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Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology organized the first meeting of the National Carbon Neutrality Technology Expert Committee in Beijing to evaluate the implementation progress of the "Science and Technology Support Carbon Peak Carbon Neutrality Implementation Plan (2022-2030). The role of technology in carbon peaking and carbon neutralization has received further attention. At present, carbon neutral technology is mainly reflected in several key areas such as clean and efficient coal utilization technology, renewable energy technology, low-carbon utilization and energy efficiency improvement technology, carbon capture and storage and other net zero carbon technologies. In the future, digital energy based on AI, big data, cloud computing, Internet of things and other digital technologies will become a new form of energy development and an important force to promote carbon neutrality.

1. Technology is the main driving force to achieve carbon neutrality.

In August 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other nine departments jointly issued the "Science and Technology Support Carbon Peak Carbon Neutrality Implementation Plan (2022-2030)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"). On March 1, 2023, the Ministry of Science and Technology organized the first meeting of the National Carbon Neutral Technology Expert Committee in Beijing. Vice Minister Zhang Yudong of the Ministry of Science and Technology presided over the meeting and delivered a speech. More than 60 people including relevant responsible comrades of the Department of Environmental Resources of the National Development and Reform Commission attended the meeting. The expert committee evaluates the progress of the implementation of the plan and puts forward suggestions on major key issues such as the development path of double carbon science and technology innovation. The role of technology in promoting the process of achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality has received further attention.

Achieving carbon neutrality is a complex system engineering involving values, industrial structure, energy system, consumption patterns and many other aspects. The core is to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon absorption. According to academician Ding Zhongli's estimation, the current global annual emission of carbon dioxide is about 40 billion tons, of which 14% comes from land use and 86% comes from fossil fuel use. About 46% of the emitted carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere and 54% is absorbed by marine and terrestrial carbon sink resources. At the same time, according to the ''2022 Carbon Dioxide Emissions Report'' released by the IEA, my country's carbon dioxide emissions in 2022 will be 11.48 billion tons, of which the power generation end will account for about 47%, and the consumption end such as industrial processes and residents' lives will account for 53% in total. The process accounts for the vast majority of carbon emissions at the consumer end. Therefore, promoting the clean and low-carbon utilization of fossil fuels at the power generation end, improving the development and use of non-carbon energy, and promoting the development of low-carbon and zero-carbon at the energy consumption end. At the same time, improving the artificial carbon sequestration capacity has become the main force to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutralization. The above three directions are inseparable from the support of technological innovation, and "technology is king" will also be fully reflected in this process.

2. Application and Analysis of Carbon Peak Carbon Neutralization Technology

The "Implementation Plan for Science and Technology to Support Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality (2022-2030)" systematically puts forward the innovative direction of science and technology to support carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and focuses on the directions of clean and low-carbon energy, zero-carbon utilization technology, low-carbon and zero-carbon industrial process reengineering technology, low-carbon and zero-carbon technology for construction and transportation, carbon emission reduction technology, and cutting-edge disruptive low-carbon technology. Since the introduction of the implementation plan for carbon neutrality of science and technology support carbon peak (2022-2030), Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hebei and other local governments have issued local science and technology support carbon peak carbon neutral implementation plans, among which, technologies such as clean and efficient utilization of coal, renewable energy, hydrogen energy, energy storage, smart grid, controllable nuclear fusion, carbon capture, utilization and storage, industrial process reengineering, ecological carbon sink, and carbon emission monitoring have become the key directions of various regions.

1) Clean and efficient coal utilization technology. To promote carbon neutralization and energy structure transformation, we need to adhere to the principle of "establishing first and then breaking". At present, China still presents the energy characteristics of "rich coal, poor oil and less gas. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council put forward in the "Opinions on Completely, Accurately and Comprehensively Implementing the New Development Concept and Doing a Good Job in Carbon Neutralization" that by 2060, my country's non-fossil energy consumption will reach more than 80%, that is, fossil energy consumption will still maintain a certain proportion. At present, my country's standard coal consumption per kilowatt-hour of thermal power generation has declined for three consecutive years. The raw coal selection rate has increased from 66% in 2015 to 71.7 in 2021. Coal washing technology and equipment have reached the international advanced level. However, the research on basic, original and disruptive technologies for efficient, low-carbon, flexible and intelligent utilization of coal still needs to be strengthened.

2) Renewable energy technologies. It mainly includes new energy power generation, non-electric utilization of renewable energy, energy storage technology, smart grid, etc. Take wind and solar power generation as an example. In 2022, China's newly installed wind power and photovoltaic power generation will exceed 0.12 billion kilowatts, exceeding 0.1 billion kilowatts for three consecutive years. Wind power and photovoltaic power generation exceeded 1 trillion kilowatt-hours for the first time, accounting for 13.8 percent of the electricity consumption of the whole society. The efficiency of wind power generation increased by 30% compared with 10 years ago. The average cost of onshore wind power and photovoltaic power decreased by about 48% and 70% respectively compared with 2012; photovoltaic modules, wind turbines, gear boxes and other key components account for 70% of the global market share. China's wind and solar renewable energy technology has made considerable progress. But there are still some problems. For example, solar and wind power generation produce large fluctuations in energy under different weather conditions and require the support of storage technology to ensure the stability of energy supply. At the same time, the construction of new energy facilities also needs to consider environmental protection and resource utilization. Therefore, the development of renewable energy technology needs to strike a balance between technological innovation, policy support and resource utilization.

3) Low-carbon utilization and energy efficiency improvement technologies. Low-carbon utilization technology is mainly reflected in the industrial, transportation and construction fields. Including low-carbon zero-carbon industrial process reengineering technology, electrification and intelligent transportation technology, optical storage straight soft, building photovoltaic integration technology system. For example, in the field of transportation, my country's new energy vehicle technology has developed rapidly and is widely used. As of February 2023, the number of new energy vehicles in my country has exceeded 13.1 million, becoming an important force in the field of low-carbon transportation. In addition, the application of intelligent transportation systems can also effectively reduce carbon emissions and improve road traffic efficiency. However, the development of low-carbon transportation technology needs to solve the problems of insufficient energy supply and imperfect charging infrastructure. In the industrial field, industrial process reengineering and energy efficiency improvement technologies can effectively improve the energy consumption of industrial enterprises and reduce carbon emissions, but they need to invest a lot of capital and technical support. At the same time, the technology needs to receive sufficient support at the policy and market levels to ensure that companies and individuals are willing to adopt energy-efficient equipment and measures.

4) Net-zero carbon technologies such as carbon capture and storage. The technology includes the production of carbon dioxide into chemicals, the production of carbon dioxide into fuel, microalgae production, concrete carbon capture, improved crude oil recovery rate, carbon capture and storage of bioenergy, silicate rock weathering (CCUS technology), as well as mineral carbonation, afforestation, soil organic carbon and soil inorganic carbon, crop straw burning charcoal to return to the field, etc. Generally speaking, China's CCUS and other net zero carbon is in the stage of industrialization demonstration, which is equivalent to the overall international development level, but some key technologies lag behind the international advanced level, and the cost is high. In the future, it is necessary to carry out core technology research around key links such as low-concentration carbon dioxide capture, industrial utilization, storage, and carbon sink measurement.

3. Future Outlook-Building New Energy Forms with Digital Technology

Energy activities are the main source of carbon emissions, and promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of energy is the key to achieve the "double carbon" goal. Therefore, it is very important to build a new energy-based energy system and a new power system that adapts to the characteristics of new energy. Among the above series of low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies, the new generation of information technology represented by AI, big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things is the most effective technical means to promote the clean and efficient use of traditional energy, solve the pain points of new energy production and consumption, and realize the orderly flow and precise matching of energy. Digital energy based on digital technology will be a new form of energy development in the future.

1) Build a new power system based on smart grid. my country is rich in wind and light resources, but the regional distribution is relatively scattered. How to make effective and full use of scattered new energy, and coordinate efforts from power generation, energy storage, conversion, transmission, consumption and other links, this requires the construction of new energy The new power system with the main body improves the power grid's ability to accommodate and regulate a high proportion of renewable energy. Therefore, it is necessary to play the role of digitalization and intelligence in driving the transformation and upgrading of the energy structure, research and develop large-scale renewable energy grid-connected and grid safe and efficient operation technologies, and focus on the research and development of high-precision renewable energy power generation power prediction, comprehensive regulation technology, flexible DC transmission, low Inertia grid operation and control technology.

2) Build a city-level intelligent energy management platform. Energy Internet is the inevitable direction of future energy development, and cities are the main carriers of energy consumption and carbon emissions. To create an integrated platform that integrates the three functions of cross-industry digital energy information sharing platform, intelligent and efficient energy public service platform and integrated energy operation and management platform, it can realize the comprehensive management of urban energy (electricity, cold, heat, gas and water) and the full service support of integrated energy operation (production, dispatching and marketing). So as to realize the large-scale and efficient allocation of energy at the whole city level, covering the whole link of urban energy development, transmission, storage and consumption, and realizing the complementary and efficient use of various energy sources in space and time. Therefore, building a city-level intelligent energy management platform is an important starting point to promote urban energy transformation and achieve carbon peak.

3) Develop distributed energy scenarios and forms. The use of new energy power generation such as scenery is an important direction of the new energy supply and consumption system. The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on the Complete, Accurate and Comprehensive Implementation of the New Development Concept to Do a Good Job in Carbon Neutralization of Carbon Peak" proposes to adhere to both centralized and distributed, and give priority to the local development and utilization of wind and solar energy. At present, the application scenarios of new energy in cities are becoming more and more abundant. It can give full play to the advantages of digital technologies such as block chain and Internet of Things, focus on building digital application scenarios of distributed energy such as virtual power plants, smart microgrids, and integrated charging stations of "light storage, charging and discharging", improve the energy use efficiency of key energy users in cities such as office buildings, industrial parks and transportation infrastructure, and help create zero-carbon scenarios with energy self-sufficiency.

Ren Daming, Research Fellow, Zero Carbon Research Institute, Beijing News