Carbon Neutralization | The Way to Achieve "Zero Carbon Emission" for Industrial Parks

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Author:CASVI

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Industrial parks are the core for the development of industrial enterprises, and their carbon emission can reach 31% of the country's total. Therefore, they have become the key to reduce emission under the carbon neutrality goal. The low-carbon transformation of Chinese industrial parks can be divided into four types: circular economy industrial parks, eco industrial parks, low-carbon industrial parks, and zero carbon emission demonstration zones.

The "Zero Carbon Emission" industrial park needs to consider following aspects:

· Zero-carbon emission energy: it refers to energy that does not increase carbon dioxide emissions during production and use.

· Zero-carbon emission building: it refers to buidlings which can operate independently, and all energy consumption is supported by renewable energy generated by site
· Zero-carbon emission transportation: it refers to the electrification of transportation with renewable energy vehicles as the core, at the same time encouraging public transportation and shared trip;

· CCUS: it refers to Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage which are the new development trend of CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) technology.


1. The origin of the Zero-Carbon Emission industrial park

Industrial parks are the core for the development of industrial enterprises and the main carrier for China's industrial transformation and upgrading. Through aggregation and integration of producation elements, industrial parks can increase the intensity of industrialization, scale advantages, and optimize functional layout to put more emphasis on industrial characteristics, and further improve market competitiveness. The project of industrial parks started in 1979; there are now more than 15,000 industrial parks, contributing more than 30% to the economy. At the same time, as energy consumption industry accounted for more than 60% of the country's total, the carbon emission of industrial parks reached about 31% of the country's total emission. As a result, industrial park has become the key to reduce carbon emission under the goal of carbon neutrality.


The transformation of China's low-carbon industrial park can be divided into four types:
Circular Economy Industrial Park: Simulate the ecosystem of producer-consumer-decomposer cycle and establish an industrial symbiosis network of the "industrial chain" to achieve the optimal use of material and energy resources.
Eco Industrial Park: Through the exchange of material, energy, and information, a network is established to benefit all. As a result, there won't be waste to the outside world which can coordinate the progress of economy, society and environment.
Low-carbon Industrial Park: With the goal of reducing carbon emission intensity, the development path is from industry, energy, infrastructure to management. It is supported by low-carbon technology innovation and application which also enhance the park’s carbon management capabilities.
Zero Carbon Emission Demonstration Zone: The regional carbon emission is approaching zero with the help of economic development and ecological civilization. The economic growth is driven by emerging low-carbon industries whereas the energy consumption is supported by near-zero carbon energy. The development of transportation should be supported by smart and low-carbon energy, and the balance between carbon source and carbon sink will be realized (net zero carbon emission).

Near-zero carbon emission is stricter than low-carbon emission which emphasizes the total carbon emission rather than carbon emission intensity (the carbon emission per unit of GDP). However, compared with “zero carbon emission”, near-zero carbon emission allows offsets such as the "carbon sink" mechanism which means the carbon reduction or the carbon sink is close to zero. In other words, a zero-carbon emission industrial park means no carbon emission in energy generation, construction, industry, and transportation on the premise of no carbon sinks. Therefore, the zero-carbon emission industrial park is stricter, and even much stricter than the requirments of carbon neutrality goal.


2. Overview of the Zero Carbon Emission Industrial Park


For industrial parks, their carbon emission mainly include two types:
One is direct emission, which is generated from energy activities (industry, construction, and transportation) within the park, such as greenhouse gas emission from industrial processes, fuel combustion, waste treatment, etc.
The other is indirect emission, which is generated from purchased secondary energy, including electricity, heating/cooling and other energy consumption. Therefore, the core of achieving zero carbon emission is integrating industrial parks, electrifying industrial processes, and transforming the heavy dependence on fossil fuels.

Guangdong Zhuangyuan Valley has implemented the concept of "intensive use of land, comprehensive use of space" in its land planning. At the same time, many green technologies have been adopted including energy-consumption cloud platform, solar power generation system, clean energy equipment, evaporative cooling facilities, electric vehicles, energy-saving centralized water supply system, water circulation system, and rainwater collection systems, etc. By 2020, its renewable energy can cover about 60% of the electricity consumption in the area. At present, companies such as Amazon, JD.com, Suning.com, Jiuxian.com, Jabil Electronics, etc. have settled in the park with a occupancy rate of over 95%.



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