From power restriction to power saving, from passive to active

    During a thunderstorm in the mid-18th century, Franklin discovered "electricity" with the flickering of a kite. 

    Since then, people began to study the current, so far, it has become an indispensable part of people's life. 

    According to the information released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the power generation of the whole society in China alone reached 7.42 trillion kilowatt-hours (7.42 trillion kilowatt-hours) in 2020. 

    Electricity is a necessity of life today, but since late September this year, more than 20 provinces in China have implemented power restriction measures under different conditions, which has had a certain impact on the production and life of the society. 

    Why should power restriction measures be implemented at a time when society pursues rapid development and life pursues comfort and enjoyment? 

    After analysis, it seems that there are several reasons: 

    1, the national coal shortage;

    2, the coal burning cost is upside down with the benchmark electricity price;

    3, the net receiving capacity of the tie line is decreasing. 

    The adoption of power-limiting measures to strengthen the implementation of dual control of energy consumption is closely related to the background of achieving carbon peak in 2030 and carbon neutralization in 2060. 

    Some people may ask here, where is the relationship between electricity consumption and carbon emissions? 

    The reason is that 70% of China's electricity is thermal power, which is a way of generating electricity that uses the heat generated by combustibles to convert into electricity through power plants. 

    And this requires a lot of consumption of coal and other resources. 

    According to the target set in the government work report, energy consumption per unit of GDP should be reduced by 13.5% during the 14th five-year Plan period. 

    In the main expected targets for development in 2021, it is also clearly proposed that "energy consumption per unit of GDP will be reduced by about 3%." 

    However, in 2020, the energy consumption of the gross domestic product of 10,000 yuan decreased by only 0.1% compared with the same period last year, while the total energy consumption increased by 2.2%. The electricity consumption of the whole society was 7.511 trillion kilowatt-hours (7.51 trillion kilowatt-hours), an increase of 3.1% compared with the same period last year. 

    According to recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the electricity consumption of the whole society increased by 13.8% from January to August of 2021 compared with the same period last year. 

    This obviously runs counter to the government's expected goal of development. 

    Therefore, the purpose of power restriction is to reduce a series of natural ecological problems caused by social development from the source. 

    Power restriction is not a long-term solution, it is ultimately to change the power energy structure and save electricity on the premise of maintaining and improving the quality of life and production. 

    In terms of power energy structure, although the proportion of clean energy has increased, the electricity market is still highly dependent on thermal power generation, and the road to clean energy still takes a long time. 

    From this point of view, the development of clean energy can only be the general direction, and power saving has become an immediate and feasible solution. 

    According to statistics, in 2020, the total direct electricity consumption of urban and rural residents increased to 1.0949 trillion kilowatt-hours (1.0949 trillion kilowatt-hours), which accounted for nearly 1 / 7 of the total electricity consumption of the whole society. 

    Split down, based on China's population of slightly more than 1.4 billion: in a year, per capita electricity consumption is about 780 kilowatt-hours. 

    In the face of this data, it seems that it is time to consider whether everyone can do their part in saving electricity. 

    While the overall environment requires power cuts, individuals seem to play very little role here, but it is precisely because it is so negligible that people are not willing to sacrifice their comfortable living environment to make some small contributions. 

    Is there a way that can not only greatly reduce the use of electricity in daily life, but also meet people's pursuit of a comfortable life? 

    Perhaps only from the living space to improve.

    At present, architecture is one of the "necessary conditions" for human survival. From the perspective of the building system, the energy consumption of most of the existing buildings in China is very large, and the construction industry has always been a large part in energy consumption. 

    The energy consumption related to construction includes the production energy of building materials, the transportation energy of building materials, the energy consumption in the process of building construction and maintenance, and the energy consumption of building operation in the process of building use.     

    Among them, the energy consumption of building operation, that is, the energy consumption of building lighting, heating, air conditioning and the use of electrical appliances in all kinds of buildings, will always occur with the use of buildings. 

    In the whole life cycle of a building, the energy consumed by building materials and construction process generally accounts for only about 20% of its total energy consumption, and most of the energy consumption occurs during the operation of the building. 

    Therefore, the energy consumption of building operation is the most important concern in the task of building energy conservation. 

    Save 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity = reduce 0.997 kg of carbon dioxide = reduce 0.272 kg of carbon (carbon emissions from the entire life process of non-power generation and electricity). 

    Under the premise of "2030 carbon peak and 2060 carbon neutralization" in China, vigorously developing "green buildings", reducing building energy consumption and promoting building energy conservation are the main directions of the construction industry in the future. 

    What is "green building"? 

    The regulations (draft) clearly points out that the so-called "green building" refers to saving resources, protecting the environment, reducing pollution, and providing people with a healthy, applicable and efficient space for use during the whole life period. a high-quality building that maximizes the harmonious symbiosis between man and nature. 

    The electrical energy saving of "green building" can be carried out from the following four links. 

    1, system design;

    2, scientific management;

    3, electrical products; 

    4, energy purification. 

    In recent years, with the tilt of national policy, people began to pay attention to the health and comfort of building space users, consumer awareness of environmental protection is also increasing, pay more attention to green buildings. 

    It not only meets people's requirements for comfort, but also can greatly reduce electricity consumption and improve resource utilization during the building operation cycle, which meets the environmental requirements of energy saving and consumption reduction. 

    This fundamentally saves the consumption of electricity in daily life, and then saves the consumption in the whole life cycle of electricity needed by life. 

    As far as splitting into individuals is concerned, it greatly weakens the demand for electricity and reduces its consumption, so that the cost of electricity can be saved, and it is no longer negligible.

    In view of the importance of the construction industry in the global response to the challenges of climate change, at present, the construction of ecological civilization has been incorporated into the overall layout of national development, and the real estate construction industry, as one of the major consumers of energy consumption, is also moving towards the barrier of green development. 

    In order to achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2060 to better deal with climate change, China must significantly reduce carbon emissions from the construction industry in the coming decades. 

    And the large-scale power cuts that began in September have also sounded the alarm. If we want to continue to develop, we must reduce energy consumption from the source. 

    "Green building" has become the long-term direction of the construction industry at this level. 

    "Green building" can greatly and evenly reduce the energy consumption during the building operation cycle, which not only serves the present, but also focuses on the future. 

    It is hoped that periodic power cuts will become history in the near future.