Series (1): The cement industry embraces ultra-low emissions
In the eyes of many people, the cement company is full of dust, thick smoke is billowing from the sky, and the workers are wearing masks to work, all of them are dusty. In the cold winter season, walking in the factory area of Hebei Jinyu Dingxin Cement Co., Ltd., despite the wind and snow, there is no flying dust, no smoke can be seen from the chimney, clean and tidy roadside, in the woods, the data on the online monitoring instrument beats from time to time, and the particulate matter emission is less than 5 mg/m3, nitrogen oxides is less than 30 mg/m3, and sulfur dioxide is less than 10 mg/m2......
From unorganized emissions such as dust to clean and tidy factory areas, from high smoking chimneys to ultra-low emissions, from dirty messes in packaging workshops to fully enclosed unmanned intelligent delivery systems, from machine roars to plant-wide noise reduction. This is a new scene brought about by the ultra-low emission transformation of the cement industry.
Recently, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport, jointly issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Implementation of Ultra-low Emissions in the Cement Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"). This marks the full implementation of ultra-low emission transformation in another industry in China after coal-fired power plants and the steel industry, which will also play an important role in the in-depth governance and green, low-carbon and high-quality development of the global cement industry.
Policies are frequent
In 1824, the Englishman Joseph Asputin invented Portland cement for the first time and obtained a patent for cement, named Portland cement, which is of epoch-making significance in the history of cement.
The birth of cement has completely changed the history of human construction, cement, sand, stone, steel bar, and the four brothers form a hard "reinforced concrete" team. As the basic raw material of national construction, cement has an irreplaceable position in capital construction, and this irreplaceable characteristic has led to the increasing output of cement in recent years with the expansion of construction needs, and the resulting pollution is also increasing.
"Cement production produces pollutants such as particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides, and is a key industry for air pollution prevention and control. Xu Hongxia, a senior engineer at the Metallurgical Assessment Department of the Environmental Engineering Assessment Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told the Environmental Economy that the cement industry is the third largest industry in China's main air pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions, with sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions accounting for 5.6%, 17.1% and 19.3% of the country's industrial emissions respectively, and carbon dioxide emissions accounting for about 13% of the country's total emissions.
In fact, China has always been highly concerned about the treatment of air pollutants in the cement industry.
In 2013, the "Ten Atmospheric Measures" mentioned that the construction of desulfurization, denitrification and dust removal transformation projects in key industries should be accelerated, and the new dry cement kiln should implement low-nitrogen combustion technology transformation and install denitrification facilities.
At the end of 2013, the "Cement Industry Air Pollutant Emission Standard" was announced, and the NOx emission limit was tightened from the previous standard of 800 mg/m3 to 400 mg/m3 (320 mg/m3 in key areas), and ammonia (NH3) and mercury (Hg) control indicators were also added, which strengthened the prevention and control requirements of odor nuisance and heavy metal pollution. Although the emission concentration has been cut in half, it is still at a high level.
In June 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) issued the Technical Guidelines for Emergency Emission Reduction in Key Industries in Heavily Polluted Weather (2020 Revised Edition). For the first time, this technical guideline clarifies the four grading indicators of the cement industry's environmental performance A, B, C, and D in accordance with official requirements. Among them, the A-level requirements meet the corresponding ultra-low emission requirements of the thermal power and steel industries.
In November 2023, Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment, presided over an executive meeting of the Ministry to review and approve in principle the Opinions on Promoting the Implementation of Ultra-low Emissions in the Cement Industry.
On November 30, 2023, the State Council issued a notice on the Action Plan for Continuous Improvement of Air Quality, mentioning that it is necessary to promote the in-depth treatment of pollution in key industries and promote the transformation of ultra-low emissions in the cement industry with high quality.
On December 27, 2023, the "Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful China" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council mentioned the high-quality promotion of ultra-low emission transformation of cement and cement.
The work report at this year's National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection also pointed out that the ultra-low emission transformation of the steel, cement, and coking industries should be promoted with high quality.
Wang Yanchao, a senior engineer at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences of the Academy of Environmental Planning of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told Environmental Economy that at present, the implementation of ultra-low emissions by cement companies has reached the "hot time", the policy conditions are available, the technical route is mature, and many cement companies have been exploring ultra-low emissions.
Wang Yanchao further explained to reporters that thermal power is the earliest industry in China to start remediating air pollution emissions, and its total air pollutant emissions are large, but the process and smoke composition are simple, and the difficulty of transformation is relatively small, so the standard is proposed early, and the initial standard requirements are relatively strict. At present, the emission level of China's coal-fired power plants has reached the emission level of natural gas power generation, that is, ultra-low emissions, and has become the world's largest coal-fired clean power generation base.
"Learning from the successful experience of thermal power, ultra-low emission standards for China's non-thermal power industry have also been introduced." Wang Yanchao said that in 2018, the National Environmental Protection Work Conference proposed for the first time to carry out ultra-low emission transformation in the iron and steel industry, and in 2019, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other five departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Implementation of Ultra-low Emissions in the Iron and Steel Industry", which officially opened the process of ultra-low emission transformation in China's steel industry. At present, the whole process of ultra-low emission transformation of 390 million tons of crude steel production capacity enterprises has been completed.
"With the successive implementation of ultra-low emission transformation in the thermal power and steel industries, the proportion of air pollutant emissions in the cement and other building materials industries has further increased. The state began to consider the implementation of ultra-low emission transformation for the cement industry. Wang Yanchao told reporters that the cement industry is benchmarked against the steel industry, and the ultra-low emission transformation of steel is the most complex, involving many processes, raw materials, materials, etc. The ultra-low emission transformation of the cement industry is relatively simple.
In the central control center of Hebei Jinyu Dingxin Cement Co., Ltd., the staff stared intently at the computer and monitored the various indicators of cement in real time. Chen Wan/photo
"The mature experience of thermal power and steel in implementing ultra-low emission transformation has laid a good foundation for the implementation of ultra-low emission in the cement industry. We are confident in the ultra-low emission transformation of the cement industry. Wang Yanchao said: "Through research and soliciting opinions, we found that grassroots ecological and environmental departments and enterprises are very optimistic about the issuance of the Opinions. Under the incentive of the implementation of ultra-low emissions in the thermal power and steel industries, some cement enterprises have begun to explore ultra-low emissions of cement, and ultra-low emissions have gradually become the standard configuration of new cement production lines, and the goal of technological transformation of existing cement production lines. ”
The transformation schedule is ahead of schedule
The reporter noted that the main goal of the "Opinions" is that by the end of 2025, 50% of the cement clinker production capacity in key areas will be transformed, and large state-owned enterprise groups in the region will basically complete the transformation of organized and unorganized ultra-low emissions; by the end of 2028, cement clinker production enterprises in key areas will basically complete the transformation, and 80% of the cement clinker production capacity will be completed in the country.
Wang Yanchao told reporters that the "Action Plan for Continuous Improvement of Air Quality" clearly states that the key areas for air pollution prevention and control are Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta region and the Fenwei Plain, but compared with before, the scope of the cities involved has been adjusted.
The action plan adjusts the total number of key cities for air pollution prevention and control to 82. Among them, the PM2.5 in the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta is basically stable and up to standard, and is no longer included in the key areas, and the PM2.5 concentration in the border areas of Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Henan provinces is relatively high, which has become a more prominent pollution area, so the southern part of Shandong, central and southern Henan and other cities are included in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the surrounding areas, which is more conducive to carrying out large-scale regional joint prevention and control, and the adjusted Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas have been expanded from "2+26" cities to "2+36" cities.
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas "2+36 cities", including Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, Handan, Xingtai, Baoding, Cangzhou, Langfang, Hengshui City, Xiong'an New Area, Xinji, Dingzhou City, Jinan, Zibo, Zaozhuang, Dongying, Weifang, Jining, Tai'an, Rizhao, Linyi, Dezhou, Liaocheng, Binzhou, Heze City, Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Pingdingshan, Anyang, Hebi, Xinxiang, Jiaozuo, Puyang, Xuchang, Luohe, Sanmenxia, Shangqiu, Zhoukou City and Jiyuan City.
The Yangtze River Delta region includes Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province, Hefei, Wuhu, Bengbu, Huainan, Ma'anshan, Huaibei, Chuzhou, Fuyang, Suzhou, Lu'an and Bozhou in Anhui Province.
The Fenwei Plain includes Taiyuan, Yangquan, Changzhi, Jincheng, Jinzhong, Yuncheng, Linfen and Luliang cities in Shanxi Province, Xi'an, Tongchuan, Baoji, Xianyang, Weinan City in Shaanxi Province, Yangling Agricultural High-tech Industry Demonstration Zone and Hancheng City.
Xu Hongxia told reporters that there are 11 provinces in key areas, 7 provinces have introduced local ultra-low transformation plans or local standards, Anhui and Henan have nearly 40% of the production capacity to implement organized and unorganized transformation, and the cement industry is in the forefront of the country in terms of ultra-low emission transformation.
For example, in 2021, the Henan Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued a public announcement on the list of steel and cement enterprises that have completed the assessment and monitoring of ultra-low emission transformation, clearly pointing out that as of the end of May 2021, 136 steel and cement enterprises in the province, such as Anyang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and Tianrui Group Zhengzhou Cement Co., Ltd., have completed the assessment and monitoring of ultra-low emission transformation.
"Many provinces in key areas have taken the lead in carrying out ultra-low emission transformation of the cement industry, accumulating good experience and laying a solid foundation for promoting this work nationwide. Xu Hongxia told reporters that at the same time, there are also many cement companies in non-key areas actively "preparing" for ultra-low emission transformation, such as Sichuan and Fujian, which are highly motivated. Sichuan has strengthened the performance rating of key industries in heavily polluted weather, and cement is "unavoidable", and Fujian issued the "Opinions on Comprehensively Implementing the Ultra-low Emission Transformation of the Cement Industry" in 2023.
Xu Hongxia said that through the existing foundation, the "Opinions" will advance the progress of the ultra-low emission transformation of the cement industry in key areas, requiring that 50% of the cement clinker production capacity in key areas will be completed in 2025, and the key areas will be basically completed in 2028, and the country will strive to complete about 80% of the production capacity by the end of 2028.
Li Chen, deputy secretary-general of the China Cement Association, is also very optimistic. Li Chen publicly stated that the key cities of air pollution prevention and control cover at least 500 million tons of cement clinker production capacity, involving more than 400 cement clinker production lines, of which the production capacity of central enterprises and state-owned enterprises accounts for a high proportion. By the end of 2025, it is estimated that the cement clinker production capacity in key areas that need to complete ultra-low emission transformation will be about 250 million tons, of which large state-owned enterprise groups will basically complete ultra-low emission transformation. By the end of 2028, the cement clinker production capacity involved in key areas should be fully transformed.
"With the deepening of the cement industry's work to resolve excess capacity, it has also virtually boosted the progress of the ultra-low emission transformation of cement clinker enterprises. Li Chen said that the country strives to complete the transformation of 80% cement clinker production capacity, which means that about 1.5 billion tons of production capacity will be completed by then, combined with the reduction of excess capacity to promote the possible 20% of the production capacity exit, and the target requirement of completing 80% of the transformation by the end of 2028 is equivalent to the national stock of cement clinker enterprises and new reconstruction and expansion projects to complete the ultra-low emission transformation.
Clean shipping is a challenge
In recent years, with the continuous advancement of ultra-low emission control of industrial enterprises, many enterprises have effectively controlled the pollution of stationary sources represented by production process emissions and achieved good results, but the problem of mobile source pollution represented by transportation emissions is rising, and clean transportation, as an important assessment project for ultra-low emission transformation and compliance of enterprises, has gradually become the key work of enterprises in the future.
The reporter noted that the "Opinions" made it clear that the proportion of raw fuel in and out of enterprises using clean means such as railways, waterways, pipelines, tubular belt conveyors, and belt corridors is not less than 80%; The part of the clean transportation of raw fuel in enterprises in key areas that does not reach 80% is replaced by new energy vehicles, and the transportation of other raw fuels is all new energy or China VI emission standard vehicles. Priority is given to clean transportation for product transportation, and all new energy or China VI emission standard vehicles are used for automobile transportation. The factory uses new energy transportation vehicles. In principle, non-road mobile machinery adopts new energy, and no corresponding product meets the emission standards of China IV and above.
In the interview, both the policymakers and enterprises involved in the policy have said that at present, there are a variety of technical routes to choose from in the implementation of ultra-low emissions of cement production lines, and the only problem is clean transportation.
"The ultra-low emission transformation of cement enterprises, clean transportation as an important part of ultra-low emissions can not be ignored, the establishment of clean transportation enterprises to ensure the compliance of vehicle transportation, and constantly optimize the logistics organization, improve the proportion of clean transportation, in order to achieve green and sustainable development. Xu Hongxia told reporters that during the period of planned economy, most of the cement transportation took the railway. After the transition to the market economy, railway transportation gradually faded out, and gradually dominated by road transportation, supplemented by water transportation. Specifically, some enterprises rely on road transportation to solve the problem because the production site is far away from the mine, and some enterprises have the unique geographical advantage of being close to the wharf, so they use water transportation......
"Clean transportation in the cement industry has to be stepped up. Wang Yanchao told reporters that the clean transportation of cement is more stringent than steel, which involves a relatively large amount of capital investment, and now many cement companies, transportation is generally entrusted to a third-party transport fleet, and the contract requires the use of national six or new energy vehicles, and the transportation cost is higher than that of national four.
"Although the state has a central air pollution prevention and control fund, ultra-low emission enterprises can apply for this fund, and the proportion of support given can generally reach 50%, but for the replacement of transport vehicles, there is no clear policy of financial support. Wang Yanchao said that, for example, the company's organized ultra-low emission transformation cost 50 million yuan, and can apply for up to 25 million yuan.
Kong Zhen, an expert in the logistics industry, publicly said that in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the "Opinions", the government should formulate a complete subsidy policy or provide other forms of support to reduce the financial burden of China V car owners. In the future, enterprises and individuals who take the initiative to update new energy or national six heavy trucks should be given certain financial subsidies to reduce their initial investment costs.
In addition, Wang Yanchao told reporters that environmental protection is a systematic and continuous process, which needs to be steadily promoted and should not be rushed. For the promotion of new energy vehicles and non-road mobile machinery, taking into account its sales growth rate and the progress of enterprise transformation, the goal of promoting it in different stages is proposed. "The local government sets the time for vehicle replacement according to the actual situation, and it cannot be 'one size fits all'. ”
The central control center of Hebei Jinyu Dingxin Cement Co., Ltd. displays different types of cement. Chen Wan/photo
Speed obeys quality
In the beginning of the steel industry, there were many detours. There are also many cases where the ultra-low emission announcement has been cancelled by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
Wang Yanchao said that cement and other industries must learn lessons when promoting ultra-low emission transformation and adhere to the principle of "speed obeys quality".
So, how should the high-quality ultra-low emission transformation of the cement industry be carried out?
Wang Yanchao told reporters that first of all, the ultra-low emission transformation of the cement industry should be subject to time and quality. Relevant local departments should formulate ultra-low emission transformation plans for the cement industry in combination with the actual situation, refine the transformation tasks to specific projects, clarify the completion time, and increase policy support. "Don't add layers to the table. ”
Cement enterprises formulate specific work plans, and strive to achieve that enterprise leaders really pay attention, funds are really invested, real projects are implemented, and management levels are really improved, so as to ensure that the transformation tasks are completed on schedule and with high quality.
"Secondly, choose mature, efficient and applicable environmental protection transformation technologies according to local conditions. Wang Yanchao said that in the selection of technical routes, we must do a good job, do not blindly covet low prices, and resolutely put an end to winning the bid at the lowest price, and strictly prohibit "tofu slag" environmental protection projects. Ultra-low emission transformation often requires a lot of capital investment, large amount of work, long transformation cycle, can not withstand repeated tossing, do not treat the transformation project as a large-scale "test field".
Third, strengthen the refined environmental management of the whole industry chain. By strengthening the construction of automatic monitoring, process monitoring and video surveillance facilities, we will improve the level of refined management of the whole industrial chain and ensure that cement enterprises can achieve ultra-low emissions stably. Install automatic monitoring facilities and network with the ecological environment department, install distributed control systems in major production equipment and pollution control facilities, install high-definition video monitoring facilities in key links, build an environmental control platform for the whole plant, and systematically record the operation of monitoring and treatment facilities related to organized emissions and unorganized emissions, as well as clean transportation.
Fourth, do a good job of publicity and interpretation. Strengthen policy interpretation and publicity to ensure that relevant departments, localities, and enterprises understand, grasp, and implement the relevant requirements of the Opinions.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has made its attitude very clear about companies that have already met the ultra-low emission requirements: it does not support "whipping fast cattle".
It is reported that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment does not support further "ultra-ultra-low" transformation requirements for enterprises that have fully met the ultra-low emission requirements. The main reason is that the ultra-low emission transformation is not only the transformation of the terminal treatment facility, but also a system engineering. It is not easy to achieve continuous and stable ultra-low emissions, which requires the upgrading and transformation of the system, a large amount of capital investment from enterprises, mature technology research and development, and a long transformation cycle. It is not possible to frequently increase the size to disrupt the normal production of the enterprise and make the enterprise at a loss. While the environmental benefits are not obvious, it will increase the burden on enterprises, and may even force enterprises to commit fraud.
Increase policy dividends
Reaching the standard emission is the legal responsibility of the enterprise, and ultra-low emission is the encouragement orientation, and the enterprises that meet the requirements of ultra-low emission transformation will be supported to fully stimulate the endogenous power of enterprise transformation.
How to make enterprises for ultra-low emission transformation from "required to do" to "take the initiative to do", Wang Yanchao listed environmental tax incentives, non-stop production restrictions, differentiated environmental protection management and other policy dividends, which are full of weight.
First, policy support should be increased for enterprises that have completed ultra-low emission transformation. Enterprises that have achieved ultra-low emissions in a comprehensive and stable manner can enjoy preferential environmental tax and preferential purchase tax for special equipment for environmental protection.
"Local governments can support eligible ultra-low emission transformation projects according to the actual situation. Wang Yanchao said that in accordance with the relevant provisions of the environmental protection tax law, tax incentives will be given to cement enterprises that achieve ultra-low emissions. Implement the preferential policy of enterprise income tax credit for the purchase of special equipment for environmental protection.
The Environmental Protection Tax Law implemented in 2018 clarifies that if the concentration value of taxable air pollutants or water pollutants discharged by taxpayers is lower than 30% of the pollutant discharge standards stipulated by the state and local governments, the environmental protection tax will be levied at a reduced rate of 75%. Where taxpayers emit taxable air pollutants or water pollutants with a concentration value lower than 50% of the pollutant discharge standards prescribed by the state and local governments, the environmental protection tax shall be levied at a reduced rate of 50%.
"At the same time, banking institutions are encouraged to give credit support to cement enterprises for ultra-low emission transformation, support eligible enterprises to issue bonds for direct financing, and raise funds for ultra-low emission transformation and other fields. Wang Yanchao told reporters that through the national carbon emission trading market, the transformation of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in ultra-low emission transformation will be carried out as a whole, and positive incentives will be formed for enterprises that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Wang Yanchao added that air pollution prevention and control funds at all levels can support cement ultra-low emission transformation projects that meet the requirements.
The second is to implement differentiated environmental protection management policies. For enterprises that fully meet the ultra-low emission requirements of organized emissions, unorganized emissions and clean transportation and are assessed as A-level performance, they can not stop production or limit production during the emergency period of heavily polluted weather.
Wang Yanchao said that for cement enterprises that have completed the ultra-low emission transformation and publicity, they can carry out A-level performance rating work to reduce off-peak production time, and if they have completed A-level performance evaluation, they can take independent emission reduction measures during the early warning period of heavy pollution weather. Cement enterprises that fail to complete the ultra-low emission transformation within the time limit shall strictly implement emergency emission reduction measures in accordance with the law during the early warning period of heavy pollution weather.
At the same time, enterprises that have been rated as A can be transformed according to the requirements of ultra-low emission indicators. Promote the establishment of a unified tiered electricity price system for high-energy-consuming industries, and encourage qualified areas to formulate credit and finance policies based on pollutant emissions, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.
"Of course, this can't just be an empty word, the local ecological environment department to win the trust of enterprises, must be true to their word, do what they say, and let enterprises enjoy policy dividends. Wang Yanchao said that so that the production space of enterprises that do well is larger, more market competitiveness, and enterprises are more motivated to do ultra-low emission transformation. In this way, we can encourage the "advanced" to spur the "backward", improve the enthusiasm of enterprises for ultra-low emission transformation, and create a fair competition, healthy and orderly development environment.
It is worth mentioning that after the ultra-low emission transformation task goal of the cement industry is fully realized, it is expected to bring better environmental, social and economic benefits.
The relevant person in charge of the Department of Atmospheric Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said in response to reporters' questions on the "Opinions" that in terms of environmental benefits, it is expected that the emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter in the cement industry will drop significantly, effectively promoting the reduction of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in cities and regions where cement is concentrated. At the same time, by actively encouraging enterprises to adopt more source prevention and control measures such as raw material substitution, fuel substitution, gas recovery, energy conservation, pollution reduction and carbon reduction transformation, and clean transportation transformation, we will promote the reduction of carbon emissions in the industry and the whole society, and produce significant carbon reduction benefits. In terms of social benefits, the dust emission of the cement industry will be greatly reduced after the transformation, which will significantly reduce the health hazards to the employees of the enterprise and the surrounding residents. In terms of economic benefits, ultra-low emission transformation can drive the development of new energy vehicles, energy conservation and environmental protection industries, and effectively stimulate social investment to form a new green economic growth point. Taking ultra-low emission transformation as the starting point, it can also effectively promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the cement industry and promote the high-quality development of the industry.
