The curtain of carbon emission reduction has been opened, how should the steel industry develop?

"Green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains." There is no irreconcilable contradiction between industrial development and the ecological environment. At present, the global spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic has triggered a profound reflection on the relationship between man and nature. The global response to climate change requires greater action. China, which is turning to high-quality development, has once again stood up. China will increase its national independent contribution, adopt more powerful policies and measures, strive to reach the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and strive to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2060. , Reflects the actions and responsibilities of a responsible major country.

　　 Achieving a comprehensive green transformation is an inherent need. Compared with most countries that have made “carbon neutral” commitments, China’s economic growth is still on the rise and has not yet been completely decoupled from carbon emissions. From "carbon peak" to "net zero emission", the time for China to realize its "carbon neutral" vision is only about half that of developed countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. The intensity of this transformation can be said to be unprecedented, and China's determination to tackle climate change is evident. Just as President Xi Jinping said, the development method of killing chickens and harvesting eggs and fishing by exhaustion has come to an end. The green development that conforms to nature and protects the ecology shows the future.

　　 Our reporter Zhu Xiaobo

President Xi Jinping solemnly announced China’s "carbon peak" and "carbon neutral" mid- and long-term development goals and vision at the 75th UN General Assembly General Debate and Climate Ambition Summit-and strive to reach the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. Strive to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2060.

　　 On December 31, 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Iron and Steel Industry (Draft for Comment)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft for Comments"). The "Draft of Opinions" is a programmatic document for the development plan of the steel industry during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. It is worth noting that this document has reduced carbon emissions from the steel industry to an unprecedented level. The "Draft of Opinions" particularly emphasizes the promotion of the coupled development of industries, the construction of a cross-resource recycling system, and strive to be the first to achieve the peak of carbon emissions by 2025.

　　 my country’s steel industry accounts for about 15% of the country’s total carbon emissions, making it the manufacturing industry with the highest carbon emissions. In recent years, although the steel industry has made great efforts to save energy and reduce emissions, and the intensity of carbon emissions has been declining year by year, due to the large volume of the steel industry and the particularity of the process, the pressure on total carbon emissions control is still huge.

　　 The "14th Five-Year" curtain has been opened. In terms of understanding, how does the steel industry view the urgency of carbon emission reduction in the current industry? In terms of action, where is the focus of my country's steel industry carbon emission reduction work in the next five years? How to proceed? What the relevant experts said--

　　 He Jiankun How to understand the current situation of carbon emission reduction in my country?

　　 The Central Economic Work Conference held not long ago also put forward clear requirements for "carbon peak" and "carbon neutral" work. This has also clarified the goal, indicated the direction, and injected strong impetus for my country to tackle climate change and take the path of green and low-carbon development.

　　 It can be said that carbon emission reduction has risen to the height of the national strategy. How should the steel industry understand the current carbon emission reduction situation? He Jiankun, deputy director of the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change and head of the Academic Committee of the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development of Tsinghua University, pointed out that when attending the seminar "China's Steel Low-Carbon Development Goals and Paths", President Xi Jinping proposed that China should strive to To achieve the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and strive to achieve the goal of "carbon neutrality" by 2060. This is a strategic decision made by China to coordinate the current domestic and international situations. It has a very significant and far-reaching impact on China's economic transformation and sustainable development, as well as the process of global response to climate change.

　　New climate targets force the transformation of economic development mode

"For China, these two new climate goals will promote the transformation of China's economic development mode to green and low-carbon, and will also promote China's sustainable development after the epidemic, and play a leading role in the world." He Jiankun Pointed out.

Compared with the sudden public crisis of the new crown epidemic, climate change is a deeper, more far-reaching and more damaging ecological crisis facing mankind. The temperature rise is controlled not to exceed 2 degrees Celsius. Under such a goal, global cooperation is also The consensus of a better society and the direction of joint efforts are increasingly formed. For example, the EU proposed in the "Green New Deal" to increase the greenhouse gas emission reduction target in 2030 from the original 40% to 55%, and to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2050. U.S. President-elect Biden also stated that if the new government takes office, it will return to the Paris Agreement on the first day, and during his first term, he will spend $2 trillion in investment in four years to promote climate control. The implementation of changes will achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2050. Under such a situation, global efforts to achieve "carbon neutrality" and promote economic development have also become an important area of ​​competition and cooperation among major countries.

He Jiankun said that achieving the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 is a phased goal to achieve the long-term "carbon neutral" goal in 2060. China is still in the late stage of industrialization, and future economic development expectations are still relatively high. GDP growth expectations in 2035 It will be doubled from 2020, and it may reach 3.5 times of 2020 by 2050. Therefore, as the economy will grow faster, the demand for energy will increase slowly. After 2035, the total demand for energy will stabilize, and after reaching its peak, it will slowly decline.

He Jiankun pointed out that achieving the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 is an important turning point in the transformation of our economic development mode. The peak of carbon dioxide emissions means that the economy will continue to grow and energy consumption will increase, but carbon dioxide emissions will not Increase again. This has decoupled economic development from carbon dioxide emissions, which is an important sign of environmental quality improvement and an important node for achieving long-term carbon neutrality.

"After achieving the'carbon peak' before 2030, it will quickly turn into a downward trend. By 2035, carbon dioxide emissions should be significantly lower than the peak year. At this time, China has basically achieved national modernization, and carbon dioxide emissions have also entered a continuous Declining emission reduction track.” He Jiankun said: “Achieving a rapid decline in carbon dioxide emissions is also an important sign of a modern country. We must not only promote carbon dioxide emissions to peak as soon as possible, but also promote economic transformation, industrial upgrading and sustainable economic development. . Economic development will bring new increases in carbon dioxide emissions, which must be offset by reducing the efficiency of carbon dioxide per unit of GDP. To achieve the peak of carbon dioxide emissions, the intensity of carbon dioxide per unit of GDP will decrease annually more than the annual rate of GDP. Only with a growth rate can we achieve the peak of carbon dioxide emissions."

　　He Jiankun predicts that by 2030, my country’s annual GDP growth rate may be around 4.5% to 5%, so the annual rate of decline in the intensity of carbon dioxide per unit of GDP will also reach about 5%, which is greater than the current 4%. In order to ensure the achievement of the goal of reaching the peak of carbon dioxide by 2030, President Xi Jinping proposed at the Climate Ambition Summit that by 2030, my country’s carbon dioxide intensity per unit of GDP will be reduced by more than 65% compared to 2005. The original legal agreement promised 60%~65 %. The improvement of this target can ensure that the carbon dioxide intensity per unit of GDP during the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the "15th Five-Year Plan" period is reduced by about 20% every 5 years, and can ensure that the annual rate of decline in the carbon dioxide intensity of GDP during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period will meet or exceed GDP To achieve the peak of carbon dioxide emissions.

　　 It is imperative to vigorously improve the energy structure

He Jiankun emphasized that by supporting the realization of the new climate goals, vigorously improving the energy structure, vigorously developing new and renewable energy sources, and using the newly increased supply of new and renewable energy sources to meet the newly increased demand for total energy, can carbon dioxide emissions be achieved. Peak.

　　He Jiankun believes that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the expansion of high-energy-consuming industries should be strictly controlled, and the carbon dioxide emissions of high-energy-consuming industries should reach the peak, creating conditions for the national carbon dioxide emissions to reach the peak. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, it is necessary to strictly control coal consumption and try to achieve zero or even negative growth. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, we will strive to no longer increase after oil consumption reaches its peak, but the increased natural gas consumption makes carbon dioxide emissions have to be offset by reduced coal consumption, so as to achieve the peak of carbon dioxide emissions. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, coal consumption must show a continuous downward trend in order to ensure the achievement of the goal of peak carbon dioxide emissions.

　　He Jiankun specifically pointed out that carbon dioxide emission reduction in the energy system is the main low-carbon development direction. For example, the land storage technology of carbon dioxide can be developed in the power system. In the process of power generation by coal power stations, the carbon dioxide emitted from coal combustion is collected and buried underground to isolate the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without the greenhouse effect. For industrial processes, such as carbon dioxide emissions from steelmaking and the decomposition of calcium carbonate in cement production, which are relatively difficult to reduce emissions, in the future, they will use the negative emission technology of the energy system to offset the remaining emissions of some difficult to reduce emissions. At the same time, these companies that are difficult to reduce emissions must also develop revolutionary technologies to reduce emissions.

　　 Therefore, all kinds of emission reductions require great efforts. The carbon dioxide emissions of the energy system will strive to achieve “carbon neutrality” around 2050, and all greenhouse gases will strive to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2060. Under such a long-term goal, the short-term "carbon peak" and the long-term goal of "carbon neutrality" are organically combined to promote the development of various technological innovations and industrialization.

　　Forcing energy-intensive industries to transition to green and low-carbon

He Jiankun believes that all industries must advance the energy revolution and economic transformation. Under such circumstances, the competitive situation and business formats of enterprises will also undergo great changes. Many large enterprises have committed themselves to achieve the goal of “carbon neutrality”, leading to The entire life cycle, entire production chain, and procurement of an enterprise must meet the requirements of low-carbonization. The degree of low-carbonization and carbon content of products and raw materials will become the same important competitive factors as product prices, quality, and services. In addition, more and more financial industries have stated that they no longer invest in high-energy-consuming coal-fired industries, and some capacity expansions in high-energy-consuming industries are also at risk of stranding. It is worth noting that in the context of the rapid transformation of energy and technology, competition in advanced technology is also very fierce. Whoever has mastered the core technology in advanced technology will be competitive.

　　 In addition, some competitions between international rules and international standards are also changing. "For example, the European Union and the United States are planning to levy a carbon border adjustment tax. They believe that the emission reduction is relatively thorough, the carbon content is low, and the reduction of foreign products is not enough, and the carbon content is high. They protect domestic competitiveness and want Increasing tariffs on imported products is a restriction for developing countries. This restriction also puts forward new competition requirements for enterprises, which is to strive to build low-carbon core competitiveness." He Jiankun said.

　　He Jiankun introduced that carbon dioxide emissions in developed countries have reached a peak and have begun to enter a downward trend. However, China will have to stay at a high level for a period of time before it can decline rapidly after reaching its peak. Therefore, in the future, the speed of reducing carbon dioxide emissions must be accelerated. However, new energy and renewable energy are relatively mature, and the cost is relatively low. This also brings new opportunities for my country's leapfrog development and promotes the core competitiveness of advanced technologies.

"We must have confidence and a sense of urgency in dealing with climate change. We must start now, not only to sustainably develop ourselves, but also to make China's contribution and responsibility for the safety of the earth's ecology for all mankind." He Jiankun emphasized .More about:plastic mould steel Company