The action plan for the green development of the shipbuilding industry was issued, and the study estimated that the global AI water consumption may reach 6.6 billion cubic meters in 2027 ESG Weekly Report

Green New Deal: Five ministries issued an action plan for the green development of the shipbuilding industry, the National Development and Reform Commission's new policy resolutely curbs the blind development of high-energy-consumption, high-emission and low-level projects, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the requirements for the proportion of new energy vehicle credits in 2024 and 2025, and the three ministries and commissions issued opinions on promoting the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in the sewage treatment industry

On December 26, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the Ministry of Transport issued the Action Plan for the Green Development of the Shipbuilding Industry (2024-2030). By 2025, the green development system of the shipbuilding industry will be preliminarily constructed. The supply capacity of green ship products has been further improved, the application of marine alternative fuels and new energy technologies has kept pace with the international market, and the international market share of green power ships such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and methanol has exceeded 50%; the backbone enterprises have achieved remarkable results in reducing pollution and carbon emissions, the level of green manufacturing has been effectively improved, and the comprehensive energy consumption of 10,000 yuan of output value has decreased by 13.5% compared with 2020; the green and low-carbon standard system has been further improved, and the carbon footprint management system and green supply chain management system have been initially established. By 2030, the green development system of the shipbuilding industry will be basically completed.

On December 27, the National Development and Reform Commission revised and released the "Guiding Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2024 Edition)". The policy orientation is to promote industrial technological change, optimization and upgrading with intelligent manufacturing as the main direction, accelerate the promotion and application of new intelligent manufacturing technologies, and promote the transformation of the manufacturing industry model. Encourage green technology innovation and the development of green environmental protection industries, promote energy conservation, carbon reduction and green transformation in key areas, and resolutely curb the blind development of high-energy-consumption, high-emission and low-level projects. Resolve excess capacity and eliminate backward production capacity in accordance with laws and regulations.

On December 28, the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Matters Related to the Management of Corporate Average Fuel Consumption and New Energy Vehicles for Passenger Vehicles in 2024-2025", which proposes that the credit ratio requirements for new energy vehicles in 2024 and 2025 are 28% and 38% respectively. For domestic passenger car manufacturers with an annual production volume of less than 2,000 vehicles and independent production, R&D and operation, and imported passenger car suppliers authorized by overseas passenger car manufacturers with an import volume of less than 2,000 vehicles, the average fuel consumption of the enterprise decreases by more than 4% compared with the previous year, and the standard value is relaxed by 60% on the basis of the average fuel consumption requirements of enterprises stipulated in GB 27999 "Evaluation Methods and Indicators for Fuel Consumption of Passenger Cars", and the decrease of more than 2% is less than 4% , the standard value is relaxed by 30%. When passenger car enterprises calculate the credit standard value of new energy vehicles, the production volume or import volume of low-fuel consumption passenger vehicles shall be calculated according to 0.2 times of their quantity.

On December 29, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued implementation opinions on promoting the synergy of sewage treatment, pollution reduction and carbon reduction. By 2025, the wastewater treatment industry will make positive progress in the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and the energy efficiency level and carbon reduction capacity will continue to improve. The utilization rate of reclaimed water in water-scarce cities at and above the prefecture level has reached more than 25%, and 100 green and low-carbon benchmark plants for sewage treatment with efficient recycling of energy resources have been built.

Local news: Xinjiang's 2024 green power trading scale will increase by nearly 20 times, Shanghai legislation to promote green transformation in energy development, industrial structure, living consumption and other fields, Shenzhen Stock Exchange releases the "White Paper on Sustainable Development Information Disclosure of Listed Companies in Shenzhen"

On December 27, according to the Development and Reform Commission of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang power market recently launched the 2024 annual green electricity transaction, with 462 million kWh of trading volume, 19.25 times the transaction scale in 2023, and the environmental value of green power is in the range of 20-32 yuan/MWh, which is expected to reduce standard coal consumption by 139,800 tons and carbon dioxide emissions by 377,300 tons.

On December 28, the 9th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress passed the Regulations on Promoting the Green Transformation of Shanghai's Development Mode, which will come into force on January 1, 2024. The regulations focus on regulating the green transformation in the fields of energy development, industrial structure, and living consumption, and at the same time clarify the basic management system and safeguard measures. In terms of green and safe energy transformation, the regulations clearly optimize the energy structure, promote green and low-carbon substitution of fossil energy, promote the development of new energy sources and new energy storage methods such as solar energy, wind power, hydrogen energy, and geothermal energy, build a new power system, improve the regulation capacity of the power grid, and strengthen the management of the power demand side, optimize the allocation of power resources, improve the market-oriented trading mechanism of distributed power generation, and support distributed generation entities to trade with power users in the same distribution network area in accordance with regulations. In terms of green living and consumption, the regulations encourage green consumption and travel, support consumers to give priority to the purchase and use of green and low-carbon products, and guide the public to give priority to green travel methods.

In 2022, more than 2,700 companies in Shenzhen disclosed their social responsibility in their annual reports, nearly 1,100 companies disclosed information on pollution prevention, resource conservation, ecological protection and other information, and more than 800 companies issued independent social responsibility reports. The number of ESG reports or sustainability reports has increased by more than 200 compared to 2021.

Science and technology highlights: Tesla robot suddenly injured people at a factory in Texas, USA, Lund University in Sweden developed an innovative automotive fuel system, and research estimated that global AI water consumption may reach 6.6 billion cubic meters in 2027

On December 26, according to the website of the British "Daily Mail", an engineer was attacked by robots at Tesla Motors' factory near Austin, the capital of Texas, USA. The engineer was writing a software program for two nearby malfunctioning Tesla robots that suddenly crushed him and then extended its metal claws to the engineer's back and arms, leaving a trail of "blood" on the factory floor. Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. and CEO of SpaceX, responded to the matter on social media X on December 27, and Musk said that the media hyped up the incident two years ago and made misleading hints.

Recently, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed an innovative automotive fuel system that operates in a circular fashion that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions. It is understood that the system utilizes a unique liquid that, when combined with a solid catalyst, converts into hydrogen fuel for cars. After use, the waste liquid is removed from the vehicle's fuel tank and filled with hydrogen so that it can be reused. This process forms a closed-loop system that significantly reduces the environmental impact.

On December 25, according to CCTV Finance and Economics, if you ask ChatGPT 10 to 50 questions, you may consume 500 milliliters of water. This is because training and running large AI models requires a lot of water to cool the server. In 2022, Google used 21.2 billion litres of water, the equivalent of 8,500 Olympic-sized pools. Data shows that the computing power required for AI is now doubling every 100 days, and it may increase by more than a million times in the next five years. The study predicts that the global AI water consumption will reach 6.6 billion cubic meters in 2027, which is equivalent to the annual water withdrawal of Washington state in the United States.

Corporate dynamics: Great Wall Motor signed two memorandums of cooperation with TotalEnergies, China's first China-EU cooperative hydrogen energy industrial park was officially opened, and Xiaomi officially announced its first electric vehicle, SU7

On December 25, according to the official WeChat news of Great Wall Motors, on December 14, Great Wall Motors and TotalEnergies Group successfully held an energy technology festival in Baoding Haval Technology Center, and Great Wall Motors and TotalEnergies Group signed the "Memorandum of Cooperation on Carbon Neutrality Research" and "Memorandum of Cooperation on Hybrid Engine Oil Technology" to seek more in-depth cooperation in carbon neutrality and new energy development.

On December 27, Dongfang Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park, China's first Sino-European cooperative hydrogen energy industrial park, mainly invested by Dongfang Electric Group, was officially opened. The park is committed to building a hydrogen energy industry ecosystem and an innovative ecological chain, forming an enterprise cluster of fuel cells, hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, hydrogen refueling, and comprehensive utilization of hydrogen energy, and building a high-end advanced equipment manufacturing industrial park for hydrogen energy in western China. Three of Dongfang Electric Group's newly developed hydrogen energy products, including the fuel cell distribution vehicle with the highest output power and the largest hydrogen storage capacity in China, the 200 kW fuel cell stack, and the T30 series membrane electrode, were released on the spot, showing the advanced achievements in the field of hydrogen energy in China.

On December 28, Xiaomi Group held a Xiaomi automotive technology conference in Beijing, officially announcing Xiaomi's first electric vehicle, Xiaomi SU7, positioned as a "C-class high-performance ecological technology car". In the "Catalogue of New Energy Vehicle Models for Vehicle Purchase Tax Reduction" released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Xiaomi SU7 two models are included, which means that consumers will enjoy a certain degree of purchase tax reduction and exemption policy when purchasing this model, which will help improve the market competitiveness of the model.

Carbon Market: The official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released the Implementation Rules for the Verification and Verification of Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Projects, and the annual trading volume of carbon emission allowances in the national carbon market in 2023 was 212 million tonnes

On December 27, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Implementation Rules for the Verification and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Projects, which came into force on the date of promulgation. The rules are applicable to voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in industries that meet the requirements of the Administrative Measures for Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Trading (for Trial Implementation). It includes four project development methodologies: afforestation carbon sequestration, grid-connected solar thermal power generation, grid-connected offshore wind power generation, and mangrove construction.

On December 29, according to the WeChat official account of "National Carbon Trading", the annual trading volume of carbon emission allowances in the national carbon emission trading market in 2023 will be 212 million tons, with an annual turnover of 14.444 billion yuan and an average daily turnover of 875,800 tons. Overall, since the launch of the national carbon market, the market has been operating in a healthy and orderly manner, the scale of transactions has gradually expanded, the transaction prices have risen steadily, corporate transactions have become more active, and the market vitality has gradually improved.