CIIE auto companies discuss carbon neutrality

The upgrade of automobile industry will contribute to China's carbon neutrality goals, experts and insiders of the industry said at a seminar held in Shanghai on Aug 26.

The seminar was organized by the smart mobility and new energy committee of the China International Import Expo's Enterprise Alliance.

Li Zanfeng, chief engineer of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, said that the improvement of manufacturing techniques can reduce energy consumption in production, while the rising ratio of electrical vehicle will reduce carbon emissions.

"It is also important to combine electric vehicles with a smart transportation system, which increases traffic efficiency by alleviating road congestion," he said.

Lin Rui, professor of the School of Automotive Studies at Tongji University, stressed that the popularization of new energy vehicles, especially hydrogen-powered cars, will be important to achieving the emission reduction targets.

"The carbon emission of an electrical car is 26 percent lower than gasoline car when we include the production of the car and the electricity in the life-cycle analysis," she said.

Lin hopes that international cooperation could be further carried out for technological innovation and incentive mechanisms be introduced to boost product development.

Kamran Vossoughi, president and CEO of Michelin China, said Michelin has spared no effort in promoting green products and upholding the principle of reducing, reusing, recycling and renewing in China. The company is the current chair of the CIIE smart mobility and new energy committee, which was founded in March and includes more than a dozen companies in the automobile industrial chain as its members.

"We share the same objective as the CIIE in connecting the public and private sectors with collective intelligence. Since the establishment of the committee, the members have combined their respective advantages to introduce cutting-edge technologies to China and helped the country achieve high-quality growth," Vossoughi said.

Representatives of member companies such as Volvo and Bosch also spoke about their carbon reduction technologies, policy suggestions and social responsibility practices.

Last year, China announced that it will strive to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.