Our newspaper commented: "Selling carbon" can also become an effective means for public transport companies to solve their financial difficulties

Recently, Suzhou City Public Transport Group sold 100 tons of electric special vehicles to replace the carbon emission reductions generated by operating fuel vehicles through the Suzhou One-stop Carbon Neutralization and Inclusive Service Center, with a transaction value of 3000 yuan. This is the first charging carbon inclusive transaction in the country. Suzhou City Public Transport Group will also carry out certification of 87 charging stations in the city in the later stage, with a total carbon emission reduction of nearly 150,000 tons. If all of them can be traded, at the current price, it will receive 4.5 million yuan in "green income."

By "selling carbon," Suzhou City Public Transport Group converts emission reduction behavior into the value of carbon assets, which can subsidize and support corporate operations to a certain extent, and help them update equipment and improve services.

This makes the author think of the phenomenon of "shutdown" of new energy buses in some places in the past two years. On the one hand, subsidy policies have been adjusted and local finances have been tight and unable to continue to subsidize operations significantly. On the other hand, bus companies have ushered in a wave of power replacement, and companies have fallen into operational difficulties under the combination of multiple factors. The reason is still funding issues. Even though urban public transportation and sanitation are basic social and livelihood services and local governments should bear certain expenditure responsibilities through subsidies and other forms, the practical difficulties faced by the entire industry do need to be paid attention to and resolved.

With the development of economy and society, logistics and travel demand has continued to increase in recent years. At the 2023 Public Transportation Industry Development Seminar held in Zhengzhou, Henan last year, relevant experts from the Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport introduced that from 2014 to 2022, the total number of new energy buses in my country increased from 37,000 to 529,000, accounting for the proportion increased from 6.9% to 77.1%. This proportion will continue to increase in the future. When the growth and stock of new energy vehicles both increase, power batteries will also enter the retirement period one after another. There will be more and more cases where vehicles need to be repaired and batteries replaced in the future. There may also be new energy buses caused by funding constraints. Risk of "shutdown".

But at the same time, we should also see that the scale of carbon reduction at the operating end of new energy buses over the years has also shown an overall growth trend. According to the sharing by professors from Beijing Institute of Technology at the above-mentioned seminar, in 2022 alone, new energy buses will achieve a carbon reduction of 15.558 million tons. These are all potential green benefits. Therefore, in order to ensure the stable operation of new energy buses, it is necessary to raise funds through multiple channels on the basis of local financial subsidies, explore market-based means to leverage more green and low-carbon investment, and help public transport companies achieve green and sustainable development.

Suzhou's establishment of a one-stop carbon neutrality and inclusive service center has revitalized the carbon emission reduction generated by local new energy buses. Public transportation companies can benefit from it. It is an effective market-oriented means and worth learning from all regions.XiLearn from. Local governments should play a leading role in assisting capable enterprises or organizations to build platforms, build bridges for communication between buyers and sellers, and provide corresponding carbon verification, carbon trading and other services for market entities; they should compile scientific standard methodologies to provide a basis for carbon emission reduction verification in areas such as special vehicles; It is also necessary to explore effective incentive models to allow more market entities, especially small and medium-sized enterprises other than key emission units, to join, launch market-oriented carbon trading services that adapt to multiple scenarios, and enhance the effectiveness of green and low-carbon transformation of the whole society.

Driven by the market, bus companies, as sellers, gain additional benefits through emission reduction activities, allowing bus companies to truly feel that their energy conservation and emission reduction can indeed reduce corporate operating costs and help achieve green and sustainable development in the public transportation sector. Buyers pay for carbon emissions and purchase carbon emission reductions to obtain carbon neutrality certificates. They can also establish a good corporate image. This method will help lay the foundation for green and low-carbon development of the whole society and ultimately achieve economic benefits and social benefits. Win-win results in benefits and environmental benefits.

Achieving comprehensive electrification of vehicles in urban public transportation, sanitation, postal express delivery and other fields is an integral part of the implementation of the national "double carbon" strategy. This can not only promote energy conservation and emission reduction in the automobile industry and accelerate the construction of a green transportation system, but is also an important aspect of building low-carbon cities in various places. Local governments need to learnXiLearn from good experience and practices, actively innovate practices, explore market-oriented means, support and guarantee the greening of public transportation, and activate the overall low-carbon development through small incisions.