By Wang Ling

"'Low Carbon Economy' is a new concept at home and abroad, and it is a new economic development mode featured in low emission, low energy consumption and low pollution." Zhao Gang, Director General of Soft Science Department, National Research Center for Science and Technology for Development, expressed that the core content of low carbon economy includes the development and utilization of low-carbon products, technologies and energy resource.

As early as last year, China definitely proposed to develop "Low Carbon Economy" vigorously, and set up a "three low" economic mode based on low energy consumption, low pollution and low emission. Before this, the outline of "The Eleventh Five-Year Plan" of China definitely proposed that by the end of "The Eleventh Five-Year Plan", the energy consumption per unit of GDP should be decreased by around 20 percent and the total emission volume of major pollutants should be decreased by 10 percent, which would be listed as an important restriction index.

Zhao Gang believed that such a restriction index of energy conservation and emission reduction plays an effective role in guiding the development of China's "three low" economic mode. Zou Ji, Vice President of Environment Institute, Renmin University of China, also stated that, "China's energy conservation and emission reduction work is consistent with the requirement on the development of low carbon economy. This is an important measure for expediting the transformation of the development mode and establishing a resource-conservation and environmental-friendly society in China."

Not long ago, on the 4th International Forum of China's Leap-forward Development, Li Junfeng, Vice Director of Energy Research Institute of National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out that, "The wave of developing 'Low Carbon Economy' emerging in the world contains infinite business opportunity, which is a brand-new opportunity to the development of China's enterprises."

Various advanced low carbon technologies are indispensable for developing the "Low Carbon Economy". Zhao Gang expressed that it was very possible that the economic competition would come down to the competition of low carbon technologies in the future, so if enterprises can grasp the opportunity and make an advance deployment in some new emerging fields or industries, they will take the preemptive opportunities in the future economic competition.
It is understood that the low carbon technology is involved in many industries, such as electric power, transportation, construction, metallurgy, chemical engineering and petrochemical engineering, and includes such new technologies for effectively controlling the greenhouse gas emission in terms of the renewable and new energy resources, the high-efficient utilization of coals, the exploration and exploitation of oil-gas resources and coal bed gas, and the capture and geological storage for carbon dioxide.

In fact, as to the "Low Carbon Economy", domestic and overseas enterprises have begun to take actions. Not long ago, PSA Peugeot Citroen announced that it had invested Euro 300 million on developing the new-generation gasoline engine with small delivery capacity and actively developing hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cells, in order to elevate the core competitive strength through reducing greenhouse gas; China's Shandong Star Group Ltd grasped the opportunity of transforming to low carbon orientation, realizing a transformation from a paper machine manufacture to a wind power equipment supplier; Beijing Guanting Wind Farm is the first wind farms in Beijing, and the first phase project began to supply power at the beginning of this year, which is operating steadily for the moment. The establishment of wind farms has decreased the emission volume of the greenhouse gas, achieving the win-win for economic and social developments.

It is understood that the Ministry of Science and Technology of PRC (MOST) has made a deployment and increased the investment on the development of the advance low carbon technologies with a strategic significance in terms of energy conservation, clean energy, renewable energy, nuclear energy, carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles. Zhao Gang said that China's independent innovation capability in the low carbon technology field is being enhanced rapidly, a lot of mature low carbon technologies are being promoted and applied, and the new carbon technologies with more efficiency are being developed out and being industrialized for application under the great national support. "It is expected that the development of the new emerging industrial cluster featured by low carbon economy will be impelled by the research and development for the new emerging low carbon technologies with the driving-industry effect, and become a new growth point for domestic economy."

Enterprises shall have a long-term perspective on investment

To develop "Low Carbon Economy", technology and system innovations are the key factors, and making governments play a leading role while making enterprises take participation is the major implementation form. Zou Ji said: "At present, for developing the 'Low Carbon Economy' in China, the national condition shall be taken as a base, the synergic relationship between energy conservation and emission reduction and the development of "Low Carbon Economy" shall be fully utilized, such production mode and consumption pattern suitable for the development of low carbon and such policies, legal system and market mechanism that encouraging the development of low carbon shall be established."

How should enterprises take participate in developing "Low Carbon Economy" while the government is perfecting the relative policies step by step, encouraging and guiding the development of "Low Carbon Economy"? Zhao Gang believed that enterprises shall start from enhancing "internal strength", achieving the management on internal environment and doing well on energy conservation, emission reduction and consumption decrease in production. Meanwhile, enterprises shall have a long-term perspective on investment, and make a strategic investment on some low carbon technologies and low carbon industries. "For the moment, in some western countries, such service industries encircling the low carbon economy and low carbon industry have been developed rapidly. Such consultation industries that encircle how to realize energy conservation and how to transform energy conservation also have broad market prospects."

Lv Xuedu, Vice Director of Global Environment Office of MOST, reckoned that enterprises should pay attention to national policies on the weather and make a strategic investment in terms of "Low Carbon Economy". "Enterprises shall take actions right now and apply the technology for emission reduction greatly, meanwhile they shall follow the development of the international systems and domestic policies, and make an advance deployment on the systems to be stipulated."