Five departments: By 2027, cultivate and build a batch of zero-carbon factories in industries such as automobiles, lithium batteries, photovoltaics, electronic appliances, light industry, machinery, and computing power facilities.

On January 19th, five departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on the Construction of Zero Carbon Factories". The "Guiding Opinions" propose that starting from 2026, a batch of zero carbon factories will be selected to set benchmarks and lead the way. By 2027, in industries such as automobiles, lithium batteries, photovoltaics, electronics, light industry, machinery, and computing facilities, a number of zero carbon factories will be cultivated and constructed. By 2030, the exploration of new decarbonization paths for traditional high-energy industries such as steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, building materials, and textiles will be gradually expanded. The release of the "Guiding Opinions" is of significance in promoting technological innovation, structural adjustment, and management optimization in the field of industry and information technology, driving decarbonization and green low-carbon transformation in key industries, and fostering the development of new quality production forces. The "Guiding Opinions" put forward principles of targeted policies, systematic advancement, innovation drive, technological empowerment, reduction optimization, continuous improvement, unified norms, and transparency. It will be implemented in stages, prioritizing industries with urgent decarbonization needs, electricity consumption as the main source of energy, and relatively easier decarbonization difficulties for initial exploration. The selection of a batch of zero carbon factories will start in 2026 to set benchmarks and lead the way. By 2027, in industries such as automobiles, lithium batteries, photovoltaics, electronics, light industry, machinery, and computing facilities, a number of zero carbon factories will be cultivated and constructed. By 2030, the exploration will be gradually expanded to industries such as steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, building materials, and textiles, to explore new decarbonization paths for traditional high-energy industries. The "Guiding Opinions" detail the construction path of zero carbon factories: establishing a carbon emission calculation and management system, accelerating the transformation of energy structure to green and low carbon, improving the utilization of renewable energy and electrification levels to achieve carbon reduction at the source; enhancing energy utilization efficiency, accelerating technological upgrades and equipment updates to achieve process decarbonization; conducting carbon footprint analysis of key products, driving the implementation of energy-saving and carbon reduction measures throughout the entire industry chain, achieving collaborative carbon reduction; improving the level of digitization and intelligence, conducting precise measurement and fine control of energy consumption and carbon emissions data, achieving intelligent carbon control; conducting carbon offsetting and information disclosure, achieving zero carbon emissions and continuous improvement. The release of the "Guiding Opinions" is of great significance in promoting technological transformation and production optimization of industrial enterprises, significantly reducing carbon emissions, strengthening the green manufacturing industry, and developing green production forces.