Excerpt
With the proposal of China's 2060 double carbon target, all walks of life have begun to pay attention to and implement carbon emission management work. As a pillar industry of the national economy, the automotive industry has generated a large amount of carbon emissions from the acquisition, production, use and scrap recycling of raw materials for complete vehicles and parts and components. Automobile companies actively explore the implementation mode and realization path of carbon neutrality, carry out energy conservation and emission reduction as soon as possible and achieve carbon neutrality, which is of great significance for achieving the national goal of carbon neutrality in 2060. Conduct research and analysis on carbon neutrality implementation entities, selected subject matter, implementation processes, quantitative methods, carbon reduction, carbon offsetting, carbon neutrality statements and carbon information disclosure in the automotive industry, with a view to guiding the implementation and identification of carbon neutrality at the product level in the automotive industry.
Subject headings:
Automobile enterprises; Carbon peaking; Carbon neutrality; Carbon Neutrality Statement; Implementation
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preface
Carbon neutrality refers to a country, region, enterprise, group or individual to measure the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions directly or indirectly generated in a certain period of time, through afforestation, energy conservation and emission reduction, carbon capture and storage, carbon credits and other forms, reduce and offset their own greenhouse gas emissions, to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions. The statement of carbon neutrality is not yet the legal responsibility of enterprises, but more of a spontaneous statement based on social responsibility. Carbon neutral claims need to adhere to strict norms and cannot be made arbitrarily.
The product and industrial chain of the automotive industry is long and covers a wide range, and the whole life cycle will bring carbon emissions due to the production of automobiles and the use of automobiles. Although the country has not clearly put forward the carbon neutrality time requirements for specific industries, regions, enterprises and products, the time node of carbon neutrality at the entire national level in 2060 has been given, and the automotive industry has taken the lead in energy conservation and emission reduction and achieving carbon neutrality, which can reflect the social responsibility of the pillar industries of the national economy. At present, international auto companies, including BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Bosch, Nissan and other automotive vehicle and parts companies, have successively made carbon neutrality commitment statements or realization statements. However, who is the main body of the carbon neutral declaration, what is the object of carbon neutrality, and how to implement, prove and declare carbon neutrality, these issues are still in a relatively vague stage in china's automotive industry, and there are still relatively few automobile companies that issue carbon neutral declarations. Companies that issue carbon neutrality commitment statements also have the mentality of taking a stand first and then thinking about a plan. Vague carbon neutrality statements and the lack of uniform standards make it difficult for the outside world to understand the specific strategies of most companies to achieve carbon neutrality goals, let alone assess their actual impact. It is imperative to clarify the implementation plan for carbon neutrality in the automotive industry as soon as possible.
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Carbon neutrality standards at home and abroad
The PAS 2060:2010 Carbon Neutrality Demonstration Code published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) is the first standard in the world to propose a carbon neutrality argument, and in 2014 a new version of the PAS2060:2014 Carbon Neutrality Demonstration Code was released[1]. The standard proposes the process of certifying carbon neutrality, the determination and verification of carbon emissions of the subject matter, the quantification of carbon footprint, the commitment to carbon neutrality, carbon reduction, carbon offsetting, carbon neutrality declaration and the maintenance of carbon neutrality. The Iso/TC 207/SC7 Environmental Management Sub-Committee Carbon Neutrality Working Group of the Iso/TC 207/SC7 Environmental Management Standards Committee has launched a study of the carbon neutral ISO 14068 standard, which is expected to be completed and published in 2023. The standard is still in the draft stage, and discussions have focused on the scope of the standard, the definition of core terms, emission reduction requirements, and carbon neutrality information exchange. In 2019, China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the Guidelines for the Implementation of Carbon Neutrality for Large-scale Events (for Trial Implementation)[2], which stipulates the basic requirements and principles for carbon neutrality of large-scale events, carbon neutrality processes, commitments and evaluations. In 2021, Beijing issued the local standard DB11/T 1861-2021 "Guidelines for the Implementation of Carbon Neutrality in Enterprises and Institutions"[3], which stipulates the implementation process, preparation stage, implementation stage, evaluation stage and declaration stage of enterprises and institutions in Beijing.
At present, the automotive industry has not yet issued carbon neutrality implementation guidelines, automotive companies are mostly in the wait-and-see stage for carbon neutrality, so it is of great significance to carry out carbon neutrality implementation guidelines as soon as possible to guide the automotive industry to carry out carbon footprint accounting, commitment statement, information disclosure, carbon reduction, carbon offsetting and carbon certification, and accelerate the process of carbon neutrality and development in the automotive industry.
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Carbon neutrality in the automotive industry implements subject and subject matter analysis
3.1 Carbon neutrality implementers
Carbon neutrality implementers are primarily independent entities seeking to achieve carbon neutrality, including states, communities, organizations, companies, divisions, sectors, households and individuals. The main body of carbon neutrality implementation in the automotive industry mainly includes automotive vehicle enterprises, parts and components enterprises and recycling entity enterprises. If the goal of carbon neutrality needs to be decomposed within the enterprise, the main body can also be decomposed into entities with independent operating forms such as departments, branches, subsidiaries, and some sites within the automobile enterprise. Entities should use the equity proportionality or control method to define which greenhouse gas emissions should be accounted for.
3.2 Carbon neutral subject matter
Carbon neutrality targets mainly include things selected and defined by the entity to be analyzed and quantified, reduced and offset. It mainly includes: activities, products, services, construction, projects and major development projects, towns, events, etc. [1]. For the automotive industry, carbon-neutral subject matter can include the automotive company itself, its branches, sub-brands, departments, constructions and other subordinate parts of the automotive company. It can also include the products of automobile enterprises, such as automotive vehicle products, parts products, reusable parts products, remanufactured products, cascade utilization products, and recycling products. At the same time, if the automobile enterprise also provides related services, such as automobile research and development services, automobile logistics services, automobile maintenance services, car rental services, automobile financial services, etc., these services can also be used as the subject matter of the implementation of carbon neutrality in the automotive industry. If the automotive industry organizes large-scale events, such as large-scale auto conferences, exhibitions, and events, these large-scale events can also be used as a target for carbon neutrality in the automotive industry. After the target is determined, in the whole process of carbon neutrality implementation, it should be ensured that the subject matter and the carbon accounting methodology used are not changed.
The carbon neutrality work of the automotive industry is a collection of activities such as monitoring, quantitative accounting, reporting, verification and emission reduction, offsetting and declaration of the carbon emissions of the subject matter by various types of automobile main enterprises, after selecting the carbon neutral subjects.
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Carbon neutrality implementation processes for automotive companies
For automotive companies, in order to achieve carbon neutrality of the subject matter of enterprises, products, services, etc., they should comply with the relevant rules of the carbon neutrality standard, select the subject matter, calculate the carbon footprint, formulate a management plan, issue a commitment statement, reduce the carbon footprint, re-quantify the remaining carbon footprint, implement carbon offsetting, and issue a carbon neutrality realization statement. In general, the basic process for implementing carbon neutral declarations in the automotive industry is shown in Figure 1 below.
Since it is more difficult to achieve carbon neutrality simply by reducing direct carbon emissions, it is necessary to achieve carbon neutrality through carbon offsetting, but carbon neutrality cannot be achieved solely by carbon offsetting, and action to reduce carbon emissions of the subject matter is essential. Under normal circumstances, the first application cycle is to carry out the quantification of the carbon footprint of the subject matter, the second application cycle initially issued a carbon neutrality commitment statement, and the development of an emission reduction plan to implement carbon emission reduction, and the second application cycle at the end of the offsetting carbon emissions, and the carbon neutrality realization statement was issued.
Considering that companies wish to issue a carbon neutrality realization statement at the end of the first application cycle (base period), automotive companies may be allowed to achieve carbon neutrality at the end of the first application cycle (base period), based on any emission reductions from that period plus allowable historical emission reductions, or to achieve carbon neutrality entirely through 100% carbon offsetting. In addition, all subsequent application cycles cannot achieve carbon neutrality only through carbon offsetting, and the absolute value of the target carbon emission or the reduction of carbon emission intensity must be clearly defined.
Automotive companies implement carbon neutrality and can be implemented on a continuous rolling basis. The first application cycle achieves carbon neutrality, and at the same time, the next application cycle commitment can be carried out, the next application cycle can continue to reduce emissions and implement carbon offsetting, and the realization statement of carbon neutrality in the next application cycle can be implemented continuously on a rolling basis, as shown in Figure 2.
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Quantitative accounting method for carbon emissions of subject matter of automobile enterprises
Carbon emission absolute value or carbon emission intensity decline, carbon peak, carbon neutrality is a solemn commitment in China, the bottom line of commitment comes from the support of real and effective carbon emission data, without unified and standardized carbon accounting data, it is impossible to scientifically complete the assessment of carbon emission reduction, carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out scientific quantitative accounting of the carbon emissions of selected subject matter in the automotive industry based on recognized methodologies, and ensure that the accounting methods, accounting scope and accounting boundaries of the same type of products remain uniform.
According to the different subject matter, automobile companies need to use different accounting methods to quantify the carbon emissions of the subject matter. Different subject matter, different carbon emission sources, different accounting boundaries, different accounting results are used differently, carbon emission reduction plans and carbon emission reduction technology solutions are not the same. The methodologies used to quantify the accounting of greenhouse gas emissions should be implemented in accordance with certain priorities, with the methodological order defined in PAS 2060 being "industry standards or trade methods recognized by internationally recognized standards (ISO) internationally recognized standards (e.g. regional or national standards)", while the carbon accounting methodology priorities set out in DB11/T1186-2021 are" Beijing Carbon Dioxide Accounting and Reporting RequirementsThe relevant greenhouse gas accounting methods and reporting guidelines for industry enterprises issued by the relevant standardsthe country are internationally recognized or commonly recognized or commonly used relevant greenhouse gas quantification standards". Specific auto companies should first or specify which set of methodologies to use to quantify the carbon footprint of the subject matter, and see if there are certain regulations related to the carbon accounting of the subject matter of the automobile enterprise.
For the quantitative accounting of carbon emissions at the organizational level of automobile enterprises, it is necessary to formulate carbon emission accounting standards for automobile enterprises, and the relevant standards are currently in the process of being formulated and have not yet been released. Therefore, the quantitative accounting method of carbon emissions at the organizational level of automobile enterprises in the current stage can refer to ISO 14064-1, GHG protocol enterprise accounting standards, GB/T 32150 and other standards to carry out the accounting of carbon emissions at the organizational level of enterprises [5,6,7]. Quantitative accounting of carbon emissions at the automotive product level requires the formulation of quantitative carbon footprint accounting standards for automotive vehicle products and parts products, and at present, relevant organizations have not yet issued relevant standards, which can be accounted for with reference to ISO 14067, GHG protocol product life cycle accounting standards, and PAS 2050 product life cycle carbon footprint standards [8,9,10]. Quantitative accounting of carbon emissions at the level of automobile projects can be carried out with reference to the currently issued iso 14064-2, GHG protocol project accounting standards, GB/T 33760 [11, 12, 13] and other standards. At the same time, it is also possible to use existing certified voluntary emission reduction accounting methodologies or to develop new emission reduction projects to develop new emission reduction methodologies to account for project-level emission reductions for carbon offsetting. The quantitative carbon emission accounting of carbon neutrality for large-scale activities carried out by automobile enterprises can refer to the "Guidelines for the Implementation of Carbon Neutrality for Large-scale Activities (Trial)" issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2019 [2].
Different subject matter of automobile enterprises use different carbon emission quantitative accounting methods, and the scope of carbon emissions accounted for is also different. For automotive vehicle products, the main accounting boundaries include the acquisition stage of automotive raw materials, the manufacturing stage of parts, the assembly stage of the whole vehicle, the sales and use stage and the stage of scrap recycling. Through the accounting of the carbon footprint of the whole life cycle, it is mainly used for the comparison of technical advantages and disadvantages between similar products, or the environmental advantages and disadvantages of vehicle products between different enterprises and enterprises in different countries, and based on this, a low-carbon procurement mechanism is established to encourage more low-carbon products to have a better consumer market. Automobile companies can also calculate part of the life cycle carbon footprint, decompose the life cycle carbon footprint into phased indicators, and implement key emission reduction measures for the high carbon emission stage. For auto parts products, the carbon footprint of the "cradle-gate", "gate-gate" or "cradle-grave" range can be calculated according to the "B-B" and "B-C" type differences, so that the carbon footprint of the product can be clearly understood when the buyer chooses or the consumer uses it. At the enterprise level, the main accounting for the scope 1 direct carbon emissions and the scope 2 purchased electricity heat carbon emissions in the base year (Table 1) are used for carbon emission trading and other purposes. Automotive services and automotive large-scale events, mainly around the direct and indirect emissions of the whole process of services and activities, are mainly used to reduce the carbon footprint of a single action. The main carbon emission accounting methodology of different subject matter of automobile enterprises is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Accounting scope of carbon emissions of different subject matter of automobile enterprises
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Carbon reduction and carbon offsetting of automobile companies
6.1 Carbon Emission Reduction
Automobile companies need to combine their own actual conditions, first of all, they should adopt appropriate greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies and ensure that the emission reduction targets determined in the plan are achieved. The automotive industry should avoid carbon neutrality by spending money entirely on it, so greenhouse gas emission reductions are a necessary condition for achieving carbon neutrality. Entities in the automotive industry should therefore implement carbon footprint management plans and quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of emission reductions. Different subject matter, the scope of carbon emissions accounted for is different, and the way to reduce emissions is different. For carbon reduction at the level of automobile enterprises, the focus can be on the use of renewable energy, production energy efficiency improvement, and the capture and storage of direct carbon emissions to reduce carbon emissions at the organizational level. For the reduction of the carbon footprint of auto parts and vehicle products, the carbon emissions of the production stage of the enterprise can be reduced through the production body of the whole industry chain, the use of clean energy, the use of low-carbon materials, the production of recycled materials, the increase of material recycling, the improvement of the energy efficiency of the whole vehicle, the use of substitute low-carbon fuels, renewable electricity and carbon neutral fuels. For project emission reductions and large-scale activities in the automotive industry, the carbon emissions of various carbon emission sources can also be reduced according to the carbon emission sources within the scope of accounting, and the carbon emissions of various carbon emission sources can be reduced according to the targeted use of renewable clean energy, waste avoidance, and recycling.
Automotive enterprises should formulate carbon emission reduction plan plans, including but not limited to the technical scheme and quantity of energy-saving measures, the time and scope of implementation, the funds and sources required, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the improvement of renewable energy substitution rates and emission reduction strategies for carbon-containing raw material substitution, such as the types and quantities of renewable energy and alternative raw materials, the time and scope of substitution, the funds and sources required, and the amount of carbon emissions to achieve reductions.
6.2 Carbon offsetting
Auto companies can use carbon allowance offsets in local or national carbon emission trading markets to offset the remaining carbon emissions at the organizational level that exceed their own quotas. Remaining carbon emissions can also be offset by carbon credit offsetting, and the items involved in the offset should meet the criteria for additionality, permanence, leakage and double counting. Carbon emissions at the level of automotive products, automotive services, automotive projects, and automotive activities can be offset by carbon credits. Carbon credits can be based on the purchase of certified voluntary emission reductions (CCER) generated by national voluntary emission reduction projects, preferential selection of forestry carbon sink projects and carbon emission voluntary emission reduction projects, and purchase of carbon inclusion project emission reductions approved, filed or approved by the government。 At the same time, enterprises can also use the offsetting method of independent development projects to offset the certified emission reductions generated by independent development and emission reduction projects outside the boundary of their own subject matter accounting, or independently build certified carbon sinks outside the boundary of subject matter accounting to offset them. After the completion of the carbon offset, the documents confirming the carbon offset should be recorded, including the type of carbon offset, the amount of offset, the type of offset and the project involved, the number and type of carbon credit used, the time period during which the credit was generated and the description of the withdrawal, etc.
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Carbon neutrality statements and information disclosures of automotive companies
7.1 Carbon Neutrality Statement
There are 33 main ways to declare carbon neutrality: "Carbon Neutrality Commitment Statement", "Carbon Neutrality Realization Statement" and "Carbon Neutrality Realization and Commitment Unified Declaration". Carbon neutral declarations need to be validated, and the verification methods of carbon neutral declarations mainly include independent third-party certification, verification by other institutions and self-verification. Different verification methods and the description of the content of the carbon neutrality statement are also different.
The "Carbon Neutrality Commitment Statement" is a commitment to the time of future carbon neutrality that has not yet achieved carbon neutrality. At this stage, the declarant body of the automotive industry is required to determine the carbon neutral subject and formulate a carbon footprint management plan for the subject matter, describing how to achieve carbon neutrality with respect to the subject matter. The Carbon Neutrality Realization Statement requires entities to reduce the carbon footprint of the selected subject matter and offset the remaining carbon emissions, guaranteeing that carbon neutrality has been achieved. The Carbon Neutrality Realization Statement applies only to the scope and cycle of the audit, and further validation is required if it needs to be extended to future cycles. The "Carbon NeutralIty Realization, Commitment Uniform Statement" is suitable for vehicle entities that want to declare both the achievement of carbon neutrality and the future carbon neutrality commitment. The description of different types of declarations in different verification methods in the automotive industry can be found in Table 2 below.
Table 2 Carbon neutrality declaration and verification methods of automobile enterprises
7.2 Disclosure of Carbon Neutrality Information
Carbon information disclosure refers to the disclosure of carbon emissions generated by enterprises in the process of production and operation, so as to provide investors with a kind of information disclosure of corporate environmental protection information. After the approved carbon neutral statement, enterprises can carry out carbon neutral information disclosure on this basis, and publicize and promote consumers on websites, social responsibility reports, environmental development reports, media, promotional materials, and product labels. At present, most of the carbon neutral actions carried out by domestic enterprises are process control and tracking management at their own enterprise and product level, and the willingness of enterprises to disclose carbon information is not strong, and the supervision of the public is weak. The non-disclosure of carbon emissions information has become an important factor restricting carbon neutrality and development. The main content of corporate carbon emission information disclosure is carbon emission data, and if these data are provided by enterprises themselves based on self-verification, there will be problems of low credibility, and they may also be questioned by the media and the public. Therefore, for carbon neutral information disclosure, it is recommended to disclose information through independent third-party verification or review by other agencies.
Automobile companies carry out carbon emission information disclosure, which roughly includes carbon information disclosure at the organizational level and carbon information disclosure at the product level according to the different objects of disclosure. For the disclosure of carbon information at the organizational level of automobile enterprises, the carbon emission management system, carbon emission quantity information, emission reduction technical measures, carbon offsetting measures, carbon neutrality commitment statement, and carbon neutrality realization statement can be disclosed through the social responsibility report, environmental development report, environmental information disclosure report, and sustainable development report carrier issued by the enterprise. For the carbon information disclosure of automotive vehicles or parts products, it can be reflected by the carbon footprint label pasted on the product, and the vehicle products, parts products, reused products, remanufactured products, cascade utilization products and recycled products are objectively marked on the product life cycle carbon footprint or partial life cycle carbon footprint on the product or external packaging, and the carbon grade label or low carbon product label is marked on the product according to the carbon footprint grade level and low carbon product evaluation requirements. Through the disclosure of carbon emission information at the enterprise level and the carbon footprint labeling at the product level, consumers, customers and government departments can easily identify and tend to choose the effect of enterprises and products in carbon emission management, and also provide data support for the subsequent formulation of corporate carbon emission limits, product carbon footprint limits, low-carbon enterprise evaluations, and low-carbon product evaluations.
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Conclusion
Under the pressure of China's 2060 carbon neutrality target, all walks of life have taken action to achieve carbon neutrality as early as possible within their capabilities, without delay, which is crucial to achieving carbon neutrality at the national level. To achieve carbon neutrality, the most important thing is to clarify the implementation of various types of carbon neutrality, determine the emission reduction responsibilities of various types of entities, define the carbon neutrality targets of various types of subjects, form a world mutual recognition, industry unified accounting and verification methodology, systematic accounting, statistics of carbon emission data of various types of subject matter, the development of various types of carbon emission reduction technologies and carbon trading, carbon credit economic means, and promote the realization of carbon neutrality in all walks of life from micro to macro, only if each micro individual strives to achieve carbon neutrality, the goal of achieving carbon neutrality from the national level will be closer.
There are many types of enterprises in the automotive industry, including passenger cars, commercial vehicle enterprises, as well as power battery, engine, transmission and parts enterprises, as well as scrap recycling and dismantling, cascade utilization and recycling enterprises. The company's products are diverse and layered, so the main body and subject matter of the automotive industry to implement carbon neutrality are also very diverse. However, at present, the automotive industry has not yet formed a broad consensus on carbon emission accounting and control, and lacks a unified carbon accounting standard methodology and carbon verification and certification system, resulting in no sufficient carbon emission data base, and it is difficult to provide necessary data support for subsequent low-carbon development and carbon neutrality. Through the continuous and in-depth study of the carbon neutrality implementation guidelines, automobile enterprises continue to explore, implement, repair and improve all aspects of carbon emission management system, carbon emission accounting, carbon data accumulation, carbon emission reduction, carbon verification, carbon offsetting, carbon certification, carbon neutrality statement, carbon information disclosure, etc., in order to promote the early realization of carbon neutrality by Chinese automobile enterprises, automotive products and relevant entities in the upstream and downstream industry chain.
Source: Automotive Materials Network