Carbon emission accounting in the park is no longer easier said than done

　　Promoting the implementation of carbon peak and carbon neutrality is not only China's solemn commitment to the world, but also a major strategy for the country to implement the new development concept and sustainable development. As important carriers of chemical enterprises, chemical parks and high-tech zones are the key main units to complete the strategic goal of "double carbon". So, what is the current status of carbon emissions in domestic chemical parks and high-tech zones? What are the shortcomings in the construction of basic data platforms such as product carbon footprint inventory, technical testing and inspection, as well as the application of "dual carbon" technology and the construction of management system? How can we do a better job in reducing carbon emissions in chemical parks? With these questions, a reporter from China Chemical Industry News walked into the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) and interviewed the relevant person in charge.

　　Industrial parks have become major carbon emitters

　　Zhu Ziqi, head of IPE's corporate climate action project, told reporters that in 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission's Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection (hereinafter referred to as the Department of Environmental Resources) pointed out that industrial parks contribute 31% of the country's carbon dioxide emissions and should become the "leader" of the "dual carbon" work.

　　Zhu Ziqi said that the results of a study by the Department of Environmental Resources on more than 210 national economic development zones showed that the direct and indirect emissions of the parks were 1.04 billion tons and 180 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent respectively, accounting for 85% and 15% of the total emissions. Among them, coal burning accounts for 74% of the total energy consumption of the park. It can be seen that reducing fossil energy consumption, replacing it with clean energy and improving energy efficiency are the focus of the park's emission reduction work.

　　"In our survey, we have also seen that a number of units are or have been formulating carbon dioxide emission accounting and reporting guidelines at the industrial park level, such as the "Guidelines for Carbon Dioxide Emission Accounting and Reporting in Industrial Parks" jointly drafted by the Secretariat of the Green Development Alliance of the National Economic Development Zone and the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units and parks, the "Guidelines for the Construction of Low-carbon/Zero-carbon Industrial Parks" jointly issued by the China National Institute of Standardization and Envision Energy, and the "Guidelines for the Construction of Low-carbon/Zero-carbon Industrial Parks" jointly issued by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation for chemical parks. Implementation Guidelines for Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality in Chemical Parks (Draft for Comments)", etc. However, there is no unified standard for carbon accounting at the park level, including the definition of accounting boundaries, the screening methods of emission sources, and the selection of emission factors. Zhu Ziqi said that in addition to the inconsistent accounting standards at the park level, some experts believe that many parks still lack basic data platforms such as product carbon footprint, low-carbon products and technology testing and inspection, and there are also shortcomings in the cultivation of "double carbon" talents, and it is impossible to establish a systematic "double carbon" technology and management system. These are all challenges in building a carbon accounting framework for campus systems.

　　Accounting for carbon emissions caused by multiple factors is easier said than done

　　Ding Shanshan, director of IPE Green Supply Chain, believes that the difficulties in greenhouse gas accounting and disclosure at the park level are mainly due to the unclear methodology of energy and resource data statistics and carbon accounting, and the lack of unified standards for carbon data disclosure framework.

　　Ding Shanshan said that through the collation of relevant literature and research reports, it is found that: first, in terms of carbon data management, the park is not a legal entity, the boundary is not easy to determine and manage, if there is no clear carbon accounting and carbon disclosure system support, it is difficult for enterprises in the park to have the incentive to assist the park in data statistics and ensure data quality. In addition, there is a shortage of talents with accounting experience in the park, and outsourcing them to professional companies may increase costs.

　　Secondly, in terms of accounting methodology, the accounting standards for different application scenarios and target objects are not clear and uniform.

　　Thirdly, due to the inconsistent accounting standards of measured data at the park level and the difficulty of obtaining measured data, the uncertainty of research related to low-carbon transformation in the park is increased, and the prediction of emission reduction scenarios and subsequent progress in the park are facing challenges.

　　Finally, from the perspective of carbon disclosure, there is not enough data transparency at the park level, and there is a lack of public scrutiny. At present, environmental information disclosure is mainly based on enterprises, and environmental information disclosure at the park level is still in the stage of encouragement.

　　Ding Shanshan also talked about the emission reduction of the whole value chain of the chemical industry. On the one hand, basic chemicals are mostly located in the supply chain of downstream end products, and the leading enterprises of these products will drive and cooperate with supplier partners in the value chain to reduce emissions in their value chains, and set emission reduction targets based on baselines by encouraging suppliers to measure and disclose their own carbon emissions, and implement emission reduction actions.

　　On the other hand, most of the upstream chemical enterprises have a mutual supply relationship, and the by-products in their production systems are many and complex, so they can establish an "ecological chain" of the industrial system in the chemical park, realize the exchange of by-products and wastes between the members of the park through the construction of an industrial symbiosis network, and optimize the raw materials and energy sources of chemical enterprises. With the chemical park as a whole, we will build a recycling industrial park to improve the ability of resource recycling, promote the emission reduction of the production process and upstream raw material production process, and improve its economic benefits while reducing the environmental impact of the enterprise from the source.

　　Find out your bottom line and make a plan to reduce emissions

　　In view of the above problems, Zhu Ziqi said that it is necessary to fully understand the characteristics of the production process and product types of enterprises in the chemical park, and suggested that a systematic and standardized greenhouse gas accounting framework and implementation rules for industrial parks should be developed and compiled based on the life cycle analysis method, and the greenhouse gas accounting methodology system of industrial parks should be systematically constructed from the aspects of accounting boundaries, carbon sources and carbon sinks, data aggregation and deduction.

　　First, for the chemical industry, due to the cumbersome chemical reactions in the industrial process, the diversity of by-products, and the complexity of emission allocation, the greenhouse gas emission accounting of chemical parks should be based on the "Guidelines for Accounting Methods and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions of China's Chemical Production Enterprises (Trial)" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, and consider using the carbon mass balance method to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial production process, avoid double counting or omission, and distinguish whether fossil energy is used as fuel combustion or raw materials by identifying carbon source streams. In this way, the accuracy of accounting is improved.

　　Second, the park should incorporate the concept of green and low-carbon into the development strategy of the park, set up a "dual carbon" working group in the management committee, and cultivate a full-time team for emission reduction statistics and accounting, and can also hire professional companies. On the basis of establishing a carbon emission management system, the park as a whole is used as an accounting system to clarify the input and output of energy and resources, and carry out greenhouse gas emission accounting within the park boundary, including the public and auxiliary facilities in the park, so as to reduce the overlapping accounting boundaries of enterprises in the park and the omission of public and auxiliary facilities in the park in the accounting list.

　　Third, the park should also build a carbon emission management information platform, clarify the content of data collection, collection frequency, and data reporting format, and arrange special personnel to be responsible for the daily management of the platform and the tracking of data reporting progress. On the basis of data collection, the park should establish an inventory of emission sources, and develop carbon emission data collection, entry, verification, traceability, analysis and reporting modules to form an automated and standardized greenhouse gas emission accounting system at the park level.

　　Fourth, the park management department should require the enterprises in the park to carry out targeted delivery and public disclosure of greenhouse gases in accordance with the environmental information disclosure system and the carbon market trading system, and disclose the greenhouse gases at the park level to the public, and accept the supervision of the public and more stakeholders on their energy conservation and emission reduction work.

　　On the basis of finding out the emission background, the park should set greenhouse gas emission reduction, carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals based on the national "dual carbon" strategy and the emission reduction plans of the provinces and industries to which it belongs, continuously track the emission reduction performance of each emission source, adjust the targets in a timely manner, and build an incentive system for emission reduction.

　　In addition, the park should also build a circular economy system in the zone, so as to realize the seamless connection between upstream, midstream and downstream industries in the same industrial chain, and work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the park.

　　"Chemical enterprises should also continue to optimize the source of raw materials, take the chemical park as a whole, improve the ability to recycle resources, and promote the emission reduction of the production process and upstream raw material production process." Zhu Ziqi emphasized.