Industry
ramps up efforts for technological upgrades, intelligent and green
manufacturing transformation
Editor's note: China aims to peak its carbon
dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, major
goals in a national green transition drive. This series looks at efforts in
various sectors to meet the goals.
Guo Xiaoyan, a publicity
executive at Beijing Jianlong Heavy Industry Group Co, has found that an
increasing part of her daily work centers on the buzz phrase "dual carbon goals",
which refers to China's climate commitments.
Since announcing that it
would peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality
before 2060, China has made substantial efforts to pursue greener development.
The steel industry, a major
carbon emitter and energy consumer in the manufacturing sector, has entered a
new development era marked by technological innovation as well as intelligent
and green manufacturing transformation, in an effort to advance energy
conservation and reduce carbon emissions.
Updating shareholders on the
latest moves and achievements on carbon footprint reduction by Jianlong Group,
one of China's largest private steel enterprises, has become an important part
of Guo's job.
"As the company has done
a lot of work amid the whole nation's pursuit of green and high-quality growth
and seeks to make more contributions to the nation's realization of its dual
carbon goals, it is my job to make the company's efforts better known by others,"
she said.
"In doing that, we also
hope people in the industry and beyond will understand the importance of
achieving the dual carbon goals and join hands together for the realization of
the goals," she added.
On March 10, Jianlong Group
released its official road map for achieving a carbon peak by 2025 and carbon
neutrality by 2060. The company plans to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent
by 2033, compared with 2025. It also aims to reduce average carbon intensity by
25 percent, compared with 2020.
Jianlong Group also looks to
become a world-class supplier of green and low-carbon products and services and
a global provider and leader in green and low-carbon metallurgical technology.
It said it will advance green and low-carbon development through pathways
including enhanced steelmaking technology and processes to reduce carbon, and
by strengthening applications of cutting-edge technological innovations and
promoting green and low-carbon upgrades of its product portfolio.
Increasing energy consumption
efficiency and strengthening energy conservation, upgrading and digitalizing
logistics solutions to reduce fossil fuel use, coordinating with downstream
enterprises on energy and resource conservation, and promoting heat recycling
will also be key methods for the company to achieve its carbon goals.
"Jianlong Group will
continuously increase investment in scientific and technological innovation to
establish a holistic system for science and technology research and
development," said Zhang Zhixiang, chairman and president of the company.
"Through that, we aim to
transform toward science and technology-driven development."
The company has been making
efforts to upgrade technologies and equipment, as well as intensify energy
recycling and intelligent management.
It has accelerated the use of
highly efficient energy-saving facilities and equipment across its operations.
Such equipment includes natural gas power generators and energy-saving water
pumps.
The company is also phasing
out a number of motors or other devices that are energy-intensive.
In the past three years, more
than 100 energy conservation and environmental protection projects have been
implemented by Jianlong Group's subsidiaries, with a total investment of more
than 9 billion yuan ($1.4 billion).
The company has also been
actively carrying out research on the green development of the metallurgical
industry, while promoting the research and application of new energy-saving and
environmental protection technologies.
With the application of
intelligent technology for thermal control, the company's energy consumption
rates have been lowered by 5 to 21 percent in some production links, such as
heating furnaces and hot air furnaces.
Subsidiaries of the group
have also made use of marginal waste heat as a heating source.
Experts and business leaders
said that under the nation's green pledges, the steel industry faces huge
pressure to make more efforts to shift toward green development.
Thanks to concrete actions
taken by enterprises across the industry, many achievements have been made in
cutting carbon, although more efforts are needed to press ahead with the shift,
they said.
Li Xinchuang, chief engineer
of the Beijing-based China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research
Institute, said Chinese steel enterprises have already outperformed many key
foreign players in waste gas emissions control.
"The ultra-low carbon
emission standards implemented in China are also the strictest in the
world," he said.
Huang Dan, vice-president of
Jianlong Group, said that China has rolled out a series of measures to
accelerate carbon reduction and energy conservation in key industries including
the steel sector, which demonstrates the nation's strong sense of
responsibility and unfaltering pursuit of the building of an ecological
civilization.
"Both academic and
business communities have been actively studying new energy-saving and carbon
emission reduction technologies, including recycling of waste heat and energy
during steelmaking," Huang said.
"New breakthroughs are
just around the corner to usher in a new round of improvements in the sector's
energy efficiency," she added.
As of late 2021, the
comprehensive energy consumption needed to produce 1 metric ton of crude steel
in China's key large and medium-sized steel enterprises had dropped to 545
kilograms of standard coal equivalent, a decrease of 4.7 percent from 2015,
according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Sulfur dioxide emissions from
producing 1 ton of steel were cut by 46 percent from the figure for 2015.
The nation's top steel
industry association set up a Steel Industry Low-Carbon Promotion Committee
last year to lead efforts aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Those efforts
include developing carbon emission reduction technologies and standardizing
criteria for related issues.
"Green and low-carbon
development has become a universal mindset among China's steelmakers,"
said He Wenbo, executive chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association.
"Some domestic players have led the world in using advanced pollution
treatment facilities and reducing carbon emissions."