Here’s what it will take for China to make that happen

In September 2020, China’s President Xi Jinping went in front of the United Nations (UN) and pledged that his country will be carbon neutral by 2060. This has left many shaking their heads. After all, how could a country that is still building coal power plants today possibly reach carbon neutrality in the next 40 years? Leo Liang, Strategy and Business Development Director of Tera looks at what it would take to transform China from the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases to carbon neutrality.

There’s no miracle or overnight solution for achieving carbon neutrality. Every sector, business and individual contributes to emissions in one way or another, and any serious attempt to reach net-zero carbon will require a solution that takes all of these factors into consideration. To envision holistic action, it can be useful to break down emissions into three primary areas: transportation, commercial/residential and industrial .

Achieving carbon neutrality will require efforts at every level of society to make it work. In all areas and for all actors, the solutions will need to be the same: use fewer fossil fuels and opt for renewables; encourage the development of new technologies to increase energy efficiency; and streamline the regulatory barriers to implementing them.

Building on a clean energy foundation

Although China has already made major strides in adopting renewable energy—the country has the most installed renewable power assets in the world—this is still only a tiny fraction of domestic energy production in comparison to fossil fuel use. As of 2018, coal accounted for 59 per cent of China’s energy use, and petroleum another 18.9 per cent. Even the impressive growth in renewable energy production has not been enough to offset the rising energy demands from year to year. One of the biggest challenges is that not every locale is abundant in the wind or sunlight necessary to maintain reliable energy. Although recent advancements such as carbon capture are promising for power plants that continue to use fossil fuels, solving the problem of clean energy distribution is necessary to cut emissions. Luckily, newer technologies are being developed that can store large amounts of zero-carbon power and send it long distances.

Currently, lithium-ion batteries are being used to store renewable power at power plants serving regional grids or at industrial and commercial sites. Capturing the maximum amount of zero-carbon electricity generated is key to its use as a reliable and consistent replacement for fossil fuels, but distribution is often limited to smaller locales. On a national scale, China needs the ability not only to store massive amounts of clean energy but also to transfer it great distances to supply areas that aren’t suitable for renewable generation. That’s where developing technologies such as ultra-high voltage (UHV) power lines and hydrogen cell storage could come in as they mature. Hydrogen cells charge more quickly and can hold up to two hundred times the amount of electricity of lithium-ion batteries; they are cleaner to dispose of; and, if connected to UHV power lines, can send electricity thousands of kilometres—such as the ones that are currently supplying billions of kilowatts per hour (kWh) of clean energy to Hunan. In the meantime, energy decentralisation will play a large part in reaching that goal.

Energy decentralisation would allow commercial and industrial properties to generate clean power and heat onsite in order to replace the coal-powered grid energy on which they still rely. Existing urban commercial and residential properties can easily install solar panels on their roofs, while newer buildings can be designed with clean power in mind and integrate solutions such as geothermal heat and cold storage. Industrial sites, provided they are located in a suitable area, can install wind turbines on as little as 400 square metres. Any serious effort to reach carbon neutrality will need to view energy decentralisation as a cornerstone of its approach. It should also provide the right environment through various forms of incentives and support for the development of new technologies.

Paving the way for innovation

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are two innovations in particular that are already showing their value in terms of energy efficiency management. In buildings like office towers, where large amounts of energy are wasted on heating and cooling, installing IoT sensors to capture and run data through an AI platform to automate heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems can reduce energy use by around 15 per cent. In factories, AI software can be used to identify compressed air leakage or optimise heat production and use. And pairing AI with technologies like geothermal inter-seasonal heat and cold storage has been proven capable of cutting up to 70 per cent of CO₂ emissions.

Ensuring that the energy we use is used efficiently is as imperative to reach the 2060 target as cutting the use of fossil fuels. But even with all of this new technology and potential, promising a carbon-neutral future requires a full-on mobilisation of resources into research and development of new technologies, as well the removal of barriers and a system of incentives to implement them.

It is up to the government to break down the existing barriers to allow for quicker and cheaper installation of renewable energy equipment, whether that is wind turbines, solar panels or biomass kilns. Businesses encounter many hurdles to implementing a clean-energy plan once they create it. China’s next Five-year Plan will necessarily address these obstacles to streamline and incentivise emissions reduction efforts. Based on how such government policies have worked in the past, we can probably assume that this will begin with pilot zones – such as Hainan transitioning to have 100 per cent of new vehicle sales be electric vehicles by 2030. From these pilot zones, the government can analyse what worked, what didn’t work, and how to make the results better for the rest of the country.

Once these doors are open, all businesses and individuals will be expected to play a role. Even if this initiative begins with incentives, you can be sure that there will be punishments in the future. Businesses can, and should, get a head start. Looking at operations and making plans to a) optimise existing equipment and cut back on wasted energy, and b) consider the feasibility of integrating renewable power onsite is extremely valuable right now, but will be a requirement in the future. All businesses in China should be acting now to get ahead, so that they can reap the full benefits of whatever incentives come, and taking steps to reduce emissions for when penalties inevitably begin.

In the long-term, collaboration between public and private sectors and between domestic and international markets will be essential. China will need to facilitate talent not only within its borders but also outside of them. It will require a multilateral effort leveraging supply chains, connecting markets and encouraging mutual benefits across Asia and the rest of the globe. It is a major task, as ambitious as, if not more so than, the Belt and Road Initiative we saw emerge in 2013. The level of cooperation required, and indeed the level of interest the international community should have, in assisting China in achieving this goal could come to be known as the ‘Energy Silk Road’.

Taking drastic action is the only choice

Even though this is an initiative coming from the highest level of government, there will be resistance. Conflicts of interest will spring up, as all energy companies in China are state-owned. It will be a radical upheaval of the status quo and a complete remodelling of energy in ways that we have never seen done before. Nevertheless, through concerted and persistent efforts and a plan that emphasises collaboration, breaks down barriers and incentivises the implementation of new technologies, we may see that such a goal is reachable – even for a country that is currently the world’s largest emitter of CO₂. If China can even come close to being carbon neutral by 2060, it will be an impressive and important step towards stemming the coming climate change crisis.

Tera Energies is a business-to-business clean-energy company, based in China and focussed on helping commercial, industrial and governmental sectors make clean-energy transitions through funding, installation and long-term operation of onsite renewable energy resources as well as energy-optimisation technologies. Tera is a joint venture between Total-Eren, Eren Industries and the Aden Group.