China News Network, Wuzhishan, Hainan, November 26 (Reporter Wang Xiaobin) He Kebin, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Carbon Neutral Research Institute of Tsinghua University, said on the 26th that the world must achieve the goal of "double carbon" (carbon peak, carbon neutrality), At present, it is facing four major challenges: key core technology innovation, new energy key material supply chain, global coordinated utilization of wind and solar resources, and comprehensive decision-making support for climate and environment coordinated governance.
The theme meeting of the second phase of the 2022 Tropical Rainforest Conservation International Symposium was held in Wuzhishan City, Hainan Province on the same day.
He Kebin delivered a keynote speech online.
He introduced that as of the first half of this year, the countries and regions that have made carbon neutral commitments have covered 90% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, 90% of the gross national product (GDP) and 90% of the population.
In the process of realizing the "double carbon" goal, subversive technological changes will greatly change the existing social and economic development structure, and human activities will undergo drastic changes in the next few decades.
Prior to this, the realization of the "double carbon" goal faced four major challenges.
The first challenge is key core technology innovation.
According to the analysis of the International Energy Agency, 50% of the key technologies to achieve net zero emissions in the world by 2050 are not yet mature.
He Kebin introduced that the Ministry of Science and Technology organized experts to analyze the relevant supporting technologies for China's realization of the "3060" goal, one-third of which are in the demonstration stage, and another one-third are in the concept and research and development stage.
This means that the overall maturity of global carbon neutral technology is not high at present, and there are still many technologies that need research and development breakthroughs.
The second challenge is the supply chain of key materials for the new energy industry.
Equipment that utilizes wind and solar resources to generate electricity requires key materials such as rare metals and rare earth elements.
He Kebin believes that in the future large-scale utilization of wind and solar resources, related materials will face the problem of insufficient global resources and uneven distribution.
How to find alternative materials or increase the recycling of materials will be the key to meeting the challenge.
The third challenge is the coordinated utilization of global wind and rain resources.
The study pointed out that the wind-solar hybrid power generation system combined with a 12-hour long-term energy storage system can effectively bridge the power gap in countries with large land areas and improve the reliability of power generation systems.
In contrast, countries with a relatively small land area will face more severe challenges in building a 100% wind-solar hybrid power generation system.
In this regard, He Kebin suggested that in the future, a regional sharing plan for wind and solar resources should be established to absorb the uneven solar and wind energy in various countries.
The fourth challenge is the support of comprehensive decision-making on climate and environment collaborative governance.
He Kebin predicted that in the next few decades, the greenhouse gases and air pollutants emitted by human activities will turn from increasing to decreasing.
In the era of carbon neutrality, changes in the energy landscape and industrial layout of human society will further have a major impact on ecological and environmental indicators such as air quality, water environment quality, nitrogen and phosphorus cycle, and environmental carrying capacity.
How to quantitatively analyze relevant changes and impacts to make scientific and sound decisions?
He Kebin believes that corresponding tool systems and data systems are needed. He suggested setting up a set of three-dimensional carbon source and carbon sink monitoring technologies to obtain relevant data and develop a reliable calculation model platform.
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