China General Certification Center

At a Glance

Industry

Nonprofit

Project Types

Clean and Renewable Energy, Climate Justice/Energy Equity

Year

2024

Location

Beijing

Summary

Jiayi Zhao authored the "Guideline for quantification of the carbon footprint of wind generator" (draft version) in Beijing, China.

Goals

China lacks a unified standard for the carbon footprint calculation of wind turbines. As a team member, Jiayi Zhao, based on the characteristics of the wind power industry and her experience in LCA research, has compiled a guide for carbon footprint calculation of wind generators, providing good guidelines and suggestions for wind power enterprises on carbon footprint calculation.

Solutions

Jiayi Zhao approached the challenge using a three-part process: Determine the scope and functional units of the guidelines for carbon footprint accounting for wind turbines. After researching the global literature, Jiayi Zhao determined that the product range is UN CPC: 4611, and the functional unit is to produce 1 XX model wind turbine or 1MW wind turbine. Determine system boundaries and data collection standards for carbon accounting for wind turbines. Jiayi Zhao determined that the carbon accounting system boundary of generators is "cradle-to-gate" or "cradle-to-grave", including raw material acquisition and pretreatment, production stage, distribution stage, use stage, and end-of-life stage, and the data collection is divided into primary data and secondary data and specifies the data collection requirements for specific processes. The on-site investigation determined the parameters of carbon accounting of wind turbines. She conducted on-site surveys on the wind turbine production floor to determine the parameters that needed to be collected during the carbon accounting process.

Potential Impact

The implementation of the "Guideline for quantification of the carbon footprint of wind generator" will profoundly promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the wind power industry, not only effectively responding to the severe challenges of international climate change and green trade barriers, but also actively guide the market to change to a green consumption and green production model. At the same time, the wide application of the guidelines will further promote the government and industry organizations to formulate more scientific and reasonable policies and standards and lay a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the wind power industry.

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