Cleaner production in photovoltaic industry can promote win-win

Photovoltaic power generation is an excellent low-carbon energy source. The realization of clean production in the photovoltaic industry can achieve a win-win situation of environmental protection and cost reduction. However, there is no technical bottleneck in the realization of clean production in China's photovoltaic industry.

In recent years, with the rapid expansion of the photovoltaic industry, China has become the world's largest producer of photovoltaic equipment, but its pollution and energy consumption issues have attracted much attention.

The "Research Report on Cleaner Production of China's Photovoltaic Industry" released this time is the first domestic report on the status of clean production of photovoltaics. Greenpeace has systematically analyzed the environmental impact, energy consumption, the issue of carbon emissions.

The photovoltaic industry should not only provide clean energy, but also the production of photovoltaic equipment itself. Li Ang, director of Greenpeace Climate and Energy Project, said that the overall situation of clean production in the photovoltaic industry is not satisfactory. For example, there are currently more than 70 domestic polysilicon enterprises, but only 20 meet the requirements of the "Polysilicon Industry Access Conditions" (promulgated in 2011).

The report pointed out that photovoltaic power generation is completely zero-emission during use, while the energy consumption and carbon emissions in the photovoltaic manufacturing process are only 5%-10% of fossil energy, and the energy recovery cycle of photovoltaic power generation is only 1.3 years. Calculated in 25 years, photovoltaic power generation has zero carbon emissions for about 24 years, showing its great superiority in energy saving and emission reduction.

Li Ang also said that to solve the current problems of high pollution and high energy consumption in China's photovoltaic production, to truly achieve clean, near-zero emissions, there is no technical bottleneck, and some domestic enterprises have already practiced.

Li Ang believes that clean production from the source is an inevitable choice for the long-term healthy and sustainable development of the photovoltaic industry. The current photovoltaic market is going through a severe winter, which is a good opportunity for enterprises to carry out technological reform and turn to clean production.

Greenpeace also calls on the government to formulate more comprehensive clean production standards and related certification systems for the photovoltaic industry as soon as possible to standardize and guide the development direction of the photovoltaic industry. Enterprises should also publish annual clean production reports to the public, and publicly disclose the environmental indicators and energy consumption levels of each link .