Shanghai Unveils Green Action Plan to Accelerate Low-Carbon Transition

Shanghai – Shanghai is on its journey towards a greener development with high- quality growth. However, further efforts are required in energy supply, institutional arrangements along with technological innovations as per officials and experts.  

Under the plan, Shanghai is looking to reach a target of installing solar photovoltaic of 4.5 million kilowatts by the year 2027, which is an increase from the current installed capacity of 3.48 million kilowatts. The city will also pioneer the construction of its first deep water wind power plants. In terms of transport, 75% of the cars in the central business district areas of Shanghai will be powered by clean energy by 2027 with all public transport busses and taxi cabs converting to NEVs next year.

Further, the supplemental energy conserving renovations are expected to cover additional 20 Million square meters of buildings by 2027 in addition to the planned 30 million square meters of building which is set to receive upgrades by the end of 14th Five Year plan 2021-2025.

Crucial Developments in Industry and Technology

In line with Shanghai’s greening initiatives, one of the objectives of China Baowu Steel Group Corp’s production base in the city is to reuse more than 15percent of steel scrap within a year. Moreover, the chemical industrial parks within the cities will consider critical materials, which are high towards carbon neutrality promotion.

The very plan speaks to the generation of future- oriented energy systems and advanced technologies with a view to lowering the carbon emissions. Financial institutions are encouraged to further deploy green credit, bonds and insurance in order to finance the transition while the city’s carbon trading mechanism will be made better to promote innovations.

Experts are highlighting the urgency of this transition to ensure Shanghai’s high-quality growth. Huang Weiguang, a researcher at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stressed the need for top-down green design across buildings, industries, and urban planning. He noted that resource and environmental constraints make this transformation vital for Shanghai’s continued development.

Huang Zhen, head of the Research Institute of Carbon Neutrality at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, emphasized the importance of reducing coal dependency and shifting to renewable energy as primary sources of power. He argued that “building a new power supply system centered on renewable energy is crucial to achieving this goal.

“The key to that transition lies in building a new power supply system centred on new energies, ” he said.

Meanwhile, Lin Han, vice-president of Shanghai Treasure Carbon New Energy Environmental Technology Co., highlighted that Chinese exporters must now comply with international green trade regulations and carbon emissions disclosures. Adding costs, it also presents opportunities for third-party service providers specializing in green energy and carbon management.

Recent Progress and Future Outlook

Shanghai has already made significant progress in clean energy adoption. Wind power was about up to 1.07 million kilowatts by the end of August, while the number of NEVs on the streets in the area has surpassed 1.41 million with the bound of almost 840,000 charging points. Also, Shanghai made progress in such fields as smart power grids, energy storage, and hydrogen fuel cells.

Zheng Guanghong, an official at the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, says that there is a need for further work and research to come up with revolutionary technologies in the energy space. he emphasised the need for increased energy- related research to drive breakthrough technologies.

Through the newly announced action plan, Shanghai is to take further steps toward its objectives on achieving more dedication to environmental protection and a low carbon footprint economy.

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