So what is carbon emission right and how does this market work?
Humans consume a lot of fossil energy in production and life, and at the same time emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is an important component of greenhouse gases, which will lead to global climate anomalies. In fact, the trading of carbon emission rights is to buy and sell carbon dioxide emission rights as commodities, and achieve the purpose of controlling the total carbon emission through this market behavior.
Trading of carbon emission rights is not a new thing that just appeared today. With the formal entry into force of Kyoto Protocol, the commodity attribute of carbon emission rights was formally established in 2005. At present, the European Union, the United States, New Zealand, South Korea and other places have established national or regional carbon emission trading markets, and China has also launched carbon emission trading pilot projects in seven provinces and cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Hubei since 20 1 1 year. Today, after the unified carbon emission trading market in China is launched, it will cover more than 4 billion tons of emissions and become the largest carbon market in the world.
Who is the protagonist in this market?
At present, more than 2,000 enterprises have been brought into this national carbon emission trading market, and they are all coal-fired power generation enterprises. Why do you choose this way? What other industries and fields will be included in the carbon emission trading in the future?
The first batch of 2,225 compliance enterprises included in the carbon emissions trading system are all thermal power generation enterprises with annual comprehensive energy consumption above 1 10,000 tons of standard coal, basically covering the vast majority of thermal power generation enterprises in China.
Li Gao, Director of the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Power generation accounts for a high proportion of our country's (carbon) emissions. Developing this carbon emission transaction from the power generation industry has a great role in controlling carbon emissions in our country. On the other hand, the overall management level of the power generation industry is relatively high, so some related technologies and data bases are relatively good. Through the power generation industry as a breakthrough, we can further accumulate relevant experience and gradually improve the carbon market.
It is understood that with the gradual maturity and stability of China's carbon emission trading market, during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, it is expected that eight key energy-consuming industries such as petroleum, chemical industry and building materials will be gradually brought into this market, covering China's important energy and industrial fields.
How to trade carbon emission rights?
With the market, enterprises also have it. But as the main content of the transaction, this carbon dioxide emission is invisible and intangible. How can it be traded? How does the country achieve the purpose of controlling and reducing carbon emissions through this market behavior? In fact, the relevant departments have designed a set of perfect and scientific evaluation and trading methods.
At present, China is still in the process of industrialization, and the demand for energy will continue to increase in the future. How to promote social energy conservation and emission reduction under this premise?
In the past, the state mainly controlled and restrained the carbon emissions of various industries in various regions through administrative means. After the carbon emission trading started, the market mechanism was introduced. Trading carbon emission rights first requires government departments to determine the total carbon emission target for a period of time, and then divide the total amount into a number of specific quotas, and distribute these quotas to enterprises that need to reduce emissions in the carbon market through free distribution. In a word, carbon emission trading is mainly to allocate the carbon emission quota of enterprises by market means.
For a simple example, an enterprise's annual carbon emission quota is 1 10,000 tons. If the enterprise reduces its carbon emission to 8,000 tons through technological transformation, the extra 2,000 tons can be sold in the carbon market.
Other enterprises can buy these sold quotas in the market because the original carbon emission quotas are not enough to expand production needs. This not only controls the total carbon emissions, but also encourages enterprises to achieve emission reduction by optimizing energy structure and improving energy efficiency.
How to calculate the carbon emissions of enterprises?
As the target of carbon emissions trading market, how is carbon emissions accounting? How to ensure the accuracy of enterprise accounting data?
Zhuang Guiyang, director of the Institute of Ecological Civilization, China Academy of Social Sciences: There are many such carbon emission verification institutions in China, which need to be filed with the national and local authorities. Only when they are qualified can they be verified.
Any enterprise can't produce without burning fossil energy or using electric energy. The verification organization will calculate the direct carbon emissions generated by all fossil energy combustion and the indirect carbon emissions generated by electricity consumption in the enterprise, and get a data close to the actual carbon emissions of the enterprise.
Unlike pollutant emissions, carbon emissions are difficult to monitor online at present, so the accuracy of accounting data is particularly important. How to put an end to enterprises or verification institutions' fraudulent behavior for the benefit also needs to take institutional measures.
Quota and carbon price are two killers to promote energy conservation and emission reduction
Since this carbon emission right can be purchased, if the enterprise finds that its carbon emission exceeds the standard, can't it just go directly to the market to buy it? Does this weaken the motivation of enterprises to save energy and reduce emissions? According to experts, in fact, these problems can be solved by regulating carbon emission quotas and carbon prices.
Carbon emission trading is, in the final analysis, a policy tool with financial nature. What needs to be pointed out in particular is that it does not encourage enterprises to spend money on quotas to complete their tasks, but urges enterprises to gradually reduce their carbon emission intensity through market means.
At the beginning of the enterprise entering the market, the carbon emission quota has been restricting the carbon emission behavior of the enterprise like a tight spell. The allocation of carbon emission quotas mainly depends on administrative means. Every year, according to the development of macro-economy, the progress of energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, and the development of national policies to deal with climate change, the carbon emission quotas allocated to enterprises are adjusted to promote the continuous improvement of energy utilization efficiency.
In addition to the restraint of quotas, the change of carbon price is also an important factor to promote enterprises to continuously save energy and reduce emissions.
Promote energy-saving transformation of enterprises and increase investment in clean energy
In order to prepare for joining this national carbon emission trading market, many power generation enterprises have been preparing for it for several years. What are the current preparations of these enterprises?
The annual output of Yimin Power Plant in Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia16.5 billion kWh. In 20 18, the state started the preparation of carbon emission trading, and the power plant entrusted a third-party carbon asset company to calculate the carbon emission intensity. It was found that if the quota allocated by the state was to be reached, the carbon emission should be controlled at 85% of the existing amount.
If energy-saving transformation is not carried out, enterprises will need to spend huge sums of money to purchase carbon emission quotas every year after the carbon market starts. Since 20 18, Yimin Power Plant has invested 85 million yuan and carried out a series of technical transformations, saving 50,000 tons of standard coal every year.
In Yuhuan, Zhejiang Province, Huaneng Zhejiang Yuhuan Power Plant 100 MW offshore photovoltaic power generation project is under construction. As a traditional thermal power plant, Huaneng Zhejiang Yuhuan Power Plant has attached great importance to energy conservation and emission reduction since 20 1 1 year. By the time the preparatory work for the national carbon emission trading started, the carbon emissions of enterprises have been lower than the quota standard allocated by the state by more than one million tons, and these saved quotas can be sold in the carbon emission trading market.
According to the national policy, power generation enterprises can obtain a "green power certificate" by developing clean energy, and the reduced carbon emissions can be converted into the enterprise's carbon emission quota.
Yuhuan Power Plant proposed to change from the traditional coal-based power generation to a green power grid integrating water, fire, wind and light during the Tenth Five-Year Plan period. After the completion of the offshore photovoltaic power generation project, the annual power generation is about10.40 billion kwh, which will save about 44,300 tons of standard coal every year and increase the carbon emission quota of1/10,000 tons for enterprises.
The market is not omnipotent, and it needs comprehensive efforts of policy means.
To achieve "peak carbon dioxide emissions, carbon neutrality", it is obvious that trading of carbon emission rights alone cannot effectively solve all the problems. Experts believe that at present, the "visible hand" of the government and the "invisible hand" of the market need to work together to promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society from both ends of supply and demand.
According to experts, at present, China's carbon market is in a preliminary stage of development. The industries and enterprises involved are relatively limited, and the main body is not rich enough. The incentive and restraint effect on energy conservation and emission reduction is not obvious. In the future, the state should also adopt fiscal, financial, taxation and other means to form a joint force with market means to restrain the carbon emission behavior of enterprises.