Zero carbon exploration on Dongyu Island

Source: People's Daily

Dongyu Island, the permanent site of the Boao Forum for Asia, will be built into a "zero carbon demonstration area", which is a zero carbon experiment in urban built-up areas. At present, its first phase of construction has been accepted. Why did you choose to demonstrate here? What are the characteristics of this "zero carbon demonstration zone"?

Qingqing Wanquan River, downstream of Boao Town.

There is a small island at the entrance to the sea, where coconut shadows dance and birds sing. This is Dongyu Island, the permanent site of the Boao Forum for Asia.

In 2022, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development and Hainan Province decided to jointly create a "zero carbon demonstration zone" here to explore the carbon neutrality path of urban built-up areas. In March of this year, the first phase of construction acceptance was passed.

Zero carbon experiment, providing experience for green carbon reduction in Chinese cities

"Zero carbon demonstration zones should first focus on 'zero carbon'. This does not mean zero emissions, but to achieve carbon neutrality." Liu Lianwei, deputy director of the Department of Housing and Urban Rural Development of Hainan Province, explained that through the integrated application of energy, construction, transportation, waste treatment and other fields of deep emission reduction technology, new forestry carbon sinks and other offset measures, the carbon dioxide emitted in the region is equivalent to the carbon dioxide absorbed, To achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions to the outside world.

Next is' demonstration ', "Liu Lianwei said. According to statistics, 71% - 76% of the current global carbon emissions come from cities. The green carbon reduction renovation of urban built-up areas is of great significance to the global goal of carbon neutrality; Conducting zero carbon experiments in existing urban built-up areas instead of new ones is more difficult and challenging, but it is also more practical and can form experiences that can be implemented, promoted, and replicated.

Why choose Dongyu Island?

Actually, at the beginning, Hainan considered three candidate locations, namely Haikou Jiangdong, Sanya Nanfan, and Dongyu Island. Compared to the previous two places, Dongyu Island is an urban built-up area that has been under construction for more than 20 years. It faces problems such as relatively outdated equipment and facilities, low resource recycling rate, and has the common characteristics of urban built-up areas. Moreover, as the permanent site of the Boao Forum for Asia, Dongyu Island is also an important window for China to show the world to promote the realization of the "double carbon" goal.

To this end, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development and Hainan Province jointly prepared and released the Implementation Plan of the Boao Zero Carbon Demonstration Zone Project, which proposed 19 projects in eight categories, focusing on the transformation and restoration of the ecological shoreline of Dongyu Island, the ecological restoration and function improvement of the forest land in the island, the landscape improvement and function improvement project of Yuanyang Avenue, the transformation project of the Boao Forum for Asia conference center and hotel, the transformation project of Dongyu Island Hotel, the transformation project of the news center, etc, Implement carbon neutrality transformation around urban built-up areas.

"This zero carbon demonstration zone will serve as a micro model to explore the green carbon reduction and transformation of urban built-up areas, not only providing experience for green carbon reduction of cities in China, but also providing an excellent model for sustainable development and carbon neutrality exploration." said Hu Yaowen, president (general manager) of Hainan Branch of China Planning Institute (Beijing) Planning and Design Co., Ltd.

Green power supply, resource recycling, and low-carbon transformation

On Dongyu Island, all vehicles seen are green signs.

Oil trucks are not allowed to go to the island, "Yu Jiaxi, the general manager of Hainan Power Grid Power Dispatch and Control Center, told reporters that green transportation transformation has been fully implemented in Dongyu Island. There are green smart parking lots built inside and outside the island, and all 398 charging stations are connected to the "One Network" operation platform of Hainan Province's charging infrastructure. At the same time, a new intelligent charging station for optical storage charging vehicles has been built on the island, utilizing liquid cooling technology to fully charge vehicles within 10 minutes.

Where does green electricity come from? Outside Dongyu Island, a 180 acre agricultural photovoltaic complementary base utilizes photovoltaic power generation. The two phases of the project are approximately 20 megawatts, with 11 megawatts already connected to the grid; On the island, it is planned to build a 5.1 megawatt distributed photovoltaic system. Currently, it has been put into operation and connected to the grid for power transmission of 3.82 megawatts. At the same time, the island is also equipped with various energy storage equipment and 17 emergency power generation vehicles as "power banks" to reserve green electricity. At night or when the weather is bad or there is insufficient light, the equipment on the island can be supplied for normal operation.

A test question that must be faced when carrying out low-carbon transformation in urban built-up areas is how to reduce carbon emissions while ensuring that the quality of daily life and work of residents remains unchanged and efficiency remains unchanged. To this end, the construction team starts with solid waste and rainwater to explore the maximum utilization of resources.

It is reported that the left space on both sides of the road built on the island is filled with crushed stones, and solid waste is utilized; The garbage collection system has completed classification, sealing, and cleaning transformation, and can be centrally resourced and treated every day. At the same time, the design team also utilizes existing drainage ditches such as building roofs and squares, as well as supporting rainwater storage facilities, to convert drainage into water storage. It is understood that the entire Dongyu Island can now utilize approximately 150000 tons of rainwater as resources every year.

Integrate advanced carbon reduction technologies and innovate to overcome construction challenges

In Dongyu Island, the Boao Forum for Asia News Center, with a floor area of more than 4000 square meters, is the largest single building on the island. How to carry out green transformation?

Liu Lianwei pointed out to reporters that there is a row of fans in front of the news center house, which can start and collect wind energy for power generation even in a light breeze state; There are 629 photovoltaic panels distributed on the roof, and a large "battery" standing behind the house is used to store green electricity. Through global solution solicitation, the Tsinghua University team's all vanadium liquid flow technology with independent intellectual property rights stands out. This technology can achieve long-term storage and multiple charging and discharging, with nearly four times the number of charging and discharging times compared to traditional lithium batteries... Through comprehensive renovation, the construction of the news center building has formed the highest level of "optical storage direct flexible" system in China, with an annual power consumption reduced from 650000 kWh to 520000 kWh. At the same time, it can generate 550000 kWh of electricity annually - not only achieving "zero energy consumption", but also saving.

According to the relevant person in charge of the Hainan Provincial Department of Housing and Urban Rural Development, as the Boao Zero Carbon Demonstration Zone is a zero carbon experiment in urban built-up areas, there is no mature construction experience to learn from both internationally and domestically. From the beginning, they adopted an innovative model of soliciting various advanced technological solutions from around the world and then conducting integrated applications.

Since last year, Hainan has launched multiple solicitations for "zero carbon technology solutions and products" both domestically and internationally, with a total of 71 advanced technology products selected; At the same time, a specialized expert advisory committee has been established, inviting well-known domestic and foreign experts to hold multiple large-scale expert research and consultation meetings, providing macro strategic consultation on construction ideas, work direction, and work content for the creation of the Boao Zero Carbon Demonstration Zone.

It is reported that out of the 19 projects in the eight major categories to be constructed in the zero carbon demonstration zone, 16 projects have been completed.