Sustainable plan: Workers, in a boat, checking solar panels at a photovoltaic power station built on a fish pond in Haian in eastern Jiangsu province. Renewable and other forms of clean energy will become the backbone of China’s system. — AFP
BEIJING: The report of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has proposed to accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system to facilitate the comprehensive implementation of the green development plan.
This is key to ensure the country’s carbon emissions peak before 2030 and it achieves carbon neutrality before 2060.
China has introduced a”1+N policy” to implement the new energy plan in which the “working guidance for carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality in full and faithful implementation of the new development philosophy” is the core.
Jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, China’s Cabinet, the working guidance spells out the action plans for various industries and fields such as energy, transportation, and urban and rural construction, which support “N”.
In the”1+N policy,”1” stands for peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and realising carbon neutrality before 2060, and “N” stands for the action plan for carbon dioxide peaking before 2030 and relevant policies and measures for key areas and sectors including energy, industry, transportation sectors, and circular economy.
China has proposed to establish a green, low-carbon and circular economic system, as well as a low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system before 2060.
This will ensure China’s energy utilisation efficiency reaches the international advanced level and the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption exceeds 80%, so as to realise carbon neutrality.
China needs to accelerate the planning and construction of a “new energy system” which adapts to and serves the green, low-carbon and circular economic system and thus helps establish a zero-carbon or near-zero-carbon economy before 2060.
The planning and construction must take into account the results of global and domestic energy transformations, as well as the latest innovations in energy technology and business models.
And by continuously optimising energy transformation, China can break new grounds and achieve its energy transformation goals, which will also be important for China’s goal to become a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.
The “new” aspect of the new energy system is that it is mainly based on clean energy.Before 2060, China’s new energy system must be primarily based on sustainable and clean energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass and hydrogen, with the proportion of these clean energy sources exceeding 80% in the total energy mix.
As such, the planning and construction of the new energy system must involve large-scale utilisation of clean energy sources, and requires the continuous replacement of traditional fossil energy sources with clean energy through relevant laws, regulations, policies and market-driven mechanisms.
The construction of the new energy system should be aimed at ensuring China’s emissions peak before 2030 and it realises carbon neutrality before 2060.
Not to forget that the safe and stable operation of the energy system is key to achieving the country’s modernisation goals and ensuring the wellbeing of the Chinese people.
The transformation and development of the energy system must follow the principle of “establish first and then break”.
While building a new energy system, China should also accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of its fossil fuel-based energy system which includes coal and coal-fired power generation, while ensuring stable socioeconomic development.Coal remains the primary fossil fuel in China. It aims to gradually reduce coal consumption during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026 to 2030) period by implementing strict control measures.
Efforts are also being made to shift to cleaner energy sources and higher-quality raw materials. Preliminary estimates show that in the industrial sector alone, coal consumption as raw material and for material conversion exceeds 100 million tonnes of standard coal annually.
Renewable energy and other forms of clean energy will become the backbone of China’s energy system, and coal-fired power plants will gradually reduce their total operating hours in a year, with the majority of them being phased out in the long run. — China Daily/ANN
