Differentiated policies help typical cities in Fenwei Plain reduce pollution and carbon emissions

The Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Natural Resources Protection Association (NRDC) recently jointly organized a synergy research seminar on pollution reduction and carbon reduction in the Fenwei Plain in Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province. Representatives from government management departments of Shanxi Province and Fenwei Plain cities, think tanks such as the Ecological Environment Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan University of Technology, Shanxi Kecheng Energy and Environment Innovation Research Institute, and relevant environmental protection companies attended the meeting.

Local governments promote pollution and carbon reduction in key areas

"Shanxi Province attaches great importance to the collaborative work of pollution reduction and carbon reduction." Li Jie, director of the Comprehensive Division of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Shanxi Province, said that last year, multiple departments jointly issued the "Shanxi Province Pollution and Carbon Reduction Synergy Implementation Plan", further strengthening the top-level design of pollution and carbon reduction synergy work. In recent years, Shanxi Province has made every effort to promote pollution reduction and carbon reduction in key areas. In the industrial field, the proportion of advanced production capacity in traditional industries such as coal, coking, ironmaking, and steelmaking has increased to 81%, 96.6%, 60.5%, and 57.3%, respectively. All in-service coal-fired units and in-production steel enterprises have completed ultra-low emission transformation. In the energy field, the proportion of installed capacity of new energy and clean energy has reached 45.8%. "Although the environmental quality of Shanxi Province has shown continuous improvement in recent years, the characteristics dominated by structural pollution have not yet fundamentally changed. The foundation for continuous improvement of ecological and environmental quality is not yet solid, and the situation of pollution reduction and carbon reduction is still very serious. In the next step, Shanxi Province will use greater intensity and more practical measures to coordinate the promotion of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and accelerate the path of comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development."

Xu Yanling, associate researcher at the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, introduced the technology and practical work of collaborative management of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. From a technical perspective, she introduced the management needs and research progress in the aspects of synergy evaluation of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, carbon pollution emission characteristic characterization technology, carbon pollution heterogeneity identification technology, goal and path optimization technology, etc., and elaborated on the whole process of "finding the bottom of the family"-Identifying regions-Identifying industry-setting goals-Excellent measures-Evaluation of effects-matching systems ". She also introduced the considerations and overall ideas of the country in designing and promoting local pilot work from a practical perspective, and took Zhejiang Province, which took the lead in carrying out pilot work on pollution and carbon reduction, as a case to analyze the multi-level collaborative innovation model of pollution and carbon reduction in Zhejiang Province with cities, districts and counties, and industrial parks as the core, and summarized the collaborative governance paths and policy mechanisms of key departments. Pilot results.

The carbon market is an important policy tool to achieve the "double carbon" goal

“Compared with traditional administrative means, the carbon market has strong policy compatibility, strong regional industry expansion, and strong financial derivatives. It can provide more flexible trading mechanisms and price signals, guide the optimal allocation of carbon emission resources, and effectively control greenhouse gas emissions., is an important policy tool to achieve the 'double carbon' goal." Zhu Shuying, assistant researcher at the Institute of Environmental Planning of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, pointed out that at present, the country's total carbon emissions have increased significantly in the first half of the "14th Five-Year Plan". There is an urgent need for more enterprises in the "double high" industries to consolidate their emission reduction responsibilities and promote low costs. Achieve the "double carbon" goal.

Zhu Shuying believes that in this regard, the carbon market has a direct impact on the expectations of economic entities by forming a clear price signal, helping to stimulate corporate investment and research and development, reducing dependence on high-carbon energy, and promoting a more cost-effective approach for enterprises to achieve emission reduction. When talking about the coordinated relationship between the carbon market and pollution reduction and carbon reduction, Zhu Shuying said that in the future, industries that my country needs to expand the coverage of the carbon market should be given priority to including industries with large pollutant emissions and strong synergistic effects of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, such as cement, Steel, etc., can reduce carbon emissions while reducing pollutant emissions such as water, gas, and solid waste, and help build a beautiful China.

Lu Bin, an associate researcher at the Center for Ecology and Environment Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that carbon footprint, as an important tool for measuring greenhouse gas emissions, can effectively promote the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. Quantifying the carbon footprint can help companies identify high-emission links and then adopt more efficient production technologies or energy alternatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Through carbon footprint analysis, companies can optimize their energy structure, increase the proportion of renewable energy used, and promote the transformation of enterprises and society to clean energy. This not only reduces carbon emissions, but also reduces air pollutant emissions. Based on carbon footprint data, the government can guide the industry to carry out green transformation, promote the realization of the "double carbon" goal, and promote environmental protection technology innovation through incentive mechanisms to further improve the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction.

"Tailor-made" for the Fenwei Plain and explore the effectiveness of pollution reduction and carbon reduction policies

Zhang Jing, associate researcher at the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, introduced the main results of the newly completed "Study on the Effectiveness of Pollution and Carbon Reduction Policies for Typical Cities in the Fenwei Plain"(hereinafter referred to as the research) by the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. The research focuses on coal-consuming sectors such as electricity, key industries and daily life, and combs and analyzes air pollutants and carbon dioxide emission reduction measures in Luliang, a city dependent on coal resources and industries, Jinzhong, a city dependent on coal resources, and Sanmenxia, a city dependent on coal industries, and selects 8 first-level measures and 28 second-level measures to evaluate the effectiveness and synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction policies. The study uses the ratio of greenhouse gases and air pollutants to the reduction in the base year as the synergy coefficient of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. It is found that ultra-low emission transformation of electricity and industrial terminal treatment measures do not have a synergistic effect, and other measures have a synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. Among them, industrial structure adjustment, industrial energy efficiency improvement, coal-fired boiler renovation, and civil bulk coal management are more synergistic.

The study evaluated the effectiveness of policies and measures in terms of emission reduction contribution, emission reduction economics, and synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. It found that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" industrial structural adjustment, coal-fired boiler renovation, power supply structure adjustment, Industrial energy efficiency improvement is the most effective measure, and the synergistic effect of wind and solar power generation in carbon reduction and pollution reduction during the "14th Five-Year Plan" is becoming increasingly obvious. In the future, pollution reduction will gradually enter the deep water period, and the continuous deepening of pollutant reduction must rely on structural optimization and adjustment.

The research suggests that in the future, policies should be implemented according to the city, place, and enterprise to improve the accuracy and scientificity of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, solidly promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the industrial and energy structure, focus on developing the non-coal economy, coordinate and optimize coal control and carbon reduction goals, and strengthen the construction of big data for environmental policy analysis.

Zhang Jieqing, chief representative of the NRDC Beijing Representative Office, emphasized that the Fenwei Plain is an important energy base and industrial base in my country. The energy structure is mainly coal, the industrial structure is biased, and the air pollution problem is relatively serious. After years of hard work, pollution reduction and carbon reduction have gradually improved the quality of the ecological environment. From January to June this year, PM in 13 cities in the Fenwei Plain_2.5The average concentration decreased by 8.3% year-on-year, and the average number of excellent days increased by 1.6% year-on-year. "But we have also noticed that since the '14th Five-Year Plan', the effectiveness of terminal treatment measures has been reduced, and there has been a lack of synergy between 'pollution reduction' and 'carbon reduction'. Pollution reduction in the Fenwei Plain has gradually entered the deep water period. In the future, we should focus on promoting the in-depth integration of pollution prevention and control work with greenhouse gas emission control measures, and shift from terminal governance in the past to source governance and upgrading focusing on energy structure and industrial structure adjustment."

During the round-table session, representatives from government departments emphasized that in the future, pollution reduction and carbon reduction can focus more on carbon reduction, and pollution reduction needs to be coordinated and enhanced on the basis of carbon reduction. In terms of paths, participants suggested highlighting structural optimization, especially the industrial structure, energy structure, and transportation structure, while focusing on the optimization and adjustment of layout. In terms of policies, representatives at the meeting suggested that policy coordination should be more prominent. On the one hand, incentive and guidance policies, such as carbon footprint, carbon finance, etc., need to be introduced. On the other hand, policies should be forced to promote pollution reduction from both positive and negative aspects. Carbon synergy. In terms of strategy, it is emphasized that regional differences should be highlighted, different priorities should be set for different regions, and targeted policies should be introduced.

Researcher Cao Dong, chief expert of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, concluded that synergy between pollution and carbon reduction is a national strategic requirement, and governments, scientific research institutions and enterprises need to further enhance their understanding of pollution and carbon reduction work. He proposed that we should study and predict pollution reduction and carbon reduction goals in advance, clearly refine policies, funds, technology, management and capacity needs, and resolve difficulties and blockages to ensure that pollution reduction and carbon reduction work is effective.