Abstract: With the goal of "zero carbon", the technology, equipment, value chain and related ecological foundation of each industry will experience a "green industrial revolution".
This year, a lot of things have happened around the world, such as the Russo-Ukrainian war, the European energy crisis, trade frictions, geopolitical disputes, soaring commodity prices, and repeated epidemics, which have made many countries doubt the global carbon neutrality action and net zero goal, and the green recovery and green reconstruction plans of many countries have been hit hard.
However, looking back at China, "green reconstruction" has not only made important progress, but also become an important engine for China's economic recovery. The new zero-carbon industrial system is accelerating its penetration into more sectors of the economy.
In the first half of the year, the new energy sector of the capital market broke through the momentum and reached new highs, and two new energy companies with a market value of ningde times and BYD appeared.
In the first half of the year, China's production of new energy vehicles has accounted for 59% of the world, ranking first in the world. The installed capacity of wind power and photovoltaics is also the world's leading. Hydrogen and energy storage are booming.
The thick industrial base and complete industrial chain, coupled with the innovative spirit of Chinese enterprises, make China's green industry occupy the opportunity and become a powerful force for green reconstruction.
There are too many signs that China is embarking on a "green industrial revolution."
Zhang Lei, CEO of Envision Technology Group, called this green industrial revolution the fourth industrial revolution. He also believes that unlike the previous industrial revolution, which is centered on efficiency, the green industrial revolution is the unified realization of production efficiency and sustainable development. Renewable energy technology, digital intelligence, and biosynthesis technology, as the three key productive forces, are promoting the green industrial revolution in mutual integration. The zero-carbon industrial park will become the cradle, platform and cornerstone of the green industrial revolution.
At the 2022 Ordos Zero Carbon Industry Summit held on August 9, Zhang Lei put forward the above views in his keynote speech.
The theme of the summit is "New Energy, New Industry, New Ecology". Wang Lixia, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Chairman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Chang Qide, United Nations Coordinator in China, Luo Liang, Ambassador of France to China, Lord Adel Turner, Chairman of the Energy Transition Committee, Shen Nanpeng, Global Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital, Founding and Managing Partner of Sequoia China, Li Zhenguo, President of LONGi Green Energy, delivered speeches or speeches for the summit.
It is worth noting that in addition to Zhang Lei, Shen Nanpeng and Chang Qide, the United Nations Coordinator in China, have all expressed their views on the topic of "green industrial revolution".
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Zhang Lei: The green industrial revolution is the unity of production efficiency and sustainable development
Pictured: Zhang Lei, CEO of Envision Technology Group, at the 2022 Ordos Zero Carbon Industry Summit
The theme of Zhang Lei's speech was "Opening the Green Industrial Revolution".
Zhang Lei believes that whether it is coal in the first industrial revolution or oil in the second industrial revolution, different forms of energy use have brought unprecedented changes to human society. The main force of the third industrial revolution is information technology, which is a tool found by humans outside of energy to greatly improve production efficiency.
By the fourth industrial revolution, renewable energy is becoming a more competitive, green and sustainable form of energy after coal and oil.
Zhang Lei further pointed out that this green industrial revolution is not limited to the energy field, under the fourth industrial revolution, wind power, photovoltaics, energy storage, power batteries, electric vehicles and other fields will build a grand integration and convergence system. Only by empowering the new industrial system and combining it with information and Internet of Things technologies in the third industrial revolution, especially artificial intelligence technology, can this system make renewable energy systems greener, more efficient and stable, and effectively promote the development of the green industrial revolution.
Zhang Lei believes that unlike the previous three industrial revolutions, the fourth industrial revolution is a green industrial revolution, in addition to production efficiency, it is also necessary to consider the sustainable development of human beings and the earth. The most critical element of the first three industrial revolutions was production efficiency, behind which was rapid and disorderly expansion, and the final result was that the sustainable development of human beings and nature faced unprecedented challenges. Including the rise in the earth's temperature, sea level rise, and the loss of biodiversity, this prompts us to rethink how we can more efficiently put humanity on a path to sustainable development. Therefore, the fourth industrial revolution must be a fusion of production efficiency and sustainable development.
Finally, Zhang Lei pointed out that the green industrial revolution does not happen randomly and at a single point, it must need a cradle, platform and cornerstone to bring these elements together. The zero-carbon industrial park is such a cradle, platform and cornerstone, which effectively integrates the three key productive forces of renewable energy technology, digital intelligence and biosynthesis technology, and becomes the forerunner and explorer of the green industrial revolution.
In the future, the mission of Envision is to make the zero-carbon industrial park, China's original products and original standards, go global, and can become an important promoter of the green industrial revolution with more partners. By 2030, Envision will work with partners to build 100 zero-carbon industrial parks to reduce carbon emissions by 1 billion tons per year worldwide.
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Shen Nanpeng: Zero carbon future to reconstruct the industrial system
Shen Nanpeng delivered a speech via video at the "Ordos Global Zero Carbon Industry Peak". He believes that with the development of new energy as the driving force and "zero carbon" as the goal, the technology, equipment, value chain, and related ecological foundation of each industry will go through a "green industrial revolution", so as to achieve a new industry and new ecology that adapts to the "zero carbon" future, and then compare it with our current industrial and ecological status quo, we will find that the goal of "zero carbon" is not out of reach, but concrete and arduous, step by step, with a clear direction of progress and realization logic.
Shen Nanpeng took the energy industry as an example to illustrate that the future power production system will definitely be a green, safe and intelligent new energy system with renewable energy as the main body. Ordos is a very representative city, through the drastic transformation of traditional energy and new energy development, Ordos has successfully transformed from China's "coal capital" to "zero carbon new city", which has a guiding significance for the development of global urban new energy systems.
Shen Nanpeng believes that compared with the status quo of the entire energy industry, on the one hand, it is necessary to further enhance the economy of new energy power generation and energy storage systems, and strive to break through various new technologies such as perovskites and low-cost energy storage to reduce costs and increase efficiency, on the other hand, it is also necessary to vigorously improve the intelligent and clean level of traditional energy through new technologies such as clean coal and thermal power flexibility.
Coinciding with Zhang Lei's view, Shen Nanpeng also believes that this green industrial revolution needs to be combined with the achievements of the third industrial revolution. We inevitably need a smart energy system based on comprehensive data, interconnection of all things and artificial intelligence, so that different energy production methods can exert optimal efficiency, and realize the entire energy industry on it.
Shen Nanpeng also believes that in other industries, the future of "zero carbon" will also profoundly guide the direction of industrial and ecological change. For example, the traditional petroleum-based materials are replaced by bio-based materials, the traditional chemical process is replaced by biosynthesis, if we simply observe the current technical economy, we may question why we are willing to go far, and if we stand in the perspective of the "zero carbon" future, we will find that they may only be a corner of the new industrial ecology, in the future industrial system, these "zero carbon" technologies may be the driving force behind the entire industry, and the green value they produce may be realized in other aspects of the industry.
The optimism about the future of "zero carbon" has very obviously affected the investment practice of red shirts. In the past year, new energy and carbon neutral fields have become the most important investment direction of Sequoia China, and Red shirts have carried out the layout of the whole industry chain for many of these tracks.
Shen Nanpeng also specifically mentioned the innovative zero-carbon industrial park built by Envision Technology Group and the Ordos government. He believes that the zero-carbon industrial park model, using the advantages of local renewable energy enrichment, moves the industry into the park, helps the power and energy storage batteries, battery materials, electric heavy trucks and other enterprises in the park to meet the low-cost, low-emission energy demand, effectively solves the time and space mismatch between renewable energy production and consumption, and provides a new idea for the decarbonization of the industrial field for domestic renewable energy-rich areas.
Shen Nanpeng said that based on the industrial ecological advantages created by the zero-carbon industrial park, in the future, Sequoia will also actively recommend some carbon-neutral science and technology enterprises to land in Ordos, strengthen the power of new industrial agglomeration, and support the development of the local zero-carbon industry.
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Chang Kai Tak: The zero-carbon industrial park is a model for green transformation
Photo: UnCom Coordinator in China Chang Kai Tak at the 2022 Ordos Zero Carbon Industry Summit
In his speech, Chang Qide, the United Nations Coordinator in China, proposed that dependence on fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change, and the key to solving the global climate crisis is to end our dependence on fossil fuels while accelerating the shift to renewable energy.
Chang believes that China continues to play a constructive role in deploying and investing in renewable energy. China is the world's largest producer of wind and solar energy, as well as the largest investor in renewable energy at home and abroad, and leads the way in renewable energy production.
However, Chang pointed out that although China has made many achievements, there is still a lot of work to be done. China's economic growth remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels. In 2021, coal will still account for 56% of China's total energy consumption. We also need to explore in greater detail how to reallocate financing resources to promote a low-carbon transition.
Chang Kai Tak revealed that this year, the UN Global Compact will launch the "Climate Action Accelerator" program in China to help Chinese enterprises access global best practices, peer learning opportunities, capacity building courses and on-demand training.
It is worth noting that Chang Qide is also very optimistic about China's zero-carbon industrial park model, believing that the Ordos zero-carbon industrial park is a typical example of public-private cooperation in the development of green transformation, which is jointly initiated by the Ordos municipal government and Envision Technology Group, which is a member of the United Nations Global Compact.
Chang Kai Tak concluded by pointing out that innovation, technology, private capital and social responsibility, combined with strong political will and a favorable policy environment, allowed him to see the great potential of a new round of "green industrial revolution".
Source: Global Zero Carbon