Practice and experience of developing low-carbon economy in developed countries
Abstract: A large amount of CO2 emitted by fossil energy consumption destroys the carbon balance of the earth's atmosphere, resulting in
Global warming threatens human survival. Under the background of international concern about climate issues, the development of low-carbon economy has attracted more and more attention from the international community. Developed countries have had some experience in developing low-carbon economy. As a big emitter of greenhouse gases, China is facing specific constraints in the process of transition to a low-carbon economy. Therefore, China should learn from the successful experience of developed countries in developing low-carbon economy, actively carry out research on policies and technologies related to low-carbon economic development, and explore a road to low-carbon economic development suitable for China's national conditions.
[Keywords:] low-carbon economy China's sustainable economic development
Concept and characteristics of low-carbon economy
In order to cope with the great challenges brought by climate change to the human environment, Britain issued the White Paper on Energy in 2003 (the future of energy in Britain-creating a low-carbon society), which put forward the "low-carbon economy" for the first time. Although the white paper does not put forward a clear concept of "low-carbon economy", Crick's low-carbon development model has formulated a detailed long-term goal and roadmap, hoping to transform Britain into a low-carbon economy and actively promote the development of the global "low-carbon economy". Since then, other European countries and Japan have also put forward the idea of developing a low-carbon economy and building a low-carbon society.
With the progress of low-carbon economy practice, the connotation of low-carbon economy is expanding. At present, most scholars agree that the connotation mainly includes three aspects: ① The key to developing a low-carbon economy is to reduce the carbon emission per unit energy consumption (that is, carbon intensity), reduce the carbon intensity of energy consumption through carbon capture, storage and storage, and control the growth rate of CO2 emission. ② The key to developing low-carbon economy lies in promoting the decoupling between economic growth and carbon emissions caused by energy consumption, realizing the dislocation growth between economy and carbon emissions, controlling the elasticity of carbon emissions through energy substitution, developing low-carbon energy and carbon-free energy, and finally realizing the carbon decoupling of economic growth. ③ The key to developing low-carbon economy lies in changing people's high-carbon consumption tendency and carbon preference, reducing the consumption of fossil energy, slowing down the carbon footprint and realizing low-carbon survival.
It can be considered that low-carbon economy is an economic development model from high-carbon energy to low-carbon energy, and it is a self-help behavior aimed at repairing the carbon imbalance of the earth's ecosystem. Its core is to form clear, stable and long-term guidance and encouragement on the basis of market mechanism, through the formulation and innovation of institutional framework and policy measures, to promote the development and application of energy-efficient technologies, energy-saving technologies, renewable energy technologies and greenhouse gas emission reduction technologies, and to promote the transformation of the whole economy into a mode of high energy efficiency, low energy consumption and low carbon emission.
As a new economic development model, low-carbon economy has the following characteristics: first, it is economical, including two meanings: ① low-carbon economy should develop according to the principles and mechanisms of market economy; ② The development of low-carbon economy should not lead to the decline of people's living conditions and welfare level. The second is technology: that is, through technological progress, the emission intensity of greenhouse gases such as CO2 can be reduced while improving energy efficiency. Objectives: The goal of developing a low-carbon economy should be to keep the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a relatively stable level, so that the global temperature rise will not affect the survival and development of human beings, thus achieving the harmonious development between man and nature.
Practice of Developing Low-carbon Economy in Developed Countries
1 Policy Guidance and Legal Regulation of Low-carbon Economic Development
Britain is an advocate of low-carbon economy and the most active country to promote the development of low-carbon economy. In 2007, Britain introduced the world's first climate change bill, which was implemented in 2008, becoming the first country in the world to have a climate change law. In April 2009, Britain became the first country in the world to restrict the "carbon budget" by legislation. On July 6th, 2009, the British government officially released the UK low-carbon conversion plan. On the same day, the British energy, commerce and transportation departments also released a series of supporting plans, including the British renewable energy strategy, the British low-carbon industry strategy and the low-carbon transportation strategy.
In recent years, Japan has continuously introduced major policies to focus on developing a low-carbon economy. In 2004, Japan launched the research plan "Japan's Low-carbon Society Scenarios Facing 2050", with the goal of putting forward specific countermeasures for realizing the goal of low-carbon society in 2050. In May 2008, a research group funded by the Japanese government released "Twelve Actions for a Low-carbon Society". In April 2009, Japan published a draft reform policy called "Green Economy and Social Change", aiming at strengthening Japan's low-carbon economy by implementing measures such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Although the United States has not signed the Kyoto Protocol, it has attached great importance to energy conservation and emission reduction in recent years, such as the Energy Policy Act passed in 2005, the Low Carbon Economy Act proposed by the US Senate in July 2007, and the Clean Energy Security Act passed by the US House of Representatives in June 2009. The US Secretary of State said that the US government is committed to supporting clean energy technologies and low-carbon economic development to cope with global climate change.
2. Pay attention to the research and development of low-carbon technologies
In the research and development of low-carbon technologies, the EU aims to pursue the international leading position and develop cheap, clean, efficient and low-emission energy technologies. Britain and Germany regard the development of low-carbon power station technology as the key to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. They believe that in the medium and long term, coal will continue to play a role, so it is necessary to develop more efficient power stations that can apply clean coal technology. Therefore, the British and German governments have adjusted their industrial structure, built demonstration low-carbon power stations, and increased funding for research projects such as developing clean coal technology and collecting and storing carbon molecules, in order to find effective ways to significantly reduce carbon emissions. [ 1]
As a deep-water bomb to promote low-carbon economy, Japan has invested heavily in developing low-carbon technologies every year. According to the figures released by the Cabinet Office of Japan in September 2008, in the budget related to science and technology, the development cost of environmental energy technology alone reached nearly 654.38+000 billion yen, of which the budget for innovative solar power generation technology was 3.5 billion yen. At present, there are many energy and environmental technologies in Japan that are in the forefront of the world, such as the environmentally friendly residential technology that comprehensively utilizes solar energy and heat insulation materials, greatly reduces the energy consumption of residential buildings, the cogeneration system technology that uses the waste heat generated during power generation to provide heat energy for heating and hot water systems, and the wastewater treatment technology and plastic recycling technology. These are all important advantages for Japan to develop a low-carbon economy. In addition, Japan continues to invest in fossil energy emission reduction technologies and equipment, such as flue gas desulfurization technology and equipment in coal-fired power plants, forming a leading international flue gas desulfurization and environmental protection industry.
The United States pays attention to the technological innovation of effectively using energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the market mechanism. The government has formulated a low-carbon technology development plan and set up a special national low-carbon economy research institution to provide technical guidance and R&D funds for relevant institutions and enterprises engaged in low-carbon economy, and to organize and coordinate low-carbon technology research and development and industrialization promotion at the national level. The United States is the country that invests the most in R&D low-carbon economy in the world. In February 2009, the federal government submitted the annual budget of 20 10 to the National Assembly (implemented in June 2009 10). According to this budget, $654.38+0.5 billion has been allocated for the research of clean coal-burning technology. [2] At present, the United States is accelerating the research and development and demonstration of the next generation power generation technology, and plans to build the world's first zero-emission power plant in 20 12.
3. Take the development of renewable energy as an important measure to reduce carbon.
Britain is an island country with changeable climate and insufficient energy, and attaches great importance to the development of renewable energy. In the "Carbon Budget" published by Britain in 2009, it is proposed that by 2020, the supply of renewable energy will account for 15%, of which 30% of electricity will come from renewable energy, and the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 20%, and the oil demand will be reduced by 7%. Britain is rich in wind resources. The first offshore wind power station started construction in June 5438+February, 2000. After nearly 10 years of development, Britain has become the country with the largest number of wind power stations and the largest total installed capacity in Shanghai. At present, the power of land and offshore wind power stations in Britain is enough to supply 6.5438+0.5 million households. According to the plan, from 2009 to 20 12, Britain will invest 9 billion pounds to develop offshore wind power generation, which will supply power to 2.8 million households. The British government leans towards renewable energy in terms of policies and funds to ensure that Britain is in a leading position in the development of renewable energy in the world.
Germany passed the renewable energy law in 2004 to ensure the status of renewable energy. The following key areas have been identified: ① Vigorously develop wind energy and promote the upgrading of existing wind power equipment. ② Increase the utilization rate of clean electric energy from 12% in 2004 to 25%~30% in 2020, and increase the utilization rate of thermal power supply by 25% annually. ③ By 2020, the proportion of clean energy such as solar energy, biogas and geothermal energy used in building heating will increase from 6% in 2004 to 14% in 2020. At present, the renewable energy industry is developing rapidly in Germany, and the proportion of renewable energy in the whole German energy consumption is increasing year by year, from 3.5% in 2003 to 8.7% in 2008. In 2008, the proportion of renewable energy in power generation industry has reached 17%.
Japan is one of the countries with the fastest development of renewable energy in the world. In April 2009, the Japanese government launched four major plans of "Japan's Green New Deal", in which the specific goal of renewable energy is to reach the highest level in the world, that is, from 10.5% in 2005 to 20% in 2020. Japan pays attention to the development of geothermal energy, wind energy, bioenergy and solar energy, especially the development and utilization of solar energy, and proposes to strengthen the research, development and utilization of solar energy, and plans to increase solar power generation by 20 times in 2020. In order to achieve this goal, the Japanese government actively promotes technology development to reduce the cost of solar power generation system, and further implements government encouragement policies including subsidies to strengthen the position of solar energy utilization in the forefront of the world.
4 Use economic means to stimulate the development of low-carbon economy
(1) carbon tax. Carbon tax is considered as an effective policy tool by developed countries. Carbon tax is a mixed tax, and its tax rate is determined by the carbon content and calorific value of energy. Different energy sources will have different tax burdens due to different carbon content and calorific value, and the tax burden of low-carbon energy sources is lower than that of high-carbon energy sources. In recent years, Britain, the United States, Japan, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and other developed countries have imposed national carbon taxes on fossil fuels that produce CO2. For example, in Britain, enterprises that have signed a voluntary climate change agreement with the government can reduce their carbon tax by 80% if they achieve the energy efficiency or emission reduction stipulated in the agreement.
(2) financial subsidies. It is an important economic means to promote the development of low-carbon economy that the government gives subsidies to producers or economic behaviors that are conducive to the development of low-carbon economy. Britain has adopted a series of financial subsidies for the use of renewable energy. For example, British power suppliers are forced to provide a certain proportion of renewable energy (from 5.5% in 2005-2006 to 65,438+05-2065,438+05.4% in 2006). Therefore, the British government has provided some subsidies to power suppliers. Denmark has taken a series of measures in the energy field to promote renewable energy to enter the market, including preferential pricing for "green" electricity consumption and offshore wind power, and financial subsidies for biomass power generation. Since 2007, Canada has provided a user subsidy of 1000 ~ 2000 Canadian dollars to buyers of environmentally-friendly cars to encourage domestic consumers to buy energy-efficient cars and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
(3) tax incentives. It is a common measure in developed countries to implement preferential tax policies and develop low-carbon economy. The American government stipulates that 20%~30% of the equipment cost related to renewable energy can be used as tax credit, and enterprises and individuals related to renewable energy can also enjoy tax reduction quotas ranging from 10% ~ 40%. The European Union, Britain, Denmark and other member countries stipulate that energy tax is not levied on renewable energy, and income tax is exempted for wind power projects invested by individuals. [3]
In a word, developed countries have gradually achieved the achievement of developing low-carbon economy by adopting the above policies and measures. Since 2006, almost all Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) and Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom have shown a downward trend in carbon emissions per unit of GDP. The carbon emissions of Sweden and the Netherlands remain stable, while those of Sweden and Japan remain stable in the uncontrollable transportation industry.
China faces challenges in developing low-carbon economy.
As the world's second largest producer and consumer of energy and the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide, China attaches great importance to global climate change. China signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol on 1998 and ratified it in 2002. In June, 2007, China issued and implemented the China National Plan to Address Climate Change, and established a national leading group to address climate change headed by Premier the State Council, proposing to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20% during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010). In the context of the current international financial crisis, China has not relaxed its attention to the 6th World Economic and Political Forum on Climate Change in 2009. In the newly added 4 trillion stimulus investment plan, the state has allocated 580 billion yuan for projects related to climate change, such as energy conservation, emission reduction and ecological engineering. However, judging from the actual situation in China, the development of low-carbon economy in China still faces severe challenges. [4]
First, the challenges in the development stage. At present, China is in the accelerated stage of industrialization with a huge population base. Reducing poverty, developing economy, satisfying employment, improving the living standard of all people and realizing the modernization of the country are still the biggest tasks facing China. The research shows that China can only achieve relatively low-carbon economic development even if it achieves the energy-saving and emission-reduction targets in the 11th Five-Year Plan. If the GDP growth rate is calculated as 9%, even if our energy intensity decreases by more than 4% every year, by 20 10, the total CO2 emission will increase by more than 20% compared with 2005. This means that China's total greenhouse gas emissions will maintain a sustained growth trend in a long period of time.
Second, the challenge of energy structure. Coal is the most important energy source in China, mainly because China is one of the largest coal producers in the world, second only to the United States. In China, a coal-based energy structure has been formed for a long time. So far, China's energy supply is mainly coal, which accounts for more than 70% of China's energy consumption. The coal-based energy consumption structure and single energy consumption mode have brought serious environmental pollution. Because the carbon intensity of coal is much higher than other fossil fuels, the CO2 released by burning coal per unit energy is nearly twice that of natural gas, and the energy structure dominated by coal will inevitably produce higher emission intensity.
Third, the technical challenges. China's limited R&D and innovation ability and low overall technical level are the biggest challenges for China to transform from a "high-carbon economy" to a "low-carbon economy". Although the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol require developed countries to transfer technology to developing countries, the implementation is not optimistic. At present, there is still a big gap between China and developed countries in low-carbon technology. For example, in the power industry, China's integrated coal gasification combined cycle technology, high-parameter supercritical unit technology and coal-electricity cogeneration technology are still immature; In terms of renewable energy and new energy technologies, large-scale wind power generation equipment, cost-effective solar photovoltaic cell technology, fuel cell technology, hydrogen energy technology, etc. Compared with developed countries, there is a big gap. [5]
Fourth, the challenge of mandatory emission reduction. Although China, as a developing country, has no mandatory emission reduction task in the past 10 years, it will not exceed 2020 at most. With the rapid economic development and increasing energy demand in China, carbon dioxide emissions are also increasing. The International Energy Agency has predicted that China's economic growth will surpass that of the United States in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions around 20 10. Therefore, there is increasing international pressure for China to participate in greenhouse gas emission reduction or emission limitation commitments.
Countermeasures for Developing Low-carbon Economy in China
(1) Establish the strategy of taking the lead in developing low-carbon economy. From the actual situation in China, we must attach great importance to the transition to a low-carbon economy in the face of increasingly severe energy and environmental constraints. Governments at all levels should take vigorously developing low-carbon economy as an important measure to build a resource-saving and environment-friendly society and enhance the ability of sustainable development, incorporate the strategy of developing low-carbon economy into the overall plan of national economic development, deploy the development ideas of low-carbon economy, and provide policies, systems, funds and organizational guarantees for developing low-carbon economy. We should vigorously carry out low-carbon propaganda, improve the awareness of environmental protection and energy conservation of the whole society, guide the lifestyle of low-carbon society, and advocate public recycling consumption and low-carbon consumption, for example, advocating driving environmentally-friendly cars and saving energy at home, so as to realize the transformation of consumption patterns and sustainable development.
(2) Actively adopt strong economic policies and measures. At present, the development of low-carbon economy in China lacks powerful economic policy tools. For example, China has not set a mandatory green energy ratio for energy companies like some developed countries, nor has it encouraged consumers to use low-carbon products. Therefore, it is necessary to learn from the existing practices of developed countries, strengthen policy support, and provide tax incentives and financial subsidies conducive to the development of low-carbon economy. Collecting carbon tax and promoting carbon trading are effective policy measures. China should consider levying a carbon tax, which can greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve industrial energy efficiency and competitiveness. Carbon emissions trading mechanism is conducive to achieving the balance of interests between regions and units and improving the efficiency of emission reduction. China should establish a carbon trading market and strengthen the management of carbon trading. On the one hand, it is necessary to standardize trading rules, develop carbon trading intermediaries and ensure reasonable trading prices; On the other hand, it is necessary to establish a green energy trading mechanism, combine carbon trading with policies to encourage the development of clean energy, and mobilize the enthusiasm of the whole society to develop and utilize clean energy.
(3) Increase the development and utilization of renewable energy and nuclear energy. The development and utilization of renewable energy is an important measure to protect the environment and cope with climate change. China is rich in renewable energy resources. According to relevant data, China ranks first in the world in terms of exploitable hydropower resources, and China ranks first in the world in terms of abundant resources such as wind energy, hydrogen energy, biomass energy and ocean energy. However, at present, in addition to the relatively good development and utilization of hydropower, renewable energy accounts for less than 2% of China's energy consumption, far below the international average of 8% due to problems such as technical development level and use cost. Therefore, we should concentrate on developing renewable energy such as wind energy, solar energy and biomass energy. Nuclear energy is an efficient and lasting energy source, which will not emit any greenhouse gases. At present, the global nuclear power generation accounts for 17. 1% of the total power generation, and the proportion in developed countries is even larger. Japan's nuclear power generation has accounted for 36% of the total power generation, South Korea's 38%, the United States' 29%, Britain's 28% and France's 77%. However, thermal power generation is still dominant in China, with coal-fired thermal power accounting for 83% of the total power generation, hydropower accounting for 16%, and nuclear power accounting for only 1.8%. Compared with developed countries, the proportion of nuclear power in total power generation lags behind for more than 20 years. [6] To this end, China must shift from developing thermal power to developing nuclear power, accelerate the development of nuclear energy, greatly increase the proportion of nuclear energy consumption, and accelerate the formation of industrial scale.
(4) Strengthen the research and innovation of low-carbon technologies. The development of low-carbon economy needs solid basic research support. At present, the research and development capacity of low-carbon technologies in China is weak. Therefore, the government should strengthen long-term investment in state-level research institutions, build state-level low-carbon technology research institutions, integrate domestic existing technical resources, coordinate basic and public technology research and development, strengthen exchanges and cooperation with enterprises, and play a role as a link between government and enterprises, basic research and industrial development; It is necessary to increase the development and utilization of clean coal technology. In China's proven energy reserves, coal accounts for more than 90%. This energy resource characteristic of "rich in coal and poor in oil and gas" determines that the energy production pattern dominated by coal in China will exist for a long time. Therefore, China should vigorously develop advanced coal washing, processing and conversion and flue gas purification technologies to greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Strengthen international technical exchanges and cooperation. Developed countries such as Britain and the United States have mature low-carbon technologies. China should promote the technology transfer from these developed countries to China through international consultation and cooperation mechanism, and strengthen the international introduction, digestion and secondary innovation of low-carbon technologies.
(5) Formulate and improve laws and regulations that are conducive to the development of low-carbon economy. We should establish and improve the legal system of low-carbon economy as soon as possible. Developed countries take legislation as an important means to promote low-carbon economy while developing low-carbon economy. China should speed up the legislation of low-carbon economy to provide legal protection for the development of low-carbon economy. We will promptly formulate low-carbon economic law and circular economic law, and formulate supporting measures and standards for renewable energy law. Laws concerning energy, environmental protection and resources need to be further revised, such as environmental protection law, environmental impact assessment law, air pollution prevention law, coal law and electricity law. Through legislation, through amending laws, through taking actions to implement these laws, we will promote the development of low-carbon economy by legal means.
(6) Vigorously plant trees and increase carbon sinks. Carbon sink means that green plants absorb and fix CO2 in the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and store greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in biological carbon pools through land use adjustment and forestry measures. According to scientific measurement, an acre of dense forest can generally absorb CO267 kilograms of CO and release 49 kilograms of oxygen every day, which can meet the needs of 65 people a day. In a series of international negotiations on climate conventions after the entry into force of Kyoto Protocol, the international community has paid more and more attention to the convergence of CO2 absorption by forests, and gradually incorporated forestry activities such as afforestation and reforestation into carbon sink projects. Therefore, China should vigorously plant trees, attach importance to the cultivation of forest land, especially build biomass energy forests, and create more social benefits while absorbing carbon emissions and improving ecology.
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Ren Li. Foreign policies for developing low-carbon economy and its enlightenment. Development Research, 2009(2)
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[3] Xiong Liangqiong, WU GANG. Comparative analysis of renewable energy policies of typical countries in the world and its enlightenment to China. China Energy, 2009(6)
[4] Ma Jianying China "Climate Threat" World Economic and Political Forum, 2009(3)
[5] Jin, Liu Rui. Low-carbon economy and the transformation of China's development model. Exploring Economic Problems, 2009( 1)
[6] Shan Bao. Measures to promote the development and utilization of new energy in Japan and its enlightenment. Science, Economy and Society, 2008(2)
Source: World Economic and Political Forum, No.6, 2009
About the author: Xu Dongqing, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of World Economics, Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences.