China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Coal-gobbling city preparing to shed black and wear green
Liupanshui in Guizhou province pursues industrial transformation for new life
More supportive policies can help Liupanshui in Guizhou province better transit from a coal-gobbling city to a local economy supported by more environmentally friendly enterprises, its top official said.
Li Gang, mayor of Liupanshui and a deputy to the 13th National People’s Congress, called for more financial support from the National Development and Reform Commission within the central budget on investment.
Li said the larger goal is to promote green transformation of traditional industries and speed up development of new industrial clusters for more sustainable development in the city.
Li said: “Liupanshui will step up efforts in green transformation of traditional industries. Coal has been a pillar industry in Liupanshui’s economic development. The city will continue its efforts in offering financial support to coal companies for technology innovation to cut emissions and improve efficiency.
“The local government will also encourage coal mines to adopt mechanization and intelligent transformation, and promote develand opment of coalrelated industries to extend the supply chain.
“Liupanshui will also speed up development of new industrial clusters to diversify energy sources and explore the new path of green and low-carbon development in the city. The focus will be on areas of new energy like lithium and hydrogen power, and emerging industries like new materials, the internet of things, and modern logistics. That’s the way to promote Liupanshui’s development of new industrial clusters.”
Li’s call for green transformation of Liupanshui’s pillar industries is in line with the central government’s strong green commitment.
While delivering the annual Government Work Report to the 13th National People’s Congress on Friday, Premier Li Keqiang said China plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 18 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).
The carbon intensity target reaffirmed China’s strong green commitment. Last year, China pledged to peak carbon emissions by 2030, and reach carbon neutrality by 2060.
Liupanshui’s long-standing reliance on coal has defined its economy so far. According to the local government, proven coal reserves in Liupanshui reached 23.32 billion metric tons.
Last year, total profit from the city’s coal mining and washing sector reached 2.98 billion yuan ($458.7 million), up 495 percent compared with 2015.
Tax revenues from coal mining and thermal power electricity generation surpassed 3.67 billion yuan, contributing more than 30 percent of the city’s total.
“Coal, together with electricity, steel and construction materials, contributed about 85 percent of the added value of industries whose revenue from main businesses exceeded 20 million yuan each,” Li said.
The city figures among the second batch of demonstration areas identified for industrial transition and upgrade by the NDRC and four other ministry-level departments in 2019.
Following their guidelines, the municipal government of Liupanshui invested 53.04 billion yuan in 183 projects in areas of public infrastructure, public service platforms, and industrial innovation.
This was to support development of industries like new materials, new energy, modern logistics, and the internet of things.
Thanks to persistent efforts in promoting sustainable development, the city has been able to reach certain milestones in the green transformation of traditional sectors and development of emerging industries.
Two Liupanshui-based coal mines — Faer coal mine and Shanjiaoshu coal mine — have been included in China’s first batch of showpiece coal mines that underwent transformation to emerge as intelligent or smart enterprises.
The city’s first route of hydrogen-powered buses, which is also the first such attempt in Guizhou, has been put into operation on March 5.
The city’s hydrogen production plant and hydrogen refueling station have also started trial operations.
In addition, Liupanshui tied up with a team of hydrogen experts from top institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University and the China University of Geosciences on technology innovation.
The team now offers technology support, guidance and consulting services to hydrogen-powered projects in the city.
Delivering the Government Work Report at the annual session of the National People’s Congress on Friday, Premier Li Keqiang said China has set the reduction of energy consumption per unit of GDP by about 3 percent as one of its main targets for 2021.
The country plans to cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by 13.5 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by 18 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (202125).
Setting such “hard” goals shows China’s determination to follow the green development path. Between 2013 and 2019, China’s energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped 24.6 percent, saving 1.27 billion metric tons of standard coal, which is close to the combined energy consumption of the Beijing-TianjinHebei and Yangtze River Delta regions in one year. China has managed to achieve average annual economic growth of 7 percent between 2013 and 2019 while limiting its average annual energy consumption growth to about 2.7 percent.
By saving half the energy in the world during the period, China has contributed immensely to promoting sustainable development.
Energy utilization efficiency is a green yardstick for evaluating a country’s development quality. Faced with challenges in promoting local economic recovery and reconstructing supply chains in the post-epidemic period, some local governments in China are promoting such high-energy consumption projects as coal-power plants, steel, cement and petrochemicals.
However, using energy more efficiently at source while curbing the impulse to develop heavy chemicals and other high-energy consumption industries is necessary for the development of digital, high-tech and modern service industries.
Unlike developed countries that promoted green development after industrialization, China is switching to green development in the process of industrialization, which is a challenging task.
Peaking its carbon emissions and then achieving carbon neutrality remain daunting tasks for China, but the need to promote green, low-carbon and circular development was never more urgent than now.
The more we progress, the more we must stay committed to green development goals. This year, China will further improve its industrial and energy structures, promote clean and efficient use of coal, and vigorously develop new energy sources.
It will also introduce a series of policies and measures to accelerate the construction of a national market for transaction of energy use and carbon emission rights.