my country's carbon footprint management system has been gradually improved and improved to find out the "carbon base" of products and improve the "green content" of the economy

The picture shows a hydrogen fuel cell power system sample. Photo by Xinhua Agency reporter Yang Qing

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has released 35 technical standards for carbon footprint evaluation of new products, covering drones, projectors, medical devices, smart watches, etc.; Shanghai launched a pilot project of "Product Carbon Footprint Certification", taking the lead in promoting it in steel and other industries; Yunnan issued the "Yunnan Province Catalog of Key Products for Carbon Footprint Accounting", including 145 key products in 37 categories in 11 industries... For some time, the construction of product carbon footprint management systems in many places has continued to advance.

Not long ago, the National Standard General Rules for Product Carbon Footprint Accounting Standards "Requirements and Guidelines for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products"(hereinafter referred to as the "General Rules Standards") was officially implemented. Pei Xiaofei, spokesperson of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that the "General Rules and Standards" stipulate the research scope, principles and quantitative methods of product carbon footprints, and are compiled on principles consistent with internationally accepted life cycle assessment standards to provide product carbon footprint accounting methods and data. International mutual recognition lays the foundation.

Improve the accounting system

Carbon footprint usually refers to the sum of greenhouse gas emissions and removals expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent for specific objects, including products, individuals, households, institutions or businesses. This indicator can be used to reflect the impact of human activities on the environment and provide a reference for achieving greenhouse gas emission reduction.

"Product carbon footprint is the most widely used concept in carbon footprint. It refers to the total carbon emissions generated during the entire life cycle of a product, including the production, transportation, distribution, use, disposal and other processes of raw materials. It is a measure of production enterprises and products. An important indicator of green low carbon levels." Pei Xiaofei said, for example, the production process of plastic bags requires a large amount of petroleum resources, and the use of plastic bags will increase the carbon footprint; solar water heaters use solar energy for heating and do not require the use of traditional energy sources, which can reduce carbon emissions and thus reduce the carbon footprint. In other words, the smaller the carbon dioxide emissions, the smaller the carbon footprint, and vice versa, the larger the carbon footprint.

Tian Jinping, a researcher at the School of Environment at Tsinghua University, said that in terms of standard systems, documents such as the "Guidelines for the Construction of Carbon Peak Carbon Neutralization Standard System" require accelerating the development of basic general national standards for product carbon footprint accounting and participating in the formulation of international standards related to carbon footprint accounting; In terms of policy system, documents such as the "Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Establishment of a Unified and Standardized Carbon Emissions Statistical Accounting System" and "Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Product Carbon Footprint Management System" provide a systematic and specific implementation of the construction of a carbon footprint accounting and management system. deployment.

In May this year, the "Implementation Plan on Establishing a Carbon Footprint Management System" jointly issued by 15 departments including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment clarified the "task statement" and "construction drawings" for the construction of my country's product carbon footprint management system in the coming period. The implementation plan proposes to issue carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for key products, give priority to key products such as electricity, coal, natural gas, fuel oil, steel, new energy vehicles, photovoltaics and electronic appliances, and formulate and publish accounting rules and standards. By 2027, the carbon footprint management system will be initially established, and carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for about 100 key products will be formulated and promulgated; by 2030, the carbon footprint management system will be more complete, and carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for about 200 key products will be formulated and promulgated.

Promote low-carbon transformation

Compared with international standards, the "General Provisions Standards" that have been implemented recently have added a reference framework for preparing carbon footprint standards for specific products, suggestions for data geographical boundary information, etc., which is rich in content and more operational, filling the general requirements for carbon footprint accounting of domestic products. The gap in standards provides a basis for guiding the preparation of carbon footprint accounting standards for specific products.

Li Pengcheng, a researcher at the Resources and Environment Research Branch of China Institute of Standardization, said that quantifying product carbon footprints can help companies identify links with large carbon emissions, implement carbon reduction measures from the perspective of product life cycles, strengthen carbon emission management in supply chains and value chains, and promote green and low-carbon consumption., assisting green and low-carbon transformation.

The textile industry is a typical high-energy-consuming industry and one of the leading industries in Zhejiang Province. In order to promote green development, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, has issued local standards for the carbon footprint of a series of products such as chemical fiber fabrics, cotton fabrics and silk fabrics, and based on relevant international and domestic standards and certification system requirements, has created a carbon footprint management platform for textile products, which can achieve carbon footprint accounting for the entire process, full cycle and full coverage of products. It is understood that according to local standards and management platforms, it becomes clear that enterprises should further save energy and reduce carbon emissions. For example, Zhejiang Buchuang Textile Group Co., Ltd. installed solar photovoltaics on the roof of its factory. This measure not only met 50% of the company's electricity needs, but also effectively reduced the company's carbon footprint.

Promote emission reduction across the entire chain

Tian Chunxiu, deputy director of the Environmental and Economic Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that establishing a carbon footprint management system and clarifying the "carbon base" of the production end will help promote carbon emission reduction across the supply chain.

"Product carbon footprint accounting is not only the responsibility and task of product production enterprises, but also requires the active participation and cooperation of relevant enterprises in the industrial chain to which the product belongs. Only when enterprises in various industries and industries in the industrial chain cooperate with each other can product carbon be carried out more accurately and effectively. Footprint accounting work and calculate product carbon footprint data." Yang Xudong, president of China Electronics Technology Standardization Research Institute, said.

Taking the battery industry as an example, with the popularization of new energy vehicles, the first batch of power batteries is about to usher in a recycling peak. How to recycle and reuse has become a big problem facing the entire industry.

my country's first group standard for quantifying the carbon footprint of lithium-ion batteries for vehicles,"Carbon Footprint Quantification Method for Lithium-ion Batteries for Vehicles", was recently released. On this basis, Xie Minghui, director of the Environmental Management Research Center of China Academy of Environmental Sciences, conducted research on the carbon footprint of electric vehicles and the carbon footprint of power batteries. The results showed that the carbon emissions of electric vehicles and fuel vehicles were 25022 kilograms and 39497 kilograms respectively; Using directional recycling process and recycling process to recover 1 kilogram of power batteries can reduce the carbon footprint by 2.76 kilograms and 3.75 kilograms respectively.

Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Ningde Times, said that in order to achieve sustainable development, Ningde Times has built a battery life cycle management system, covering all aspects such as upstream supply chain, battery design, production, use, recycling and remanufacturing, and is committed to maximizing battery recycling and recycling to promote the recovery and regeneration of power batteries by quantifying the product carbon footprint. Data shows that in 2023, 100,000 tons of used batteries were recycled in the Ningde era, and the recovery rates of lithium and nickel, cobalt and manganese reached 91% and 99.6% respectively.