A series of standards for carbon footprint management in the power industry will be released soon| Carbon Footprint Series Interpretation ②

"At present, in accordance with national policy requirements and based on national standards and rules, the China Electric Power Council (hereinafter referred to as China Electricity Council) has taken the lead and organized major power companies to accelerate the promotion of carbon footprint accounting rules that are urgently used first, and play a leading and basic role. The establishment, formulation, release and implementation of standards."

According to the requirements of the "Implementation Plan on Establishing a Carbon Footprint Management System"(hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") jointly issued by 15 departments including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Zhang Jingjie, deputy director of the Planning and Development Department of China Electricity Council, told this reporter that a series of products in the power industry Carbon footprint accounting rules and standards will be released soon and will be used to standardize the work related to carbon footprint accounting for different power supply types.

So, how are the series of standards for carbon footprint management in the power industry designed and how to ensure the accuracy of carbon footprint data? Focusing on the relevant content, Zhang Jingjie gave a detailed introduction.

How is the power industry's carbon footprint management system prepared?

Standards for emergency use will be issued to give full play to the leading and advanced nature of the standards

1. China Environment News:How is my country's power industry carbon footprint accounting standard system designed?

Zhang Jingjie:Low-carbon work in the power industry is the core and foundation for low-carbon development of the whole society. The carbon footprint of power products is also the basis for other industries to manage the carbon footprint. After the "double carbon" goal was put forward, the power industry launched industry standards related to carbon footprint. and the compilation of group standards, and has a good data foundation. By compiling and releasing standards for emergency use first, the standards have been given full play to the leading and advanced nature of the standards.

According to the national "Double Carbon" standard system construction guidelines and policy documents such as the "Plan", the power industry has designed a carbon footprint accounting standard system framework based on the actual conditions and characteristics of the industry, which mainly includes basic and general use, accounting and verification, evaluation and certification, and carbon labeling. Subsystems such as environmental declarations.

Among them, the basic and general sub-standard systems are mainly used to unify concepts and general requirements related to carbon footprint in the power field; the accounting and verification sub-standard system mainly regulates the entire life cycle at different levels such as the country, region, industry, enterprise, facility or product (service). Cycle carbon emission accounting and data quality management, standardize carbon footprint verification procedures, technical methods, supervision and management, etc.; The evaluation and certification sub-standard system mainly clarifies the classification and evaluation of carbon footprint levels, regulates the carbon footprint certification process, technical requirements, institutional management, etc.; the carbon label and environmental declaration sub-standard system mainly regulates the management requirements related to carbon labels and environmental declarations.

2. China Environment News:At present, what is the progress of establishing a carbon footprint management system for my country's power industry?

Zhang Jingjie:At present, in accordance with national policy requirements and based on national standards and rules, China Electricity Council has taken the lead and organized major power companies to accelerate the establishment, formulation, release and implementation of standards related to carbon footprint accounting rules that are urgent to use, and play a leading and basic role., to standardize the work related to carbon footprint accounting for different power supply types.

These include "Methods and Requirements for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products","Methods and Requirements for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products","Methods and Requirements for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products and Requirements Hydropower","Methods and Requirements for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products and Requirements Nuclear Power Generation","Methods and Requirements for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products","Methods and Requirements for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products","Methods and Requirements for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products","Photovoltaic Power Generation" Compilation of national standards such as Methods and Requirements for Quantifying Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products "Thermal Power Generation" and "National Guidelines for Accounting Carbon Dioxide Emission Factors for Fossil Energy and Electricity". Currently, these standards are under intensive preparation work to support competent authorities in timely release of life-cycle electricity carbon emission factors (i.e. accounting rules).

In addition, China ITU has also formulated industry standards for technical requirements to play a unified normative and universal role. Among them, the "Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounting for Power Grid Enterprises"(DL/T 2726-2023) has been released,"Quantitative Methods and Evaluation Standards for Carbon Emissions throughout the Life Cycle of Photovoltaic Power Generation Projects"(Energy 20210389),"Quantitative Methods and Evaluation Standards for Carbon Emissions throughout the Life Cycle of Wind Power Generation Projects"(Energy 20210390), etc. will be released soon.

In addition, China ITU has also formulated group standards for technical requirements that are innovative, exploratory, urgent needs from enterprises and have certain consensus.

How does the carbon footprint of power products ensure data quality?

Standardize data acquisition, encourage and promote relevant advanced technologies, and ensure data quality management

3. China Environment News:How does the power industry carbon footprint accounting standard system ensure data quality control requirements and traceability requirements?

Zhang Jingjie: Data quality control requirements and traceability requirements are the key factors affecting the quality of carbon footprint.

To publish carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for key products, we must first have a database. The "Plan" also proposes to establish and improve a product carbon footprint factor database.

In fact, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as the competent authority for the release of power carbon dioxide emission factors, jointly with the National Bureau of Statistics, issued the "2021 Power Carbon dioxide emission factors" on April 12, 2024, calculating the national, regional and provincial power average carbon dioxide emission factor in 2021.(excluding market-traded non-fossil energy electricity) and the national carbon dioxide emission factor for fossil energy electricity, for reference when calculating carbon dioxide emissions from electricity consumption.

At the same time, entrusted by the National Bureau of Statistics and in accordance with the "Statistical Survey System for the Electric Power Industry", China ITU conducts statistics on the power production and consumption industry, which are regularly released through the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Energy Administration. Since 2013, China Electricity Council has increased statistics on greenhouse gas emissions in the thermal power industry and regularly submitted them to the National Bureau of Statistics for national-level carbon emissions calculations. Long-term statistical work has laid a solid data foundation for the power industry to promote the construction of a carbon footprint database.

On this basis, in 2024, a research team led by the leadership of China Electricity Council was established to conduct industry research on key issues such as laws, policies, technical standards, current status and characteristics related to carbon footprint in my country's power sector, and investigate and study the carbon footprint standard system, accounting methods and database framework ideas for important power products such as the power generation side and power consumption side. It is planned to combine the national "double carbon" goals and carbon footprint management requirements, Put forward policy suggestions to promote the management and application of carbon footprint in the power sector, promote the effective implementation of dual carbon emission control in the power industry, and support the construction of new power systems.

In accordance with the requirements of the "Plan", the power industry carbon footprint accounting standard system encourages and promotes online monitoring, big data, blockchain, cloud computing and other technologies by standardizing data acquisition channels, priorities, management and control processes, regulatory requirements, evidence chains, etc., can ensure and improve the quality management of carbon footprint data in the power sector.

However, the construction of a carbon footprint database in the power industry involves new areas and new requirements. On the one hand, it is necessary to supplement statistical indicators and expand statistical channels by improving the existing statistical research system; on the other hand, it is also necessary to formulate relevant standards to regulate the construction, operation, use and supervision of the database.

4. How to clarify the boundary of product carbon footprint calculation?

Zhang Jingjie:According to the basic rules for carbon footprint accounting of international and domestic products, the carbon footprint accounting boundary in the power sector covers the entire process and all elements from raw material acquisition and transportation, facility installation and construction, production operation and maintenance management, waste recycling and disposal, that is, from the "cradle" to the "gate" and then to the "grave", reflecting the compliance and versatility of standard formulation.

At the same time, comprehensive consideration is given to physical boundaries, management boundaries, international rules, etc. to standardize the carbon footprint boundary scope of upstream and downstream relevant parties, which reflects the scientific nature and applicability of standard formulation.

In addition, according to policy documents and changes in the situation, the power industry carbon footprint accounting standard system will be dynamically updated to timely enrich and improve the list of carbon footprint standard projects in the power sector to meet the requirements of enterprises, industries and countries for power carbon footprint management and application.

It should be noted that according to relevant requirements, standards at all levels need to undergo practical testing after formulation and release. According to the development needs of the power field, review should be organized by the centralized management standard committee. Standards that still meet the needs of production and construction are confirmed to continue to be effective. Standards that need to be revised are revised in accordance with the management process, and no necessary standards exist and are abolished.