How to make new energy vehicles more "adequate"

By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, it is expected that the proportion of renewable energy in the increase of electricity consumption in the whole society will reach about two-thirds, and the proportion in the increase of primary energy consumption will exceed 50%. Renewable energy will change from the original incremental supplement of energy and electricity consumption to the main body of energy and electricity consumption increase. This also means that new energy vehicles are expected to become part of the electric energy storage network and truly use and promote renewable energy.

At the 2021 Shanghai International Auto Show, which opened on April 19, almost every exhibitor fully displayed new energy vehicles or the industry chain, so the auto show was also nicknamed the "new energy Auto Show". At the 2021 Shanghai International Auto Show, which opened on April 19, almost every exhibitor fully displayed the new energy vehicle or the industry chain, so the auto show was also nicknamed "new energy Auto Show". Photo by Xu Yajie, reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Net

A new car rolling off the production line, constantly consuming electricity, hydrogen or fuel, could cause an iceberg to collapse?

By the time the world's major automakers gathered for the 2021 Shanghai International Auto Show, the "world's largest iceberg" near Antarctica had melted and broken up into many smaller icebergs. Such a coincidence is reminiscent of the "butterfly effect" on the automotive, mobility and energy industries.

Although some scientists believe that the separation of the iceberg, code-named A68, from the Antarctic continental ice sheet is a natural phenomenon and has nothing to do with human-induced climate change. But the global average temperature is rising, and the global average sea level will continue to rise in 2020 is already an indisputable fact.

China has made it clear that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by 13.5% and 18% respectively. Carbon dioxide emissions will peak by 2030 and strive for carbon neutrality by 2060.

In fact, since the "carbon peak, carbon neutral" was written into this year's government work report and was regarded as one of the key tasks this year, all walks of life, including the automobile and travel industry, have developed industrial upgrading roadmap around the "carbon peak, carbon neutral" goal. At the 2021 Shanghai International Auto Show, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Changan Automobile, Dongfeng Co., Ltd. and other car companies have clearly put forward their respective strategic adjustment measures under the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

Are electric cars really environmentally friendly, or "fake emission reduction"?

There is no doubt that taking the road of green development has become one of the core concepts of China's national construction.

In the next five years, China's green transformation of production and lifestyle will achieve remarkable results, and the total emission of major pollutants will continue to decrease. By 2035, after peaking, China's carbon emissions will steadily decline, the ecological environment will fundamentally improve, and the goal of building a beautiful China will basically be achieved.

"With limited urban environmental capacity, the promotion of electric vehicles effectively reduces vehicle exhaust emissions, thus reducing the total amount of pollutants in the city." Jia Feng, director of the Publicity and Education Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that with the increase in the proportion of new energy vehicles in Beijing, PM2.5 has decreased significantly, improving the air quality in Beijing. The power is likely to come from the vast and sparsely populated Midwest, where environmental capacity is greater and pollutants from coal-fired power are easily dispersed.

Recently, at the interpretation meeting of the "Top 10 Global Environmental Hotspots in 2020" hosted by World Environment magazine, "China pledges to reach carbon peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060" "China defines the development blueprint by 2035 and draws a vision for ecological environmental protection" "The impact of climate change is intensifying. Frequent global meteorological disasters ", "The European Union implements the European Green Agreement and European Climate Law to escort green and low-carbon goals" and "China's continuous improvement of air quality attracts attention" were selected as the top ten events, involving political, economic and cultural fields related to the environment.

"Among the top 10 environmental hotspots, content on China's green development has attracted much attention." Jia Feng said that green development will play a more important role in China entering a new development stage, implementing new development concepts and building a new development pattern.

Statistics show that at present, 90% of China's carbon emissions come from the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, and from the perspective of the industry, the proportion of electricity, construction and transportation is relatively large. In the energy structure "lack of oil and gas" under the condition of promoting the "carbon peak, carbon neutral" goal, for many industries are extremely challenging.

"As our electricity source is still mainly coal, the promotion of electric vehicles will have a significant effect on reducing local emissions, but may have a limited effect on reducing overall carbon emissions." Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Studies, believes that achieving the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" cannot only look at new energy vehicles, but also adjust the energy structure.

In an interview, he bluntly said that the proportion of domestic renewable energy power generation still has a large room to increase, "the larger the proportion of renewable energy power generation, the more conducive to electric vehicles to help achieve carbon neutrality." According to the plan, by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan", the installed power generation capacity of renewable energy will account for more than 50% of the total installed power in China.

Ma Jun suggested at the reading that electric vehicles can be used as a kind of energy storage tool to become part of the entire power grid and energy network, so as to make full use of renewable energy such as wind power generation and photovoltaic power generation that should not be stored. "If every electric vehicle in the future can be turned into an electric energy storage, it will solve a lot of energy storage problems," he said.

Li Chuangjun, director of the New Energy and renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration, has previously said that by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, it is expected that the proportion of renewable energy in the increase of electricity consumption in the whole society will reach about two-thirds, and the proportion in the increase of primary energy consumption will exceed 50%. Renewable energy will change from the original incremental supplement of energy and electricity consumption to the main body of energy and electricity consumption increase.

During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, by speeding up the construction of a new power system with new energy as the main body, and improving the absorption and storage capacity of new energy, both to achieve large-scale development of renewable energy, but also to achieve a high level of consumption and utilization. "This means that we can more effectively guarantee the power supply and achieve high-quality development," concluded Li Chuangjun.

Industrial synergy is the key, and green development sets the tone for industrial upgrading

As the main means of human mobility, cars often travel across regions, and their use intensity and transportation turnover are usually closely related to the owner's use scenario, local economic structure and even industrial layout. Therefore, some people say that compared with other industries, the carbon emission composition of the transportation industry is more complex.

A number of industry insiders told reporters that the setting of carbon peak and carbon neutral goals has brought challenges to the automotive and transportation industry, and has also brewed many opportunities.

"In building a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the main body and the domestic and international cycles promoting each other, the automotive industry will be an important part of achieving this goal." Gu Chunting, vice president of Shanghai International Trade Promotion Association, said that electrification has become the center of this round of technological change in the automobile industry, and domestic and foreign car companies are stepping up the layout of technology research and development and production capacity investment in the field of electric vehicles to seize the first-mover advantage. At the same time, the power of scientific and technological innovation is also deeply integrated into the automobile industry, and jointly promote the low-carbon development of China's automobile industry.

At the 2021 Shanghai International Auto Show, which opened on April 19, almost every exhibitor fully displayed new energy vehicles or the industry chain, so the auto show was also nicknamed the "new energy Auto Show".

After taking the lead in the launch of dedicated pure level station products in the Chinese market, Volkswagen ID. The family's flagship SUV model, the ID.6, was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show, and Volkswagen will launch its fifth ID in China in the second half of this year. The family car. By 2023, the ID. family's product lineup in China will be expanded to eight models.

"Volkswagen is moving towards an electrified, fully connected and carbon-neutral future." Feng Sihan, CEO of Volkswagen passenger Car brand in China, bluntly said that Volkswagen is committed to becoming the preferred brand for Chinese users in the field of new energy vehicles and steadily advancing the electric mobility offensive.

Audi China president Anshihao said that the wave of electrification has made the auto market, including luxury car brands, appear "very big turning point and change", "this change is not only for car manufacturers, but also for users all the time to face new changes."

He revealed that six new energy vehicles will be launched in China this year. By 2025, Audi expects to introduce more than 30 electrified models, of which about 25 will be pure electric.

Of course, the automotive industry's contribution to "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" does not depend solely on electric vehicles.

"From the point of view of solving local environmental problems such as cities, the promotion of electric vehicles has a clear positive effect. But from the perspective of the overall situation and the full life cycle of electric vehicles, there is still a lot of room for improvement on the road to carbon neutrality." As Tu Ruihe, representative of the United Nations Environment Program in China, said, the core issue of achieving "carbon neutrality" is the production, transmission, storage and use of energy, so the most fundamental way is to transform the energy structure and promote the use of clean energy and renewable energy.

Due to the current generation of electric energy will also produce a certain amount of carbon emissions, while battery recycling is also facing technological upgrading, the whole industry began to pay more attention to the application and promotion of clean energy.

Mr. Ma cautioned that carbon emissions from the production of electric vehicles should not be ignored when talking about the auto industry's goal of reaching "carbon peak and carbon neutrality." Due to the large energy consumption of power batteries, aluminum and other components, the carbon emissions of some electric vehicles are higher than those of traditional fuel vehicles.

"For auto companies, we should not only build energy-saving and environmentally friendly cars, but also build energy-saving and environmentally friendly cars." Guo Tao, vice president of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. and secretary of the Party Committee of Dongfeng Motor Co., LTD., told reporters that up to now, the sum of the use of clean energy and renewable energy in Dongfeng Limited has reached 84%.

According to the previously released "Green 2022" plan, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Dongfeng Limited will continue to promote the use of clean energy and renewable energy by purchasing locally localized clean energy, vigorously using photovoltaic power generation, continuing to achieve energy gradient utilization, and strengthening the reuse of water resources.

"Based on current production standards, an electric car owner would have to drive it for at least six years before it could begin to meet carbon reduction targets." 'On the one hand, auto companies should start with improving the production process and work with parts suppliers to find ways to reduce carbon emissions in the production of electric vehicles,' Mr. Ma suggested. On the other hand, in extending the service life of electric vehicles and improving the battery recycling system, relevant companies should also speed up the pace of development.