Quzhou's low-carbon development "flowers" are blooming everywhere

At the water plant of the Public Utilities Department of Juhua Group in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, photovoltaic panels are neatly arranged on the water surface, as if they have just "drunk" their energy and shine in the sun.

This is a new photovoltaic power station, which will be built into a zero-carbon and efficiency-creating solar demonstration project, which is expected to contribute 7.5 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy in the first year, save about 2,000 tons of standard coal, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 6,200 tons.

"7.5 million kilowatt-hours can be used for a whole year in the high-tech area of the intelligent new city. The relevant person in charge of the company told reporters that the Juhua Water Plant radiates many enterprises in the high-tech park of the intelligent manufacturing new city, with an annual water supply of more than 48 million tons, and the huge water supply has opened up the "zero carbon" development space of the water plant.

The floating power plant is a vivid coordinate in Quzhou's low-carbon energy map.

As early as 2021, Quzhou put forward the concept of "treating heroes with carbon efficiency", taking carbon peak and carbon neutrality into the overall economic and social development consideration, and taking the lead in actively exploring low-carbon transformation and development in the whole region.

Arriving at Qixi Town, which is located in the tributary of Majin Creek in Kaihua County, I saw that the valleys and streams were staggered, and the forests were lush and bamboos were cultivated. In the process of pilot construction of low-carbon (zero-carbon) townships, how can Qixi Town, with its narrow geographical location and backward infrastructure, shoulder the mission of "low-carbon and zero-carbon development"? Among them, the most talked-about answer is in a leaf of tea.

Kaihua Longding tea is produced in Qixi Town, Dalongshan and other places. According to records, its Ming Chongzhen was listed as a tribute tea in the fourth year. Now, after being assigned a QR code, Kaihua Longding Tea has an exclusive "ID card": carbon label.

The carbon footprint of the whole life cycle of each kilogram of Longding tea is a total of 14.49 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent. It is understood that this is the country's first carbon label for the tea industry.

Zhu Yingjie, head of the green and low-carbon research center of Zhejiang Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that carbon labeling is a form of marking the greenhouse gas emissions emitted by commodities in the process of production and operation, which can guide social low-carbon consumption on the one hand, drive the development of local industries and increase farmers' income;

The fragrance of tea welcomes guests from all over the world, and the "carbon" practice of Qixi Town does not stop there. On the side of Qixi Reservoir, you can see many campers coming here to "set up camp" and enjoy the beautiful scenery. At present, with the rise of the "tea brewing around the hearth" activity, the emerging industry featuring ecological campsites in Qixi Town is thriving, and the country's first low-carbon campsite group standard - "Low-carbon Camping Base Construction and Service Specification" came into being. It is understood that the standard puts forward low-carbon construction and operation requirements from the aspects of energy, environment, transportation, waste disposal and operation, integrates the green and low-carbon concept into the construction and management of campsites, and further promotes the green and sustainable development of camping tourism.

From economic development to people's livelihood and well-being, a model of green and low-carbon practices with Quzhou's recognition is taking shape.

The practice of green and low-carbon is inseparable from perfect supporting policies. Relying on the "four-color labeling", Quzhou has issued a number of green financial credit policies, using the "Zhejiang Office" platform, embedding the "cloud supermarket" service window of carbon finance, and launching 8 financial products such as "carbon financing" and "carbon reduction loan", giving differentiated loan policies to subjects of different colors.

Taking Kaihua County Nongniu Technology Co., Ltd. as an example, it accurately identified the fermentation process in the production of commercial organic fertilizer as the key factor for carbon emission reduction through carbon accounts, and then selected the trough fermentation process with low carbon emission intensity. Cheng Hui, chief engineer of the Kaihua Branch of the Quzhou Ecological Environment Bureau, said that compared with stacked composting, every 1 ton of organic matter produced can reduce carbon emissions by 0.22 tons. As a result, the company changed to a "dark green" label and enjoyed the "green" dividend as soon as possible.

In Changshan County, a small grapefruit also has an accurate "carbon portrait". "Changshan pomelo has a large yield and is planted scattered. Jiang Guoping, Soil and Solid Waste Chemicals Section, Changshan Branch of Quzhou Ecological Environment Bureau, introduced that the county has established a carbon emission accounting system integrating automatic carbon emission accounting and early warning functions, with a planting area of more than 50 acres of pomelo production as the carbon account construction object, while quantifying the carbon emissions of orchards in an all-round way, incentive policies have been adopted to guide the main body of carbon accounts to reduce pollution and carbon emissions. At present, 66 large-scale pomelo producers have established carbon accounts, with a total carbon emission of more than 2,000 tons, a total carbon sequestration of more than 2,200 tons, and a net carbon absorption of more than 200 tons.

A blueprint for greater clarity. Today, Quzhou has responded positively and carried out practical explorations in the optimization of economic and energy structure, the development of buildings and transportation, and green life and consumption. At present, Qujiang District and Longyou County under the jurisdiction of Quzhou City have been listed as provincial-level low-carbon pilot counties; Longyou Economic Development Zone, Changshan Industrial Park, Kaihua Economic Development Zone, and Jiangshan Economic Development Zone have been included in Zhejiang Province Pollution Reduction and Carbon Reduction Demonstration Parks, and a number of pollution reduction and carbon reduction benchmark projects have been implemented, such as reclaimed water reuse, biogas power generation, and regional collaborative utilization of organic wastewater carbon sources; 11 townships and towns have been included in the list of low-carbon pilot towns in Zhejiang Province, and 103 villages have been included in the list of low-carbon pilot villages (communities) in Zhejiang Province.