At the recent APEC Business Leaders China Forum 2022, the APEC China Business Council and the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission jointly released the Sustainable China Industrial Development Initiative 2022 Annual Report “Beyond Net Zero Carbon” (hereinafter referred to as “the Report”). (“Report”). The report shows that, driven by China, the installed cost of global solar photovoltaic (PV) will drop by about 82% in 2021 compared to 2010, while the installed cost of onshore wind turbines and offshore wind power will drop by about 35% and 41% respectively, and the cost of power generation will also drop significantly.
Data show that in the decade from 2010 to 2020, solar photovoltaic power generation increased nearly 25 times, and wind power generation increased nearly four times. “None of this could have been possible without China’s technological breakthroughs in wind and solar PV and the construction of the industrial chain, which played a key role in the dramatic decline in the installed cost of solar and wind power and the cost of power generation worldwide.” According to the report, in the new energy structure dominated by hydro, wind and solar energy, the development of hydro power generation may be about to top out, and the future development of wind and solar PV still has unlimited potential.
China has become the world’s second-largest energy R&D spender with over $8 billion in R&D investment in 2020, with the main focus areas being fossil combustion and renewable energy-related low-carbon technologies. In terms of R&D achievements, China’s international patents have been proliferating since 2008. By 2020, the number of international patents obtained by China in the field of renewable energy technologies has exceeded 75%, and the current research in the field of renewable energy is mainly focused on three aspects: batteries, solar photovoltaic and electric vehicles and charging, and the cumulative number of patents for the three exceeds 50% of the total number in the world.
Zero carbon energy transition especially in the early stage requires huge capital investment, China proposed to achieve carbon neutrality in 2060, according to estimates of the average annual carbon neutral capital needs is 3 trillion – 5 trillion yuan. However, according to the report, the annual investment in energy fixed assets during the 13th Five-Year Plan period has exceeded 3 trillion yuan, indicating that there is no serious shortage of funds, and zero-carbon funds have a large market potential and scale.
The report points out that global development has shifted from a “high-carbon energy low-carbon channel” to a “zero-carbon energy channel”, and the replacement of the track will bring not only carbon neutrality, but also economic growth, employment growth, energy security, environmental improvement and well-being enhancement. The change of track will not only bring about carbon neutrality, but also economic growth, job creation, energy security, environmental improvement, and welfare enhancement, which will lead to a win-win situation for all goals, and achieve a sustainable development beyond “net zero carbon”.
Post time: Nov-23-2022