Digitalization + low carbonization, can we have our cake and eat it too?

Peace and development are the eternal themes of human society.

In the past one or two hundred years, mankind has experienced three industrial revolutions and two world wars. Although the process was bumpy, overall, the level of productivity has increased rapidly and the quality of life has also improved greatly.

After entering the 21st century, with the emergence and popularization of ICT technologies such as cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and 5G , the evolution direction of human society has begun to change again. We are gradually shifting from the information revolution to the intelligent revolution, and from the traditional economy to the digital economy.

After realizing the infinite energy contained in digital technology, thousands of industries, represented by industry, transportation, and energy, have embarked on their own digital transformation journeys to embrace the upcoming wave of digital intelligence.

As the digital economy is booming, another issue that will affect the future of mankind is now before us: carbon emissions .

As we all know, carbon emissions are the inevitable cost of economic development.

The three industrial revolutions we have experienced are all revolutions based on fossil energy . Although the revolutions have greatly improved productivity, they have also brought about exponential growth in carbon emissions. Huge amounts of carbon emissions have caused global climate change and posed a threat to the human living environment.

If we leave economic wealth to our descendants but no living space, it is obviously putting the cart before the horse. Therefore, for the sustainable development of the earth, countries around the world have begun to pay attention to the control of carbon emissions and have raised it to an unprecedented level of importance.

Today, low carbonization and digitalization have become the main themes of global economic and social development, and are also the consensus of all mankind.

So how can we achieve green development based on digitalization and low carbonization? What achievements have we made in green development? What will be the focus of future research?

On April 27, Huawei held a themed forum on "Green ICT Enabling Green Development" during the HAS2022 Huawei Global Analyst Conference, attracting analysts, experts, scholars and media from all over the world. At the meeting, Zhang Hongxi, Chief Marketing Officer of Huawei ICT Infrastructure, released the "Green Development 2030" report with the theme of "Green ICT Enabling Green Development".

There is a download link at the end of the article

The report is very detailed. It not only elaborates on how digitalization and low-carbonization can jointly promote green development, but also looks forward to the green development vision of key industries towards 2030. In addition, it also details the key innovation directions of ICT technology to enable green development.

Let’s take a look at how Huawei, as a world-leading provider of ICT (information and communications) infrastructure and smart terminals, understands digitalization, low-carbonization and green development.

█Digital helps low carbon, low carbon activates digital

Digitalization and low-carbonization are not independent of each other.

When it comes to digitalization and carbon emissions, everyone’s first reaction is that digitalization will bring more carbon emissions.

You may think that the computing power and communication infrastructure required for digitalization are all driven by electricity. Electricity consumption leads to carbon emissions. The 5G and data centers that are currently being built on a large scale consume more electricity and emit more carbon.

data center

In fact, this is a misunderstanding. Although digital infrastructure will occupy energy and generate carbon emissions, we should pay more attention to: while using energy, what kind of help these facilities will bring and what value they will output.

In other words, we should measure the merits and demerits of new digital infrastructure by energy efficiency .

Take 5G base stations as an example. It is undeniable that 5G has a significantly higher operating power than 4G base stations due to the introduction of new technologies such as Massive MIMO and AAU active antennas. However, the energy efficiency of 5G base stations is much greater than that of 4G. In other words, the energy consumption per bit of 5G transmission is much lower than that of 4G.

In other words, although 5G consumes a little more, the workload has been greatly increased and the output is greater. This is obviously cost-effective.

The country vigorously promotes the "new infrastructure" strategy and widely deploys the construction of new digital information infrastructure, not just to serve consumer Internet (games, entertainment, shopping, etc.). As mentioned above, the fundamental purpose of digitalization is to open up the era of industry Internet, drive the digital transformation of industries, transportation, energy and other fields, and empower the digital economy.

The Green Development 2030 report mentioned:

"Matter, energy and information are the three elements that make up the world. Their dynamic flow and the coordinated constraints between them are the starting point for us to grasp the challenges and directions of future green development. The digital technology revolution represented by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and 5G that the world is experiencing today improves the efficiency of material and energy flows through information flows, thereby achieving the effect of reducing carbon emissions."

Yes, the value of information flow is to serve the flow of materials and energy. This is why digital ICT technology can support the digital economy and become a key force in restructuring global resource factors, reshaping the global economic structure, and changing the global competitive landscape.

Digital technology will promote energy structure transformation and efficiency improvement in all industries, helping to achieve low carbonization.

In 2030, the global ICT industry's carbon emissions accounted for 1.97% of the world's total carbon emissions. By empowering other industries, the ICT industry will help reduce global carbon emissions by 20%. In other words, digitalization will enable low-carbonization with a 10-fold leverage effect.

In addition to enabling the industry's low-carbon transformation, digitalization can also improve the level of modernization of government supervision and social services, promote the formation of a green production and lifestyle, and ultimately promote green development of the economy and society.

In the past two years, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, digital technology has played a huge role in epidemic prevention, which is obvious to all.

Conversely, let’s look at the impact of decarbonization on digitalization.

In a nutshell, the biggest reverse effect of low carbonization on digitalization is the stimulation of potential .

Countries around the world are promoting green and low-carbon development as an obligation and have indicators to meet. How to reduce carbon emissions while maintaining sustained economic growth is a difficult problem facing governments around the world.

As a responsible major country, China clearly put forward the "dual carbon" strategy in September 2020 , namely achieving "carbon peak" in 2030 and "carbon neutrality" in 2060. In order to achieve this goal, our country has also issued the "Carbon Peak Action Plan before 2030", as well as a series of implementation plans for key areas and industries, introduced safeguards and policies, and clarified relevant timetables and roadmaps.

After the tasks are broken down, industry enterprises need to assume corresponding responsibilities and achieve their respective "dual carbon" goals. Therefore, low-carbonization has forced digital application innovation and transformation in all walks of life .

In addition to the technological innovation of their own high-carbon and high-pollution processes, they also need to solve the problems of resource waste caused by supply-demand contradictions and low resource utilization. Digitalization is the most effective means.

In order to achieve the goal of low carbonization, the proportion of renewable energy used in the electricity demand of digital infrastructure such as 5G and data centers must be increased. The higher this proportion, the lower the cost of digitalization, and the easier it is to promote large-scale digitalization applications. This is a virtuous cycle.

In short, digitalization and low-carbonization are the twin engines for advancing green development, and are also the inherent requirements for high-quality economic and social progress .

Looking towards 2030, on the one hand, we need to pursue development through digitalization, and on the other hand, we need to ensure the sustainability of development through low carbonization. The two complement each other and are indispensable.

█Innovation direction of digital low carbon

Digitalization and low carbonization need to be done with both hands. So, how should we do it? In what direction should we innovate to achieve green development?

The Green Development 2030 report points out that in order to achieve the simultaneous development of digitalization and low carbonization, innovation can be carried out in the following three directions:

1. Improve the energy efficiency of digital infrastructure

I have actually mentioned this point before. Controlling and improving the power consumption of digital infrastructure through basic theoretical research, material process upgrades, and R&D technology innovation is the most effective way to save energy and reduce emissions from the source .

It has the most direct effect, but is also the most difficult. Enterprises need to invest a lot of resources in innovation and trial and error.

The scope of digital infrastructure is relatively large, and there is a lot of room for innovation in energy conservation and emission reduction in scenarios such as sites, networks, and data centers.

Take wireless sites as an example. At present, in order to save energy and reduce emissions, wireless sites have abandoned the previous design concept of focusing on performance as the main goal and instead focus on equipment energy efficiency. When building new sites, operators will innovate green energy-saving key technologies from the perspective of the entire link of energy transmission , such as site supporting equipment on the energy supply side, base station main equipment on the energy use side, and even wireless green air interface technology that helps terminals save energy.

Specific methods include but are not limited to:

The site is extremely simplified, improving the energy efficiency of the site power supply link from aspects such as the conversion efficiency of each node, the line loss of the power supply link, and the power consumption optimization of supporting equipment such as air conditioners;

Through site architecture innovations, such as BBU centralization and all-outdoor air-conditioning-free sites, the use of non-functional equipment such as air conditioners can be reduced;

By reconstructing the site form, the site was transformed from a computer room to a cabinet, and the cabinet to a hanging rod, and the site energy efficiency was improved from 60% to 97%;

For existing computer rooms, precise cooling and boosted power supply are used to avoid adding new computer rooms, replacing cables, or adding air conditioners, and the energy efficiency of computer rooms is increased to 80%;

For new construction scenarios, cabinets are used instead of computer rooms, eliminating the need to build computer rooms, and energy efficiency can be increased from 60% to 90%;

For communication sites with poor or no mains power, full use can be made of photovoltaic power generation to replace diesel generator power generation, to achieve green and inclusive energy supply for the sites, etc.

From the perspective of technology research and development, through the coordination of multiple dimensions and disciplines such as module form, architecture, process, material, and algorithm , it is also possible to tap into energy-saving potential and improve equipment energy efficiency.

In addition to product planning and development, design and construction, installation and commissioning, operation and maintenance is also a key area of ​​digitalization and low carbonization.

For example, by introducing AI and intelligent operation and maintenance, building a low-carbon self-intelligent network, and realizing multi-level energy efficiency improvement, preventive maintenance, multi-dimensional operation management and other functions, it is possible to improve network operation and maintenance efficiency, flexibly control the power of equipment and facilities, reduce carbon emissions, and reduce costs.

2. Increase the proportion of renewable energy

Increasing the proportion of renewable energy and reducing the use of fossil energy are the keys to green development in the energy sector.

On the energy supply side, we need to vigorously develop renewable energy , significantly increase the proportion of photovoltaic and wind power generation, and gradually replace the dominant position of fossil energy power generation.

On the other hand, on the energy consumption side, fossil energy consumption can be significantly reduced by introducing green electricity and accelerating the electrification process in various industries .

At present, global terminal energy consumption is mainly dominated by fossil energy, accounting for more than 60%, and the electrification ratio is only 20%. According to the forecast of the "Green Development 2030" report, by 2030, the global electrification ratio will reach 30%; the sales volume of electric vehicles will account for more than 50% .

New energy vehicle charging pile

It is worth mentioning that with urbanization and the improvement of people's living standards, buildings and parks have become one of the fastest growing areas of terminal energy consumption and carbon emissions. In order to reduce energy consumption in the construction field, integrated smart energy that integrates power electronics technology and digital technology has been developed .

Comprehensive smart energy uses leading digital technologies and power electronics technologies, such as advanced building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), AC/DC microgrid architecture, smart energy management, scenario-based energy-saving design, advanced energy storage systems, etc., to assist in the construction of energy infrastructure in the park and create an energy management platform.

Buildings are accelerating towards "solar energy, storage, direct and flexible". The park has achieved integrated operation of source, grid, load and storage, intelligent equipment operation and maintenance, and digital management of carbon emissions.

3. Enabling green development of the industry

To achieve global carbon neutrality, it is necessary to conduct in-depth decarbonization research on the industry and provide customized decarbonization solutions.

Industries are the main source of carbon emissions. In particular, the four industries of electricity, industry, transportation, and construction account for 94.2% of total carbon emissions.

Research shows that there are four main ways for these industries to achieve carbon emission reductions: using clean energy (67%), improving energy efficiency (16%), recycling (10%) and management and regulation (7%) .

Let’s take the industrial sector as an example and see how to reduce carbon emissions.

Energy conservation and emission reduction in the industrial sector depends on the industry's own technological transformation and upgrading on the one hand, and on digital technology on the other hand, to carry out digital transformation in industrial R&D design, production and manufacturing, quality control, industrial chain coordination, carbon sequestration and other aspects.

In the R&D design stage , the use of digital technology for model building, simulation, etc. can significantly reduce the number of experiments, shorten the R&D cycle, reduce R&D costs, improve R&D efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions in R&D-related links such as waste of raw materials.

In the manufacturing stage , by using digital technologies such as the Industrial Internet, enterprises can implement dynamic real-time control over the manufacturing process in terms of equipment monitoring, raw material supply, quality inspection, etc. By dynamically optimizing production technical parameters, raw materials, etc., the level of refinement of production operations can be improved, and the loss of materials, energy, and even finished products caused by unreasonable operations can be reduced.

Digital technology can also provide early warning of problems through real-time intelligent monitoring of operating conditions, avoid production line downtime due to equipment failure, improve operational efficiency, and reduce operation and maintenance costs.

Digital technology also has room to help in the coordinated development of the industrial chain .

As a midstream industry, the industrial industry needs to maintain close contact with upstream raw material suppliers and downstream consumer companies. With the help of digital technologies such as e-commerce platforms and supply and marketing digital platforms, the procurement process can be simplified and communication costs can be reduced.

Conclusion ​

According to the forecast of the "Green Development 2030" report, by 2030, the energy efficiency of global digital infrastructure will increase 100 times , the proportion of renewable energy power generation will exceed 50% , and the digital penetration rate of the industry will reach 50% .

Green development has truly become a global consensus. We can see that more and more countries, organizations and individuals are beginning to pay attention to green development and actively participate in it. Even emerging developing countries are keen to participate in digitalization and low-carbonization. Because they can take this opportunity to mobilize economic structural adjustment and optimize industrial layout.

The overall development prospects of green development are very optimistic. However, we should also note that there are still many practical problems facing digitalization and low carbonization, such as the digital divide, lack of a rules system, imperfect standards, lack of coordination in industrial development, etc.

To solve these problems, we need collaboration across society, the entire industry, across the value chain and the ecosystem, encouragement of scientific and technological innovation, and the improvement of underlying construction as soon as possible.

humankind has only one Earth, each nation coexist in one world.

In the face of the complex situation of the world economy and global issues, no country can remain immune. As a "community with a shared future for mankind", we should join hands to embrace green development and fully promote digitalization and low carbonization, so as to create a sustainable future for the earth and ensure the eternal survival of human civilization.

I hope that the "Green Development 2030" report can awaken more people's consensus on green development and accelerate the arrival of a new era of green development!

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