On June 5, 2023 World Environment Day, the fourth session of the China Energy Model Forum (CEMF) series will focus on "multi-level pollution reduction and carbon reduction, exploring the path of collaborative innovation". The following is the view shared by Professor Teng Fei, deputy director of the Institute of Energy and Environmental Economics of Tsinghua University.
What is the impact of carbon reduction on the whole process of energy sector?
The following is the sharing from Associate Director Teng Fei at the Energy and Environmental Economics Research Institute of Tsinghua University:
In the past year, controlling environmental pollutants and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide has become an important task in China. These emissions primarily originate from energy-related activities such as fossil fuel production, industrial processes, and transportation. They exhibit a high degree of homogeneity and spatiotemporal consistency and have synergistic relationships from the perspective of emission control.
Observations show that since the proposal of the coordinated approach for reducing pollution and carbon emissions, China has made significant progress in the development of clean energy. In particular, the proportion of non-fossil energy and natural gas in energy consumption has reached nearly 26%. In the power sector, non-fossil energy accounts for nearly 50% of the total installed capacity, and in the first quarter of this year, the proportion exceeded 50%. Non-fossil energy generation has reached nearly one-third of the total electricity generation. In terms of incremental capacity, non-fossil energy accounts for about 80% of the country's total newly added capacity, and in the first quarter of this year, this proportion was close to 90%.
In the industrial sector, the energy consumption per unit of high-energy-consuming products is still decreasing, making significant contributions to reducing pollution and carbon emissions. The transportation sector is also a prominent area, with electric vehicles accounting for 20% of the passenger car market. When including other new energy vehicle types, this proportion reaches close to 26%.
What may be the biggest difficulty in promoting synergies in reducing pollution and carbon? What are the key issues that need the most breakthrough?
Teng Fei expressed concerns about the potential challenges of negative synergy or even conflicting policies in promoting coordinated and efficient reduction of pollution and carbon emissions. He emphasized the need for more systematic coordination in the future, beyond just the effectiveness of individual policies. In the past, policies often operated independently, resulting in limited synergy. For example, addressing the use of coal for heating can reduce pollutant emissions but may increase carbon dioxide emissions. Similar conflicts may arise in other areas, such as the electrification of transportation leading to increased electricity demand. If the incremental non-fossil energy capacity fails to keep up with the increasing electricity consumption, additional coal-fired power capacity may be required to compensate. To address these issues, it is necessary to strengthen the coordination of goal setting, policy design, route planning, and assessment throughout the entire process of pollution reduction and carbon emissions, in order to achieve progress in both objectives. Continuing with fragmented approaches will limit the achievement of future environmental and greenhouse gas reduction targets.
What are the challenges of carbon reduction in the context of economic recovery and the new international situation?
Teng Fei highlighted that the challenges of pollution reduction and carbon emissions reduction under the circumstances of economic recovery and the evolving international landscape include considerations of safety and development. Safety objectives encompass energy security, food security, industrial chains, supply chains, and financial security, among others. Pollution reduction and carbon emissions reduction can contribute to these safety objectives. The timeframe is also crucial, as China, compared to developed countries, needs to undergo rapid transformation within a short period. However, such fast-paced transformation can bring about additional issues. Therefore, it is important to fairly consider the affected industries, enterprises, and regions. Just and equitable transition is a critical issue that needs to be addressed.
What is the path to synergistic efficiency in reducing pollution and carbon?
Teng Fei proposes three considerations for the pathway of coordinated and efficient pollution reduction and carbon emissions reduction.
Firstly, from an energy perspective, it is necessary to transform the multi-objective problem into a single-objective problem and design the pathway of pollution reduction and carbon emissions reduction through cost-benefit analysis.
Secondly, in the past, pollution reduction mainly relied on end-of-pipe treatments. However, in the future, it is important to integrate upstream energy conservation, energy transformation, and stricter end-of-pipe treatments. This requires strengthening the electrification and low-carbonization of end-use sectors, adopting alternative fuels to reduce emissions, and simultaneously reducing end-use demand through behavior change and material efficiency improvement. These measures aim to achieve the goal of energy transformation.
Thirdly, in addition to focusing on carbon dioxide, future carbon neutrality targets should include other greenhouse gases such as methane. Reducing emissions of these greenhouse gases can not only contribute to the coordinated objectives but also buy more time and space for achieving carbon dioxide reduction and energy transformation.
By considering these factors, a comprehensive and integrated pathway for coordinated and efficient pollution reduction and carbon emissions reduction can be established
