The requirements for ecological green and low-carbon are tightening, and the green and low-carbon transformation of chemical parks is imperative

On the occasion of the first National Ecology Day on August 15, General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions, emphasizing that the construction of ecological civilization is a fundamental plan related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Implementing the call of the general secretary, strengthening the strategic determination of ecological civilization construction, and establishing a high-quality ecological environment to support the high-quality and sustainable development of the chemical industry is undoubtedly the most urgent task that the industry must pay attention to and practice.

The establishment of the National Ecology Day shows that the country's determination to implement the new concept of ecological development is firmer, and the action force to enhance high-quality development guided by green and low-carbon is stronger, indicating that the requirements for ecological green and low-carbon will be tighter in the future.

In recent years, a number of chemical parks have been "wiped out" due to serious ecological and environmental protection problems. The first National Ecology Day is an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of green and low-carbon transformation and upgrading, adhere to high standards and strict requirements, and always be consistent with the national ecological strategy.

To this end, we should learn from the practices of the leaders and practitioners of green and low-carbon transformation of domestic chemical parks and the pioneers of building "zero-carbon enterprises", and put forward some suggestions based on research and thinking.

First, we must attach importance to the strategic planning of green and low-carbon transformation. SCIP is the first in China to propose green transformation and development, and has formulated the strategic positioning of the petrochemical industry to develop into a fine, green, high-tech, high-efficiency and high-value-added industry, and comprehensively and systematically planned new measures to promote green and low-carbon development. Shanghai Jinshan chemical industry takes the initiative to benchmark against the world's first-class, accelerates the high-end, refined, low-carbon and green transformation of chemical parks, and strives to build a 100-billion-level high-end green chemical industry.

Second, we must pay attention to the recycling of resources. Ways of resource utilization include reclaimed water reuse, by-product and waste recycling, and resource utilization. For example, Jilin Chemical Industry Park takes the transformation and upgrading of Jilin Chemical Industry Park as an opportunity to promote the circular development of the petrochemical park, achieve carbon reduction at the source, improve the recycling rate of petrochemical products, promote carbon reduction in consumption, and pay attention to the construction of a petrochemical waste recycling system, which has a more obvious effect of promoting energy conservation and emission reduction.

Third, we must practice green and low-carbon in an all-round way. As Syngenta's first "zero-carbon factory" in China, Syngenta's Kunshan plant has always been committed to building a "zero-carbon factory", and has always integrated "green" throughout the entire operation process, such as switching from forklift oil to electricity, switching to green packaging, and planning to build photovoltaics. The plant's output value increased by 17% in 2022, while energy consumption and CO2 emission intensity per unit of output value decreased by 11.3%.

Fourth, we must attach importance to promoting the use of green and low-carbon mature technologies. Relatively successful cases, such as the green treatment process of high-salt wastewater can save energy by 63%, and the integration of "geothermal + wind and solar, energy storage, refrigeration, and heating" can reduce costs and increase efficiency by at least 40% in chemical parks and chemical enterprises;

In short, the green and low-carbon transformation of the chemical industry is imperative, and the chemical park must have the consciousness of thought and action, take the green and low-carbon transformation as the first strategic priority, guide the chemical enterprises to implement the concept of ecological development, reduce carbon in development, achieve higher-quality development in carbon reduction, solidly promote green and low-carbon transformation, and contribute chemical wisdom to the millennium plan of ecological development.