Green, low-carbon, collaborative carbon control, the Yangtze River protection under the background of "double carbon" does so
"The Ecological and Environmental Protection Exchange Conference in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River focuses on the important issue of comprehensive management and restoration of the Yangtze River ecological environment in the context of 'double carbon', and studies the supporting role of science and technology in in-depth scientific decision-making and precise policy implementation for the protection and restoration of the Yangtze River., will provide strong scientific and technological support for the ecological and environmental protection of the Yangtze River Basin and the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt." After listening to the reports of the experts attending the meeting, Yang Peng, the ecological environment supervisor at the deputy director-level of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Jiangxi Province, was very excited.
At the Yangtze River Ecological Environmental Protection and Restoration Joint Research Center (hereinafter referred to as the Yangtze River Center) and the Jiangxi Province Ecological Environment Science Research and Planning Institute, experts and scholars from the China Academy of Sciences and other relevant units, as well as provinces and cities along the Yangtze River such as Jiangxi Province and Hubei Province, discussed the development of green and low-carbon industries in the Yangtze River Basin under the background of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, collaborative carbon control in river basin governance and management, regional scientific and technological innovation practice, and scientific and technological needs during the 15th Five-Year Plan and the key directions for the next step.
The picture shows the venue of the ecological and environmental protection exchange meeting in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Map provided by Yangtze River Center
Collaborative carbon control by river basin governance and management
In recent years, the Yangtze River Center has closely focused on the national strategic needs of the construction of the beautiful Yangtze River pioneer area in China, combined with the requirements of scientific and technological system reform in the field of ecological environment, and actively planned the scientific and technological needs of the Yangtze River ecological environment protection and restoration during the 15th Five-Year Plan, and science and technology support the Yangtze River Basin. Level ecological environmental protection and high-quality development.
"The Yangtze River Economic Belt still has a long way to go when carbon peaks and carbon neutrality are reached." Chen Sheng, deputy director of the Yangtze River Center and vice president of the China Academy of Environmental Sciences, pointed out that the carbon emissions of the secondary industry are "far ahead." Among the 11 provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government) in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, 9 provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government) account for carbon emissions in the secondary industry. The proportion exceeds 50%, and collaborative technological innovation in reducing pollution and carbon reduction is seriously insufficient to support green, low-carbon and high-quality development.
The picture shows the port coastline of the main stream of the Yangtze River (Tongling section) under aerial photography. Map provided by Tongling Resident Working Group
"Water is also an important carrier of various biological factors. The social and economic activities, water and soil environmental conditions and hydrological environment in the basin directly affect the 'source-flow-transfer-sink' process and effects of biogenic factors and pollutants, which in turn affect the quality of the ecological environment and the source and sink process of greenhouse gases." Xia Xinghui, a professor at the School of Environment at Beijing Normal University, said that according to existing research estimates, river carbon dioxide emissions account for 25% of the carbon dioxide released by fossil fuel combustion, which can offset about 68% of land carbon sinks. "We need to comprehensively consider natural, social and economic factors to consider carbon reduction and pollution reduction."
Xia Xinghui pointed out that it is necessary to combine extra-river and intra-river processes, carry out research on the carbon and nitrogen cycle and greenhouse gas source and sink processes from the perspective of river basins, and propose mechanisms for carbon reduction and sink increase; it is necessary to comprehensively study natural, social and economic conditions from the perspective of river basins. The impact of conditions on the carbon and nitrogen cycle and greenhouse gas source and sink processes; it is necessary to propose ways to reduce carbon, increase sinks and deeply reduce pollution based on the natural, social and economic characteristics of different river basins.
Wang Dongqi, a professor at East China Normal University, emphasized the role of estuarine ecological restoration in carbon reduction. "Carrying out the protection and restoration of the ecological environment of estuarine wetlands is the most important way to enhance the carbon sink potential of wetlands. On the basis of near-natural restoration, ecological restoration measures such as wetland hydrological process control, planting vegetation with high carbon sequestration efficiency, building vegetation communities with high stability and high biomass, and screening vegetation with high productivity and high carbon sink type can be rapidly improved. The carbon sequestration efficiency of estuary wetlands effectively improves the blue carbon function of coastal zones dominated by wetland plants."
The picture shows the water ecology survey site in the Changde section of the Yuanjiang River. Map provided by Changde Resident Working Group
"The sewage treatment industry is not only an important starting point for deepening the battle against pollution, but also an important area for implementing the 'double carbon' goal." Cao Guangrong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Yangtze River Ecological Environment Engineering Research Center of China Three Gorges Group, said that data shows that carbon emissions from the sewage treatment industry account for 1%-3% of the global total carbon emissions. In order to systematically carry out low-carbon management of urban water environment, China Three Gorges Group has innovatively launched the "Urban Smart Water Butler" model for systematic management of "plant networks, rivers and lakes" to carry out unified planning, construction, dispatch and operation of urban water-related facilities, promote the transformation of urban water environment governance from "fragmentation" to "systematization", and through the application of green and low-carbon technologies, promote carbon emission reduction while improving the effectiveness of water environment governance.
Systematic governance attaches great importance to the ecological layout of shorelines, which can better play the role of green space systems and enhance carbon sink capabilities. The green park and shoreline restoration project carried out in Jiujiang can generate carbon sinks every year that can "neutralize" about 20% of the entire carbon emissions of the sewage treatment infrastructure in Lianghe areas.
Industrial development green and low-carbon
In order to give full play to the supporting role of scientific and technological innovation in the green and low-carbon development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Yangtze River Center has specially carried out a special study on the green development strategy of the Yangtze River Basin. Based on the current status, problems and future of green development in the Yangtze River Basin, it focuses on "coordinating the promotion of the high-level ecological environment of the Yangtze River". The national strategic goal of "Level Protection and High-quality Economic Development" coordinates the aspects of water environment, water resources, water ecology, water risks, etc., and focuses on "ecological priority and green development". The condensation and integration of relevant scientific research results truly reflect the supporting role and contribution of science and technology to the protection of the Yangtze River.
The picture shows the inspection of a pilot demonstration project for tail water management of typical enterprises in the industrial park stationed in Jiujiang. Map provided by the resident working group of Jiujiang City
"My country's industrial process carbon emissions account for about 68% of the country's carbon emissions." Cao Hongbin, an expert of the Yangtze River Center's overall team and a researcher at the Institute of Process Engineering, China Academy of Sciences, said,"Industrial process pollution reduction and carbon reduction is a systematic project that requires coordinating technology, economy and management; Technological innovation in industrial process pollution reduction and carbon reduction needs to be bound by relevant standards and the goal of minimizing total cost; Technological innovation in industrial process pollution reduction and carbon reduction needs to carry out technological innovation under the guidance of overall optimization. For example, after replacing the existing DCS control with AI control, we reduced the raw material and energy consumption for pyrolysis and complexation distillation separation of heavy metals and ammonia by 5% and 3% respectively."
"The printing and dyeing industry's wastewater and pollutant emissions account for 70% of the textile industry." Yang Bo, a professor at the School of Environment of Donghua University, introduced enhanced anaerobic biological treatment technology, a micro-oxygen circulation flow efficient carbon reduction and denitrification biological system, and low-consumption carbon reduction technologies for printing and dyeing wastewater treatment such as "ozone catalysis + biological aerated filter" advanced treatment system, as well as cutting-edge technologies such as low-carbon treatment systems for high-ammonia nitrogen wastewater and cotton fabric dye liquor complex extraction salt reuse technology. Looking forward to the key directions for the development of water pollution control technology in the printing and dyeing industry, the idea of coordinating and linking "water, heat, carbon, salt, and sludge" in the printing and dyeing park to realize resource reuse is proposed.
While ensuring national food security, agriculture has also made a huge contribution to carbon emission reduction. Qin Xiaobo, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development of China Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said: "Agricultural carbon emissions have reached 793 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, accounting for 6.07% of my country's total carbon emissions. In recent years, my country's agricultural carbon emissions have shown a steady decline."
Qin Xiaobo said that agricultural green and low-carbon technologies are based on the premise of ensuring a stable and safe supply of grain and important agricultural products, based on the efficient use of nutrient resources, and through the optimization of water, fertilizers, farming, and efficiency enhancing products, to achieve methane in rice fields and nitrous oxide in farmland. The coordinated improvement of emission reduction, agricultural land soil carbon sink function and crop yield. For example, rice field methane emission reduction technology, nitrous oxide emission reduction technology, soil carbon sink technology, etc. "Based on years of research and development and practice in the field of farmland emission reduction and carbon sequestration, through the application and promotion of technologies such as water-saving irrigation, return of organic materials to fields, and reduction of nitrogen surplus, it is expected to achieve 35% and 40% respectively in 2030 and 2060. Carbon emission reduction in planting industry (considering soil carbon sequestration), the promotion of related technologies will greatly promote the low-carbon and high-quality development of agriculture in the Yangtze River Basin."
Qin Xiaobo suggested that from farmland and rural areas to river basins, coordinate from point to point to reduce pollution and carbon; from the perspective of inputs and river basin management, we should strengthen reduction and efficiency increase to achieve green and low-carbon. In addition, from the perspective of policy systems and financial means, we will strengthen scientific and technological support and build a six-in-one low-carbon development framework of "government, industry, research and funding".
The picture shows a survey on the effectiveness of comprehensive improvement of the Bixi River and ecological and environmental protection carried out at Chongqing provincial-level stations. Map provided by Chongqing Provincial Resident Working Group
Regional scientific and technological innovation explores pollution reduction and carbon reduction
At the exchange meeting, relevant representatives from many provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt introduced their explorations on the path of joint development of "double carbon" and water pollution control.
In the report entitled "Coordinating Comprehensive River Basin Management Systems to Improve the Water Ecological Environment of Large Lakes", Chen Xiaofei, director and senior engineer of the Institute of Water Environment of the Hubei Province Academy of Environmental Sciences, introduced the resident working group's exploration of managing Honghu Lake.
"The resident working group has provided a series of support work for Honghu, Hubei Province, from policy formulation to program preparation, project planning, and technical support." Chen Xiaofei said,"At present, information on how to coordinate governance, green development, coastal zone restoration, water ecological restoration, flow guarantee, etc. have been submitted to the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government in the form of planning."
Chen Xiaofei said: "The Hubei resident working group carried out water ecological surveys in 21 key water bodies, carried out analysis of the water ecology of key lakes, and established a smart decision-making platform for water ecology and environment in Hubei Province. The resident working group also explored the establishment of artificial intelligence image recognition along the lake and Honghu digital twin water environment three-dimensional detection platforms."
Focusing on perchlorate pollution control technologies and paths under the background of "double carbon", Zhong Yu, deputy director of the Institute of Water Resources of the Hunan Province Academy of Environmental Protection Science, said that the stationed team in Hunan Province has accurately assisted the local fireworks and firecrackers production industry and put forward prevention and control suggestions to strengthen the management of existing production sources, scientifically establish emission standards, and strengthen technical research. It has also formulated the country's first "Industrial Wastewater Perchlorate Pollutants Emission Standards", and developed two generations of perchlorate advanced treatment equipment. The removal efficiency of perchlorate and other factors reaches more than 99%. This technology has been industrially applied in many fireworks companies such as Liuyang City and Liling City in Hunan Province. It has also been selected into the "Light of Science and Technology" Scientific and Technological Achievements Exhibition of the 2024 Hunan National Science Popularization Day event.
The picture shows the water ecology survey in the West Dongting Lake section. Map provided by Changde Resident Working Group
Zhang Meng, deputy director of the Ecological Environment Research and Planning Institute of Jiangxi Province, introduced that Jiangxi Province has explored new models and new paths for low-carbon development, and innovative systems and mechanisms for low-carbon development. For example, some cement production enterprises are equipped with production auxiliary facilities such as low-temperature waste heat power generation systems and urban waste treatment to achieve ultra-low emissions while achieving coordinated treatment of waste heat recovery and urban waste.
The picture shows Shangrao resident staff collecting water quality samples in the Shangrao Lake area of Poyang Lake. Map provided by Shangrao Resident Working Group
Jiangsu Province took advantage of the joint research on the protection and restoration of the Yangtze River to carry out two studies focusing on green and low-carbon governance and put them into practice. Xu Haibo, vice president of the Jiangsu Province Academy of Environmental Sciences, said that the first is to carry out special actions to investigate and rectify phosphorus-related enterprises. So far, a total of 20305 phosphorus-related enterprises have been identified in Jiangsu Province, 20141 enterprises have completed standardized rectification, and 18136 enterprises have passed the acceptance of the ecological environment department. The reduction of total phosphorus from industrial sources has increased significantly.
The second is to carry out research on pollution reduction and carbon reduction technologies in the sewage treatment industry, build a carbon emission accounting list for the sewage treatment industry, and develop 14 new technologies such as carbon control and quality improvement in sewage collection systems and low-carbon treatment for nearly all sludge resources. We have developed 8 sets (sets) of new equipment such as high-efficiency ozone catalytic oxidation and low-carbon tail water deep denitrification and carbon reduction, and developed 3 new materials including new catalysts and biogas residue based functional carbon materials.
In response to the problems of mild nourishment and cyanobacteria blooms in Dianshan Lake in Shanghai City, the Shanghai Zhudian Group built a composite artificial ecological wetland system in the Majiajiang River, a river entering the lake in the upper reaches of Dianshan Lake. Lu Shiqiang, a researcher at the Shanghai City Academy of Environmental Sciences, said: "The operation results show that the total nitrogen reduction characteristics of the Majiajiang Wetland system are relatively obvious in terms of turbidity reduction, quality improvement, nitrogen and phosphorus removal. In the treated water body, total nitrogen can be reduced by 39.8%-85.44%; Total phosphorus is reduced by 50%." Lu Shiqiang said.
Relevant responsible comrades of the Yangtze River Center said: "In the next step, the Yangtze River Center will fully absorb the exchange results of this meeting, take the scientific and technological reform in the field of ecological environment as an opportunity, focus on the major strategic needs of the country's Yangtze River protection, deeply implement the concept of a new national system for scientific and technological research, and further give full play to the Yangtze River Joint Research Hub. The role of the platform will solidly promote central-local coordination, promote the deep integration of 'government-industry-learning-research-application', and extensively unite universities, scientific research institutes, enterprises and other domestic and foreign advantageous scientific research resources. Carry out full-chain intelligence research and transformation applications to provide strong scientific and technological support for promoting green, low-carbon and high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt."
