Zhang Dawei, director of China Environmental Monitoring Station: Carbon dioxide concentration measurement accuracy is high and there are no obvious technical bottlenecks
On July 21, Zhang Dawei, director of the China Environmental Monitoring Station, said at the China Carbon Market Conference 2024 that data quality is the lifeline of the carbon market. my country's current carbon dioxide concentration measurement accuracy is very high and there are no obvious technical bottlenecks. The overall results of accounting and monitoring measurement are relatively close, and the parallel of the two methods will not have a significant structural impact on the carbon market.
Zhang Dawei, Director of China Environmental Monitoring Station
Zhang Dawei introduced that the acquisition of carbon emissions can be monitored and accounted for. Under ideal conditions, the data of the two methods should be consistent and comparable, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The Continuous Smoke Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) is highly automated and can provide higher-frequency real-time carbon emission monitoring data, with hourly and minute-level resolutions. Mixing multiple fuels has advantages; however, this method has advantages in operation and maintenance. The requirements are relatively high, and if there are many emission ports, the economy will not be appropriate. The advantage of the accounting method is that the operation is relatively simple, and a large amount of data can be obtained from production information, especially when emission sources are scattered; the disadvantage is that there are many accounting parameters, high manual participation, and high manual dependence. In terms of quality control, more manual participation leads to more risk points that affect data, especially for the mixed combustion of multiple fuels. Each ratio or change may require sampling and analysis, and in this case, the cost is very high.
Zhang Dawei introduced that in the next step, the carbon market will be further expanded. The cement and steel industries will have more fuel ratios and blended burning, with large changes in composition and weak measurement basis. It is urgent to introduce CEMS method. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment will deploy carbon monitoring and evaluation pilot work in 2021. Now, 72 companies including thermal power, steel, and cement have installed 152 sets of carbon dioxide emission CEMS systems, and a total of 1600 months of pilot monitoring data have been accumulated in three years. Overall, three main conclusions are drawn. First, the accuracy of carbon dioxide concentration measurement is very high and there are no obvious technical bottlenecks. Second, the flue gas flow can be accurately measured, but not all stages can be accurately measured. It is the link that introduces the largest error. Only chimneys with uniform and smooth sections that meet the length of the first four straight sections and the second straight sections, or sections with corresponding uniform rectification improvement measures can be satisfied. Moreover, for the CEMS system, the quality of operation and maintenance is very important, and whole-process quality management is an important means to ensure accurate data.
Zhang Dawei pointed out that in the next step, we will promote the operation of carbon monitoring business, properly handle the effective connection between accounting methods and CEMS methods, evaluate the equipment and corresponding data for continuous and stable operation of CEMS, and consider incorporating it into the current carbon market parallel operation if conditions are met. Continue to improve data quality through technical improvements. Carry out research on new technologies for traffic monitoring in more scenarios, so that direct measurement methods can be applied to more scenarios, more industries, and more enterprises.
