How does wind power achieve "zero carbon emissions" throughout its life cycle?

According to data released by the market research firm Wood Mackenzie recently, between 2020 and 2050, the global installed capacity of wind power will expand fivefold to 3.7 terawatts, which is expected to increase the world's carbon dioxide emissions by more than 55 million tons. Among them, the carbon emissions of raw material mining, component transportation, wind farm operation and maintenance, and post-decommissioning treatment are particularly worthy of attention.

    Wind power, as the main force of clean energy, has the large amount of carbon emissions generated throughout its life cycle weakened its "green" attributes? How should the wind power industry achieve "zero carbon emissions" throughout its life cycle?

    The manufacturing end is the main source of emissions

    According to data released by Wood Mackenzie, during the entire life cycle of a wind farm, carbon emissions mainly come from the upstream manufacturing end, and the extraction of metal raw materials such as steel, aluminum and copper. The total carbon dioxide emitted by wind turbine manufacturing accounts for the total carbon emissions of wind power. About 86% of the total.

    In the wind power industry, steel is mainly used in components such as towers and nacelles, while cables, control wires, submarine cables and electrical equipment in wind farms are the main copper application scenarios. Wind power is the clean energy form that uses the most raw material copper. Earlier, the international industry research organization Energy Monitor released data that, based on the power generation of one megawatt, the amount of copper used for offshore wind power can reach 8,000 kg, and the amount of copper used for onshore wind power is 2,900 kg. about.

    The industry predicts that with the rapid increase in global onshore wind power and offshore wind power installations, metal consumption will also rise rapidly. Not only that, in recent years, the height of wind power towers in my country has also been increasing. Some analysts believe that the development of high-tower technology may bring higher steel consumption.

    In addition, Wood Mackenzie data also shows that about 14% of carbon emissions in the entire life cycle of a wind farm come from transportation, hoisting, operation and maintenance, and the disposal of wind turbine equipment after the wind farm is decommissioned. In addition, up to now, the global retired wind turbines still cannot achieve 100% recycling, and the wind turbine blades are difficult to reuse due to their special materials. It is not uncommon for a large amount of blade waste to accumulate in pieces.

    Many companies announced the goal of "carbon neutrality"

Does the huge consumption of raw materials and high energy consumption at the manufacturing end greatly compromise the "green" attributes of wind power? Many industry insiders told reporters that "it is not the case."

    “The carbon emissions during the operation of wind farms are basically negligible and can be regarded as a zero-emission process. Even from the perspective of the full life cycle, the emission reduction effect brought by the use of wind power to replace fossil energy power generation must be much higher than the wind turbine manufacturing itself. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions brought about.” Li Dan, executive secretary of the Renewable Energy Professional Committee of China Circular Economy Association, told reporters.

    Is this true? How should the carbon emissions generated by the wind power industry be defined?

Chen Zhibin, director of investment, financing and international business of Beijing Zhongchuang Carbon Investment Technology Co., Ltd., said in an interview with this reporter: "From the perspective of the carbon market, the wind power industry mainly considers the carbon emission reduction in the operation stage. The upstream manufacturing end Power consumption, steelmaking, electrolytic aluminum and other high energy-consuming industries are themselves one of the main areas of carbon market control. If the wind power industry also considers this from the perspective of carbon emissions throughout its life cycle, double counting may occur. "

    "But from another perspective, many wind power companies have now put forward the goal of'carbon neutrality'. They are doing carbon management on their own and reducing their carbon footprint throughout their life cycle. This phenomenon is worth encouraging. I think this is right. For the enterprise, it is a bonus item and a manifestation of its social responsibility." Chen Zhibin added.

Many wind turbine manufacturers around the world and my country's major wind power developers have successively announced their corporate "carbon neutral" goals. On July 21, the wind turbine manufacturing giant Siemens Gamesa announced that it would produce "waste-free wind turbines" by 2040 and achieve the goal of net zero emissions across the entire value chain by 2040. Another wind turbine manufacturing giant, Vestas, also launched a "wood tower" plan to reduce emissions in July. Once the wooden tower is put into use, the company expects to achieve production in the entire supply chain by 2030. The goal of reducing carbon emissions from MWh electricity by about 45%. Chinese wind turbine manufacturers Mingyang Smart Energy, Envision Energy and other companies have also announced a "carbon neutral" timetable.

    Decarbonization of the entire industry chain is more important

    "If my country’s carbon market includes steelmaking and other high energy-consuming industries, the pressure of steel companies to reduce emissions will certainly be transmitted downstream. Once the cost of carbon emissions appears, it may be reflected in the way of rising product prices. The way is transmitted to the wind power industry.” Li Dan said, “The process of carbon reduction will not only affect one link.”

    Wood Mackenzie pointed out that "green" steel and concrete manufactured using low-carbon processes will become an important part of the wind power industry's emission reduction. At the same time, it will increase the use of renewable energy in the manufacturing process and use electric vehicles in the transportation link. These methods can further reduce carbon emissions. In addition, technological advancements in wind turbines will also help improve the durability of wind turbines, thereby reducing the need for on-site operation and maintenance.

    "From the perspective of the whole society, we need to work towards carbon reduction. In fact, it is difficult to fully realize'carbon neutrality' by ourselves when others are not'carbon neutral'. But the renewable energy industry can do more and has a greater responsibility for reducing emissions. "Li Dan said.

    In Chen Zhibin’s view, there are many ways for the wind power industry to achieve carbon reduction goals, but the current carbon peak and carbon neutral goals are more of a market opportunity for wind power. Expand installed capacity and do a good job in stable power generation. Work is more important.