Carbon neutrality: the next battleground for technology companies

Author | Liang Cheng Min

Editor | Li Shuaifei

Today, the importance of "carbon neutrality" has become an unspoken social consensus.

However, under social consensus, the participation of various social entities such as individuals, enterprises, and governments is also needed. There is no doubt that large-scale enterprises are crucial participants in achieving "carbon neutrality".

Among them, the role of technology companies is particularly critical.

Judging from the current situation, world-class technology giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft are leading the trend of 100% renewable energy - of course, many Chinese technology companies are also already committed to "carbon neutrality."

Some of them are replacing traditional materials with green materials, some are realizing intelligent remote control through smart home appliances, some are developing energy-saving air conditioning and refrigeration systems, and some are building green supply chains. Coincidentally, these technology companies are integrating into the grand blueprint of "carbon neutrality" through innovation.

Based on this, Leifeng.com sorted out and interviewed some Chinese technology companies that are at the forefront of carbon neutrality, trying to outline their positive actions under the "carbon neutrality" blueprint.

Lenovo’s core entry point for carbon neutrality is product manufacturing and supply chain.

Specifically, in order to help achieve carbon neutrality, Lenovo strives to achieve low-carbon development by creating energy-saving and environmentally friendly green products, promoting a circular economy, advancing energy conservation and environmental protection, and green technology innovation. It also guides and drives the entire upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to jointly achieve low-carbon transformation through green manufacturing and green supply chain systems.

In terms of green materials, since 2007, Lenovo has begun to apply waste plastic recycling technology to its entire line of products, including desktops, notebooks, monitors, servers, etc., reducing carbon emissions by a total of approximately 60,000 tons, equivalent to planting more than 3 million trees.

In terms of green packaging, Lenovo has introduced technologies such as biodegradable bamboo and sugarcane fiber packaging since 2008, reducing packaging material use by 3,100 tons. In the 2019/20 fiscal year alone, packaging consumption was reduced by 560 tons.

In terms of green energy, Lenovo also built a solar photovoltaic project in its Hefei factory. Through green engineering projects such as the construction of the first and second phases of the photovoltaic system, air compressor energy efficiency improvement and heat recovery, water storage and cooling transformation, and boiler low-carbon transformation, it has reduced carbon emissions by 6,284 tons, equivalent to planting 350,000 trees.

In terms of technological innovation in the production process, Lenovo's new low-temperature solder paste technology (LTS) promoted and used in its personal computer manufacturing base, Lianbao Factory, has changed the problem of high heat, high energy and high emissions in the electronic product manufacturing industry for more than a decade.

Currently, low-temperature solder paste has been widely used in the PC field, which can save up to 35% of carbon emissions and achieve an annual saving of 1,087 tons of carbon emissions.

At the same time, Lenovo's Advanced Production Scheduling System (LAPS) saves more than 2,696 MWh of electricity each year by improving production efficiency and reducing idle production lines, and can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2,000 tons, which is equivalent to planting 110,000 trees each year.

In addition, these measures have also driven the overall transformation of Lenovo's supply chain companies.

Over the years, Lenovo has promoted its own emission reduction practices to its first-tier suppliers and upstream and downstream companies in the industrial chain and supply chain, prompting suppliers to commit to reducing emissions and increasing the use of new energy.

Midea chooses "smart buildings" as the entry point to help achieve carbon neutrality.

Smart buildings are praised as the driver of high-quality development of smart cities and an indispensable part of "new infrastructure". With "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" written into the government work report during this year's two sessions, how to reduce the energy consumption of HVAC systems has become the focus of the industry.

In the context of carbon neutrality, two major requirements are put forward for building system products: one is to significantly improve energy efficiency; the other is to flexibly respond to the needs of grid regulation. Midea's sixth-generation heat recovery product launched in 2020 - the ultra-wide range three-pipe heat recovery system can operate in an ultra-wide range of -15 to 48 degrees Celsius, with the characteristics of high comfort, high energy efficiency, and ultra-low temperature small capacity start-up.

At the same time, Midea released "Midea controls three major nervous systems to build the next generation of smart buildings", focusing on the layout of the entire industrial chain of smart buildings and focusing on building the three major nervous systems of smart buildings. One of its ultimate visions is low carbon.

Sun Jing, general manager of Shanghai Meikong Company of Midea HVAC and Building Division, said that if buildings are compared to people, the purpose of Midea HVAC and Building is to construct the brain, heart, skin, bones, respiratory system and metabolic system of buildings, and make buildings into warm, perceptive and thinking living bodies. The role played by Midea's "Meikong" (Shanghai Meikong Smart Building Co., Ltd.), which focuses on smart buildings, is to connect the "nervous system" of various organs.

Among them, Mecon's full range of building automation products, such as DDC controllers, M-BMS building automation systems and other air-conditioning and weak-current related software and hardware core products, can be understood as the "autonomic nerves" of buildings; secondly, based on industry scenarios, the integration of business-specific systems, such as smart clinics and smart wards in hospitals, smart platforms and efficient computer rooms in rail transit and other industry applications are the second largest nervous system - the "peripheral nervous system"; and the third largest nervous system - the "central nervous system", represents the full life cycle service for smart buildings.

Based on Midea Group's advantages in basic scientific research, advanced research, innovation center, high-end manufacturing, engineering implementation, and cooperative network, Midea Control has achieved integration from top-level design, construction, commissioning to digital operation and maintenance platforms, and ultimately built a "smart building" for users to achieve the vision of peace of mind, comfort, low carbon, and efficiency.

In addition, Midea is actively developing external cooperation and working with the State Grid China Electric Power Research Institute to jointly create the first batch of "carbon neutral" smart home appliances in the white appliance field. The first batch of cooperative home appliances covers multiple smart home appliance categories and will be launched on the market this year to promote the implementation of "carbon neutrality" in the home appliance industry.

In the context of practicing the concept of green development, Gree Electric's new breakthroughs in the field of energy-saving and innovative technologies are highly realistic and guiding, and have also become a practice for manufacturing enterprises to use technological innovation to help achieve "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality".

As early as December 2011, Gree's permanent magnet synchronous variable frequency centrifugal chiller was unanimously identified by experts from authoritative institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China Refrigeration Society, and China Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Industry Association as "the world's first high-speed and high-power DC variable frequency centrifugal chiller", reaching the "international leading" level.

At this year's refrigeration exhibition, Gree officially announced its new 10kV high-voltage direct-drive permanent magnet synchronous variable frequency centrifugal unit, which has made new breakthroughs in stability and energy saving compared to similar units.

In recent years, Gree's permanent magnet synchronous variable frequency centrifugal chillers have repeatedly won bids for domestic and foreign super projects with their "overwhelming" high-efficiency refrigeration, power saving and energy saving advantages, including the Great Hall of the People, Beijing Daxing International Airport, "China Zun", the CNNC pressurized water reactor demonstration project, as well as CNNC nuclear power plants in some regions, the Zhuhai Port transportation hub of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, etc.

According to relevant data, since the installation of Gree permanent magnet synchronous variable frequency centrifugal chillers in 2015, the annual average power consumption of the Great Hall of the People has been reduced by 310,000 kWh, with an electricity saving rate of nearly 32%. At the same time, the computer room environment has been significantly improved, with the maximum noise level being only 80 decibels, fully demonstrating the social responsibility of national enterprises.

In addition to major breakthroughs and successful applications in green and efficient refrigeration technology, the smart home system created by Gree is also optimized around the goal of "carbon neutrality".

For example, Gree's "Zero Carbon Healthy Home" is based on Gree Photovoltaic G-IEMS local energy Internet system, allowing homes to independently achieve one-stop energy management and control of "power generation", "power storage", "power consumption" and "power management", and create an environmentally friendly smart home system for power supply for home appliances throughout the house.

Haier's Sino-German Industrial Park is located in Huangdao District, Qingdao City. It is an internationally advanced Industry 4.0 demonstration base, responsible for the production of central air conditioners, drum washing machines, special refrigerators and other products.

In order to help achieve carbon neutrality, Haier, empowered by its industrial Internet platform, Caos, has transformed the park into the world's first "lighthouse base" to achieve carbon neutrality.

The Kaos smart energy master control platform realizes the "three-in-one" integration. The platform combines technologies such as energy Internet, big data, and cloud computing, as well as Haier's many years of experience in energy operation and management, to achieve the "three-in-one" integration of energy flow, data flow, and carbon traceability flow.

The system can conduct centralized and intuitive dynamic monitoring and digital management of all aspects of the production, transmission, distribution and use of energy and power in the park, such as electricity, water, gas, heat, compressed air, sewage treatment, fountains, photovoltaics, lighting, elevators, etc., improve and optimize energy balance, control and dispatch the park's energy system, and improve overall efficiency.

For the front end, Haier will complete the construction of a photovoltaic power generation system with a total installed capacity of 13.5 megawatts on the roof of the 130,000 square meters park within this year, with an annual power generation of more than 15 million kWh, equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 13,000 tons. Taking advantage of the local excellent wind conditions, it plans to build three 3-megawatt low-speed wind turbines, with an estimated annual power generation of 40.8 million kWh, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 35,000 tons. The park has reduced the use of fossil energy, which is equivalent to planting 48,000 mu of trees.

As for the back-end, Haier Sino-German Industrial Park is a manufacturing and production park. Based on the characteristics of energy usage, the energy consumption of each unit is reduced at the back-end.

Caos not only enables Haier Sino-German Industrial Park to become the world's first "lighthouse base" to achieve carbon neutrality, but also uses the park as a template to create a standardized model for sustainable development that improves energy efficiency, clean energy, and net zero emissions. It has been replicated in 15 industrial parks across the country, and 55 interconnected factories have achieved full coverage. It is expected that Haier Group's industrial parks across the country will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

TCL has been working hard to integrate environmental protection concepts into the entire life cycle of product development for its terminal products. It considers the need for energy conservation and consumption reduction from the beginning of product design, develops and adopts energy-saving and consumption-reducing technologies, and improves product energy efficiency through technological innovation, reducing the adverse impact of products on the environment during production and use.

In the Mini LED technology route with lower power consumption and greater environmental advantages, TCL is the earliest manufacturer to develop, plan, and mass-produce Mini LED TVs.

In 2018, TCL exhibited the world's first Mini LED backlit TV, and achieved mass production in 2019. TCL has since launched a number of Mini LED TV products, and its Mini LED TV sales accounted for 90% of global sales in 2020. In the spring of 2021, TCL launched the TCL X12 8K Mini LED Star Smart Screen, equipped with the third-generation Mini LED technology OD Zero.

In terms of display screens, TCL Huaxing launched its first glass-based Mini LED product, the Star Screen, in 2019. Its energy consumption is 60% lower than that of ordinary products. If a 75-inch product is turned on for 12 hours a day, the power consumption of the Star Screen will be 1,515 degrees less per year than similar ordinary products. In addition, TCL Huaxing's 23.8-inch FHD display, based on the Energy Star ES7.0 that is currently widely certified in the market, has achieved the leading ES8.0 certification through design optimization, and its energy consumption is 45% lower than that of similar products.

At the same time, TCL fully promotes green manufacturing in the industrial chain, strengthens technological innovation, and strives to build an efficient, clean, low-carbon, and circular green manufacturing system. Through green factory construction, energy-saving transformation project implementation, renewable energy utilization, and waste reduction management, the company's own green manufacturing level is constantly improved.

In addition, TCL is more actively developing and utilizing renewable energy and building low-carbon and environmentally friendly green production parks. As of the end of 2019, TCL has built distributed rooftop photovoltaic power generation systems with a total installed capacity of 31.312 MW and an annual power generation of more than 32 million kWh in three production bases.

In July 2020, TCL Technology participated in the mixed-ownership reform of Zhonghuan Group, opened up new tracks in semiconductor photovoltaics and semiconductor materials, and acquired Zhonghuan Semiconductor's subsidiary.

As a leader in the semiconductor photovoltaic industry, Zhonghuan Semiconductor has undoubtedly been given a new historical mission under the "dual carbon" goal. In 2019, Zhonghuan Semiconductor released the 12-inch ultra-large silicon wafer "Kuafu" G12 series, which not only broke through the traditional size of the industry, but also brought higher photoelectric conversion efficiency and higher production efficiency, and reduced the cost of photovoltaic power generation by 6.8%.

At the same time, Zhonghuan Semiconductor has cooperated with the industrial chain to launch the high-efficiency, high-reliability, and high-power-generation G12 shingled modules, contributing wisdom to the realization of grid parity for photovoltaic power generation, and will also help accelerate the realization of the "carbon neutrality" goal.

In order to help achieve the "30·60 carbon target", Tesloop starts from the accumulation of scenarios, connects the data platform and enables AIoT technology to achieve full-cycle monitoring of the entire carbon emission behavior, and is working with upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to jointly explore a path to achieve the dual carbon goals with Chinese characteristics.

Among them, the construction of "AI Carbon Neutral Cloud" is the latest development achievement of Tesloop in this field.

As a unified platform, Tesloop AI Carbon Neutrality Cloud dynamically integrates AIoT global IoT perception data, environmental and resource big data, and will focus on the energy consumption link.

Tesloop AI Carbon Neutral Cloud targets six core energy consumption scenarios: comprehensive energy consumption management of new buildings, energy conservation and heating and cooling management, digital management of energy consumption and digital environmental monitoring, efficiency improvement of digital centers, and interconnection of production and lifestyles. Relying on Tesloop's intelligent operating system TACOS and intelligent algorithms, it has created six corresponding core products, namely: building automation, smart lighting, super energy management AI energy cloud, smart home, high-efficiency computer room and AIDC cloud.

With the above products, Tesloop will serve the carbon neutrality needs of communities, parks, commerce, cultural tourism, industry, construction and IDC scenarios.

At the same time, Tesloop has developed the "AI CITY Solution", which is an overall digital solution for the city built based on the top-level design of the city and relying on AIoT technology.

The concept of carbon neutrality was incorporated into the planning process at the very beginning, and the digital twin system was used to visualize scene data and trace energy emissions. Through the construction and operation of AI CITY, an intelligent and sustainable development space integrating nature and technology will be created for the target city.

Terminus Chongqing AI CITY renderings

Ai Yu, founder and CEO of Terminus, said: "Take AI PPARK, the first phase of Chongqing AI CITY, as an example. According to calculations, after the official operation, AI PARK's daily carbon emissions will be far less than its carbon absorption. After 16 months of construction and operation, AI PARK will be expected to neutralize the small amount of carbon emissions generated during the construction phase. After 50 years of operation, that is, by 2071, AI PARK will also absorb about 170,000 tons of carbon dioxide in the surrounding area."

As of now, Terminus is continuously promoting the implementation of AI CITY around the world, and has reached AI CITY cooperation with many central cities including Chongqing, Dubai, Wuhan, Deyang and others.

Tuya believes that home appliances are an important scenario for saving electricity.

Tuya Smart enables hardware manufacturers to develop "smart sockets". Once a smart socket is installed on an appliance, you can set a timer or turn it on/off remotely through a mobile phone or voice, and even control the appliance switch through sensors, cutting off the power when in standby mode to save energy.

With Tuya IoT PaaS and a full range of terminal ecosystems, Tuya Smart can help developers build comprehensive energy solutions that include home energy services, home energy efficiency management, energy-saving electricity services, and home appliance electricity monitoring. Real estate developers and community operators can accurately grasp energy consumption, achieve intelligent adjustment of electrical equipment, and closed-loop management of power supply, power grid, load, and energy storage. While ensuring safe and reliable electricity use, it creates a comfortable and livable environment for residents.

Similarly, Tuya's smart energy industry solutions have long gone beyond homes and communities, and have entered industrial, commercial, building, and park scenarios, enabling partners to create exclusive industry SaaS solutions based on their needs.

Taking building and park management as an example, Tuya's smart energy solution provides multi-dimensional energy consumption analysis and accurate diagnosis of energy equipment, comprehensively controls energy consumption, and maximizes energy saving. Even if it is unattended, it can be combined with building automation, smart lighting and other systems to achieve visual energy management.

The secret behind all this lies in the "strongest brain" created by Tuya Smart. Tuya uses AI+IoT technology to highly integrate networked devices, achieve online management, and aggregate massive amounts of data on a large screen, and even enable further management. Perceptible, visible, and controllable, this is the breakthrough of Tuya's smart energy industry solution.

Traditional household devices need to be operated on-site by humans. If you forget to turn off the air conditioner or lights when you go out, it will waste several kilowatt-hours of electricity a day. With smart home, you can remotely turn off devices through apps and other methods. Of course, app control still requires manual operation, which is not smart enough.

Aqara has a large number of sensor devices, including human body sensors, light sensors, door and window sensors, temperature and humidity sensors, etc., which can be used together to achieve automatic control of the equipment. You don’t need to do anything, the equipment can be automatically controlled according to the environment and your needs.

For example, when Aqara's high-precision human body sensor determines that there is no one at home, it can automatically turn off the lights, air conditioner, TV, etc. When the ambient temperature slowly drops at night, there is no need to turn on the air conditioner, and the air conditioner can be turned off automatically.

For example, when paired with Aqara's light sensor, the curtains can be opened automatically when the indoor brightness is too dark, and the lights can be dimmed when the indoor brightness is too bright, achieving energy saving and emission reduction.

If the above functions are placed in a public space, the result will be the same. The larger the space, the more lamps, air conditioners, etc. there will be, and the management and labor costs will be higher. The improvement in management efficiency and energy saving brought about by intelligence will be more obvious.

In Aqara's smart office solution in a technology park in Beijing, when no one is in the designated area at a specified time every day, the power and equipment in the area can be automatically turned off. Every day when no one is in the meeting room, not only will the meeting room be automatically released for reservation by others, but all equipment in the meeting room will also be automatically turned off, and will be automatically turned on when someone comes to the meeting.

Most of Aqara's devices have power statistics function, which can provide data visualization management for enterprise users, allowing users to intuitively understand the power consumption of each space, ambient temperature and humidity, and the working status of each device, making it easier to understand the final energy usage and conduct refined optimization management.

For technology companies, carbon neutrality is increasingly becoming a key word, both in terms of technological value and social value.

Especially under the grand goal of "carbon peak in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060" proposed by our country, enterprises, as the main bodies of carbon reduction, have actively participated in the actions to address climate change, set carbon reduction targets based on climate science and made public and credible commitments to avoid "campaign-style" carbon reduction.

From another perspective, the goal of “carbon peak in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060” will inevitably trigger a new round of industrial revolution.

Therefore, my country's science and technology companies should shoulder the responsibility, give full play to their huge influence and technological strength, be pioneers in achieving carbon neutrality goals and pioneers of low-carbon technologies, give full play to their respective vertical technological capabilities, and enable other industries to develop low-carbon - this is a long road and a long-term project.

Technology companies are helping to achieve carbon neutrality. The road is long and arduous, but we will reach our destination if we keep moving forward.