Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "National Carbon Peaking Pilot Project Plan." This plan aims to implement carbon peaking pilot projects in 15 provinces and regions, with a focus on addressing the bottlenecks hindering green and low-carbon development. It aims to provide practical, replicable, and scalable experiences to support the nationwide efforts to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.
The "National Carbon Peak Pilot Program" (hereinafter referred to as the "Program") outlines four key principles: "perseverance in a proactive yet prudent approach, adaptability to local conditions, commitment to reform and innovation, and prioritizing carbon reduction with safety." The program aims to make significant progress by 2025 in achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality in pilot cities and zones, establishing fundamental policy mechanisms conducive to green and low-carbon development, creating a set of innovative and replicable measures, and forming initial experiences in reform. Furthermore, it aims to clarify the carbon peak pathways for cities and zones with varying resource endowments, development foundations, and industrial structures. The pilot projects are gradually taking on a leading role in demonstrating and guiding national efforts towards carbon peak and carbon neutrality. By 2023, substantial progress is expected in achieving a comprehensive green transformation of the economy and society in pilot cities and zones.
The pilot initiative will focus on tasks related to green and low-carbon energy transformation, industry optimization and upgrading, enhancing energy efficiency and carbon reduction, and promoting clean and low-carbon transformation in sectors such as industry, construction, and transportation.
The main tasks of the Program's implementation guidelines include but are not limited to:
Major Tasks in Pilot Cities
1. Promote Green and Low-Carbon Energy Transformation
Considering the local energy resources, determine a rational path for green and low-carbon energy transformation while ensuring a secure energy supply.
2. Improve Energy Resource Utilization Efficiency
Prioritize energy conservation and enhance energy resource utilization efficiency at all stages, including energy development, storage, processing, conversion, distribution, and end-use.
3. Drive Carbon Peaking in Key Industries
Cities with a heavy industrial structure and resource-based economies should optimize their industrial structure, focus on improving the energy efficiency of key industries, and encourage companies to undertake energy-saving and carbon-reduction initiatives such as clean energy adoption, electrification, industrial process reengineering, and carbon capture and utilization. Cities with a more favorable industrial structure should accelerate the transformation of their key industries toward higher-end, smarter, and greener solutions, while vigorously developing strategic emerging industries to gain a new competitive edge during their journey towards carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Promote the establishment of a green energy consumption monitoring and evaluation system for key industry enterprises, guiding them to increase their usage of green energy.
4. Accelerate Low-Carbon Transformation in Urban and Rural Development
Promote green and low-carbon urban and rural planning and design principles, raise energy-saving standards for new constructions, advance energy efficiency upgrades in existing buildings, and promote green and low-carbon building materials and construction methods.
5. Facilitate Green and Low-Carbon Transportation Development
Accelerate the transition of transportation vehicles to low-carbon options, heavily promote new energy vehicles, drive the electrification of public sector vehicles, and phase out old and inefficient transport vehicles.
Major Tasks in Pilot Zones
1. Improve the Clean Utilization Efficiency of Energy Resources
Conduct energy-saving assessments in the pilot zones, analyze the energy utilization status comprehensively, exploit the potential for energy savings, promote energy-saving and carbon-reduction transformations, and disseminate high-efficiency energy-saving equipment.
2. Foster High-Quality Industrial Development in the Pilot Zones
Focus on the leading industries in the pilot zones, expedite the extension, supplementation, and strengthening of industrial chains, and create synergies within the industry. Guided by energy-saving and carbon-reduction, advance green and low-carbon transformations and upgrades in existing industries in the pilot zones, and promote the green and low-carbon remaking of key enterprises' processes. Enhance the level of green manufacturing in the pilot zones, promote deep integration of next-generation information technology and manufacturing, and vigorously develop green and low-carbon industries.
3. Enhance the Green and Low-Carbon Level of Infrastructure
Enhance the energy-efficient and low-carbon levels of infrastructure in the pilot zones, prioritize green design, green materials, and green construction methods in new infrastructure projects. Improve environmental infrastructure facilities such as sewage treatment, waste incineration, and hazardous waste disposal. Strengthen the construction of intelligent monitoring and management facilities for energy and carbon emissions in the pilot zones, utilizing next-generation information technology to enhance green and low-carbon management.
4. Promote Resource Recycling
Conduct material flow analysis in the pilot zones, accelerate resource output and recycling rates, optimize spatial layouts, explore industrial synergies, and implement comprehensive recycling of materials, comprehensive waste utilization, cascading use of energy, and water resource regeneration to advance industrial resource utilization and efficiency.
5. Enhance Collaborative Capabilities for Pollution Reduction and Carbon Emission Reduction
Analyze types of pollutant emissions in the pilot zones, explore collaborative control and improvement of atmospheric pollutants and carbon emissions. Support comprehensive application of pollution control and energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies in the pilot zones to drive collaborative benefits for pollution reduction, energy saving, and carbon reduction. Utilize methods like clean production audits and third-party environmental pollution control to synergistically improve energy-saving, carbon reduction, and pollution reduction levels.
original link: https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xwdt/tzgg/202311/P020231106568603205423.pdf