Province playing a role to reduce carbon emissions

A major coal and energy producer, North China's Shanxi province is contributing its efforts to China's campaign of carbon peaking and neutrality.

Chinese authorities pledged to the international community last year that the country will reach peak carbon emissions in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060.

Shanxi is one of the pilot provinces for industrial transformation and energy revolution in China. It has been reducing its reliance on coal mining and other heavy industries, prioritizing the development of clean energy resources and improving energy use efficiency to reduce emissions.

One of the major contributors to energy efficiency improvement and emission reduction is the Datong Research Institute for Clean and Efficient Utilization of Coal.

One of its research breakthroughs is the circulating fluidized coal combustion technology for boilers.

Liu Zhicheng, deputy chief of the institute, said the technology can substantially reduce emission of pollutants and also improve operational efficiency for enterprises, especially power and heating plants, through more efficient coal combustion in boilers.

The institute and its cooperative manufacturers have produced more than 70 units of such boilers to date, generating revenue of more than 30 billion yuan ($16.8 billion).

The institute now operates seven laboratories for research on circulating fluidized coal combustion, coal gasification and coal liquefaction. Many of its research results have been widely used in coal mines, coking plants, steelmakers and power plants in Shanxi and the rest of the country.

Coal-mining and energy giant Jinneng Holding Group is another role model in Shanxi for helping carbon peaking and neutrality through promoting clean production and improving efficiency of its coal mines.

The efficiency improvement of coal mines is made possible with digitalization, according to executives of the company.

The group's Tashan Coal Mine is among the pioneering smart coal mines in Shanxi and the entire country, using digital and 5G-connected technologies.

The coal mine is constantly upgrading its equipment and technologies to digitalize its operations, according to Li Hua, an executive with the mine.

These upgrades include the use of robots for coal mine shaft patrolling and inspection, fully automated coal cutting and conveyance, and 5G-connected monitoring, Li said.

Jinneng Holding Group plans to have all its large-scale mines going smart by the end of this year.

In Shanxi as a whole, a total of 1,000 coal-mining shafts have launched digitalized upgrades, according to the Shanxi Energy Administration.

In addition to upgrading its coal-mining and coal-consuming enterprises, Shanxi has prioritized developing clean energy resources like hydrogen, wind and solar power.

By the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), about 18 percent of electricity generated in Shanxi was from clean and renewable energy resources, according to the administration.