbon emission reduction in cement clinker production, carbon capture, utilization and storage will be an important technological path to make an important contribution to the carbon neutrality of the cement industry.
TCC has leading advantages in carbon rights research, carbon digitization, communityization of cement factories, and mine re-greening. Released in CDP (Carbon Emission Information Disclosure Program), an international authoritative non-profit organizationIn the list of 2020, TCC has ranked among the top in the world with excellent results among more than 9,000 companies, and officially entered the ranks of the leading level (A-). In the world's cement industry, TCC is second only to Heidelberg and LafargeHolcim, ranking third.
TCC took the lead in committing to a scientifically based carbon reduction standard SBTi in December 2019. It is set to reduce carbon by 11% in 2025. It is also Taiwan’s first cement carbon label. In 2020, it joined the GCCA Global Industry Climate Vision 2050, promising to Achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Conch Group is the leader of China's cement industry and always regards green development as the company's competitive advantage and foothold. In 2018, Conch Group built the world's first environmental protection demonstration project for the capture and purification of carbon dioxide from cement kiln flue gas at Baimashan Cement Plant, which converts the flue gas carbon dioxide in the cement plant into carbon dioxide products, which can be used in industry, food preservation, dry ice production, Laser, medicine and other fields. According to the person in charge of the project, it is calculated that it can produce 50,000 tons of liquid carbon dioxide per year (including 30,000 tons of food grade and 20,000 tons of industrial grade), realizing "turning waste into treasure" and producing high economic benefits. Carbon reduction has explored a new path.
The use of cement kilns to co-process domestic garbage, solid waste, and hazardous waste, making the cement plant a "purifier" for the urban environment. The green and low-carbon transition has become the only way for cement companies to achieve sustainable development.
For example, Huaxin, a century-old enterprise, has always adhered to the road of independent innovation of "low energy consumption, low emissions, high technology, and high efficiency", actively transformed its development mode, and took the lead in forming a cement kiln with international advanced level in the cement industry through its own technological advantages. Co-processing waste technology and environmental protection solutions, taking the lead in promoting and developing energy-saving and emission-reduction solutions such as alternative raw materials, alternative fuels and waste heat power generation, successfully realizing the transformation from a traditional cement production enterprise to a green environmental protection enterprise.
In terms of carbon trading, Huaxin has the courage to "early adopt new products." As early as 2011, it invested 100 million yuan to build the Huaxin Enterprise Energy Management Center and put it into use, and established an information system covering energy production, distribution, and consumption across the country's production bases. Up to now, a total of 20 subsidiaries of Huaxin have been included in the pilot carbon market. At the recently held "Symposium and Mobilization Meeting for the Implementation of the Proposal for Promoting Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality in the Building Materials Industry", Li Yeqing, President of Huaxin Cement, said: Huaxin will continue to increase carbon emission reduction research and make improvements for the construction of a beautiful China. Great contribution.
In the new era and new tasks, the majority of enterprises in the building materials industry take the initiative to play an active role in the national energy conservation, environmental protection, and carbon emission reduction fields, and contribute the wisdom and strength of the building materials industry to the realization of China's commitment to the world.
It is estimated that if China achieves carbon neutrality by 2060, the global warming will be reduced by 0.2℃～0.3℃. Doing a good job in carbon peaking and carbon neutrality is to protect our common earth home. A green and low-carbon life is closely related to each of us and requires the participation of all people.
The "Proposals of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Goals for 2035" adopted by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward new tasks for green development: "14 During the "Five" period, the construction of ecological civilization has achieved new progress, the green transformation of production and lifestyle has achieved remarkable results, the allocation of energy resources has been more reasonable, the utilization efficiency has been greatly improved, the total discharge of major pollutants has continued to decrease, and the ecological environment has continued to improve; by 2035, it will be extensive A green production and lifestyle will be formed, carbon emissions will steadily decrease after peaking, the ecological environment will be fundamentally improved, and the goal of building a beautiful China will be basically achieved. Promoting the carbon peak and carbon neutrality of the building materials industry is a systematic project. Yan Xiaofeng pointed out at the Sixth Member Congress of China Building Materials Federation and the first meeting of the Sixth Council, whether at the national level or at the industry level, whether it is from the perspective of external environmental bottlenecks, or from within the industry to accelerate the process of industrial modernization In view of the requirements of the pace of transformation and upgrading, accelerating the construction of an ecological civilization centered on energy conservation, emission reduction and green development has become an inescapable historical mission of the building materials industry, and is an urgent need to promote the transformation, upgrading and high-quality development of the building materials industry. In the future, the building materials industry should adhere to the focus on energy conservation and emission reduction, explore and practice the development concepts of circular economy, low-carbon economy, and ecological economy, and take the road of economical development, clean development and green development.
2021 is the first year of the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the year of convergence and transformation of the "two centenary" goals. Doing a good job in carbon peaking and carbon neutrality is of far-reaching significance to my country's realization of economic stability and long-term economic development and the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country. In the next step, the China Building Materials Federation will study and formulate a three-year action plan for promoting carbon emission reduction in the building materials industry, and assist government departments in researching and compiling a roadmap for carbon emission reduction in the industry, focusing on relevant policy formulation, benchmark value calculation, and trial calculation of allowance allocation , Ability training, and promotion of the industry's carbon market construction, etc. to play an active role.
"To promote carbon emission reduction and achieve carbon peak in advance" is an important measure for the building materials industry to resolutely implement the important announcement of General Secretary Jin Ping, "Strive to reach the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060". It is an important part of advancing the industry’s new development goal of “good for business and good for mankind” and safe development of high-quality development. The whole industry should unswervingly follow the path of green, low-carbon, sustainable and healthy development, and contribute to the construction of ecological civilization. To make the contribution that building materials people deserve for Beautiful China, and to contribute the strength of the building materials industry to the realization of China's carbon peak and carbon neutral goals!