BEIJING: Chinese authorities have set specific carbon emission reduction targets for the cement industry as the country moves toward a low-carbon economy.
From 2024 to 2025, China plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions by around 13 million tonnes through industrial renovation and equipment renewal in cement production, according to an action plan released by government departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner.
During this period, China also aims to save energy equivalent to 5 million tonnes of standard coal in cement production, according to the action plan.
By the end of 2030, it is expected that the overall energy efficiency of China’s cement industry will reach a world-class level and its energy consumption pattern will be further optimized, the plan stated.
In a plan released earlier this year, China stated that half of the cement clinker production capacity in its key regions for air pollution control should complete ultra-low emission transformation by the end of 2025. By 2028, 80 percent of China’s overall cement clinker production capacity will have finished this transformation.
The country has announced that it will peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.
Earlier, China has achieved the mass production of carbon-14 isotopes via its commercial reactor for the first time, announced the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). According to the CNNC, the project was carried out in China’s very first nuclear power plant, Qinshan, and the production capacity is expected to fully meet domestic demand, as some 150 curies of carbon-14 were produced, much higher than the annual import of around 100 curies. Carbon-14 is widely applied as a marker in agriculture, chemistry, medicine, biology and other fields for being radioactive and detectable. –Agencies
