From the 75th United Nations General Assembly in September 2020 to the just-concluded National Two Sessions, in half a year, "carbon neutrality" has gone from an unfamiliar professional word to a high-frequency hot word. Recently, the S60 Xiangshan Scientific Conference with the theme of "Carbon Neutral Technological Innovation Path Selection" organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology conducted an in-depth discussion on carbon peaking and carbon-neutral technological innovation.

In the opinion of experts attending the meeting, in order to cope with the challenges of climate change and solve the climate crisis, the goal commitment of "China's carbon dioxide emissions strive to peak before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060" not only sets a time limit, but also sets a time limit for our country. Energy development has put forward clear requirements and will bring about a major change in the economic and social environment, profoundly changing the lives of every ordinary person.

Wind energy, light energy, etc. will take over the main field of electricity. In order to obtain electricity, heat and other energy sources for a hundred years, humans have long been accustomed to burning fossil energy, mainly coal and oil. However, the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane it produces have become the main causes of climate change and global warming. Therefore, the goal of carbon neutrality first points to the energy revolution.

"Our existing energy can be divided into three major categories. Coal, oil and natural gas are fossil energy. Water energy, wind energy, light energy, geothermal energy and bioenergy are renewable energy. In addition, nuclear energy is also a type of new energy." Liu Zhongmin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that in recent years, low-carbon and carbon-free energy has become a major international trend. The goal of carbon neutrality will directly promote the construction of my country's new energy system and the transformation and upgrading of related industries.

"There are now views that there are still 10 years to go before carbon peaks, and our carbon emissions can still reach a peak. However, carbon peaks are not a peak, but a basic step towards carbon neutrality. These two goals are essentially low. Carbon transformation. my country will shift from mainly fossil energy to non-fossil energy, which is another profound energy revolution," said Du Xiangwan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He pointed out that it is necessary to re-understand our country's energy resource endowment. While fossil energy is "rich in coal, short of oil, and short of gas", we must regard abundant non-fossil energy resources as an important part of our country's energy resource endowment. Calculated in accordance with the carbon neutrality goal, my country's non-fossil energy will account for 25% of total energy demand by 2030. This will prompt our country to gradually build a low-carbon energy system dominated by non-fossil energy. The power industry will gradually reduce emissions.

"In the past 10 years, the production cost of new energy power such as photovoltaic and wind power in my country has continued to decline. Our country will have a new energy power system dominated by non-fossil energy power. This also requires that the system, mechanism, management and operation of the power system continue to improve. To make a series of revolutionary changes," Du Xiangwan said.

Transportation, construction, and homes will all turn to electrification. Compared with direct burning of fossil fuels, non-fossil energy electricity is undoubtedly a clean energy that does not produce carbon emissions. Regarding industry, the "big household" of carbon emissions, Du Xiangwan pointed out that the carbon neutrality goal will promote the electrification of my country's industry. Boilers in light industry and blast furnaces in heavy industry such as the steel industry will gradually be replaced by electric furnaces, and various places will also inhibit the development of high-tech industries. With the impulse of energy-consuming industries, energy conservation and efficiency will become the key words for industrial development.

The same is true for transportation. In recent years, new energy vehicles have developed rapidly in our country. With the establishment of the carbon neutrality goal, the pace of new energy vehicle promotion will only become faster and faster. "Emission reduction in the transportation industry depends on green travel, and we will gradually build a decarbonized transportation energy system for Beautiful China." Du Xiangwan said.

To achieve carbon emission reduction, buildings must also follow suit. Jiang Yi, a professor at Tsinghua University, said that in the future, the construction and operation of residential and office buildings everywhere must be electrified. Photovoltaic equipment will be installed on the surfaces of various buildings as much as possible to achieve photovoltaic power generation, and distributed power storage will be used in the buildings. At the same time, surrounding parking lots will be used to connect to new energy vehicles through smart charging piles. DC power distribution will be built inside the building to realize flexible power consumption in the building. As for the large amount of carbon emissions caused by centralized heating in northern my country in winter, it is also necessary to gradually replace it with electrification through technological exploration to achieve a zero-carbon heat source for winter heating.

"Electrification is the key to reducing building emissions." Du Xiangwan said that in the future, heating, cooling, lighting, cooking, and home appliances will all turn to electrification, which will lead to more energy-saving and emission-reducing smart homes, and even self-use of electricity. "Through the above methods, We will have a large number of energy 'prosumers' who will not only change and optimize the energy structure, but also cultivate new business forms and patterns."

In addition, Du Xiangwan emphasized that effective emission reduction and energy carbon reduction in industry, transportation, construction and other fields will also be promoted in conjunction with the "Blue Sky Defense War". In the future, we will see continued improvement in air quality, and the public will gain more A sense of gain and happiness in the blue sky.

Garbage sorting, energy conservation and emission reduction will be completely integrated into life. A few years ago, there was a popular online game that calculated your carbon emissions based on your daily eating, drinking, eating, clothing, housing and transportation. Now, with the clear goal of carbon neutrality, everyone's emission reduction, green and low-carbon behavior habits will undoubtedly be further integrated into the lives of all Chinese people.

Du Xiangwan pointed out that reducing carbon emissions requires the development of a circular economy, and the degree of solid waste resource utilization in each city is an essential symbol of its modernization. Therefore, in order to reduce the amount of garbage buried and make it highly resource-friendly, garbage classification at the source must be done well. "Currently, some cities in my country are conducting pilot projects of 'waste-free cities', striving to minimize the environmental impact of solid waste. In the future, we will move towards a 'waste-free society'," Du Xiangwan said.

In addition to reducing emissions, the path to achieving the goal of carbon neutrality also involves increasing sinks. Planting trees and increasing forest carbon sinks is a powerful measure. It is foreseeable that the environmental protection concept of "strengthening afforestation, increasing vegetation coverage, and letting nature become a transporter of carbon" will become more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and be reflected in actions.