Old industrial site set for 'carbon zero' innovation park pilot project
A container truck displays the digital energy technologies of Huawei.
Shanghai's former iron and steel production center in north Baoshan will take a lead to develop "Carbon Zero" innovation parks, many renovated from its old industrial sites, to implement national strategies on carbon neutrality.
The Baoshan District government jointly launched the pilot project with China Baowu Steel Group, which owns most of the old plants and industrial parks in north Shanghai, and the nation's technological giant Huawei on Thursday at the Carbon Zero Shanghai Summit.
The carbon-neutrality parks, to feature green electricity, high-efficient power consumption, cloud and other smart technologies, will become an epitome of the future "carbon-zero city," according to the district government.
Carbon neutrality will become the key driver for Baoshan to become the main site of Shanghai's scientific innovation center transition from a traditional industrial zone, said Zhai Lei, deputy director of Baoshan.
The district has launched a batch of leading smart scenarios on energy saving to prepare for construction of the carbon zero parks.
A carbon-neutrality foundation totaling 50 billion yuan, the largest of its kind in China, has been launched by Baowu Group to help achieve the goal.
The model of a green data center displayed in the truck.
According to the blueprint released by Huawei, the carbon zero parks will integrate photovoltaics with buildings which will achieve carbon neutrality during construction. Smart solar energy systems will ensure the power supply even in bad weather and artificial intelligence will improve power consumption efficiency by 10 percent.
China has pledged to reduce domestic carbon-dioxide emissions in an international effort to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels – part of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
The country is striving to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Shanghai aims to reach peak carbon-dioxide emissions by 2025, five years earlier than the national target.
To achieve the goal, the city will create a highly efficient and clean-energy system. Energy from fossil fuels will be controlled and gradually replaced by renewable forms of energy, and a new electric power system based on green energy will be developed, according to the city government.
Efforts will be made to strictly control industrial pollution, with green manufacturing, construction and transportation promoted. New technologies will reduce pollution and carbon emissions, while preferential policies on finance, taxation, pricing and land will be optimized.
China's over 15,000 industrial parks, which account for over 60 percent of the nation's power consumption, will become key factors for the carbon neutrality target, an expert told the summit at the China Baowu Steel Conference and Convention Center, renovated from what was once the tallest iron-steel boiler in Shanghai.
The model of a telecommunication post powered by green energy.
