The kick-off meeting for the municipal carbon emission peaking investigation was held at Qingdao on January 17, 2018.

The research of carbon emission peaking is mainly conducted by the Qingdao Carbon Data and Carbon Assessment Engineering Laboratory (QCEL). Approved officially by the Qingdao Development and Reform Commission in October of 2017, the lab is located at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences.

YANG Hongwei, a professor of the Energy Research Institute (ERI) of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China, gave a talk titled "Qingdao's carbon emission peaking scenario study", briefing NDRC's related policies and ERI's guiding role in upcoming peaking investigation. YANG Yanli, an associate professor of QIBEBT, introduced Qingdao's economic and social basic situation and defined the tasks of QCEL in Qingdao's carbon emission peaking action, focusing on how to acquire and evaluate local carbon emission data.

"The peaking path research is an important support for Qingdao to create a national central city and to accelerate the construction of an innovative and livable city," said REN Zhengang, director of the Qingdao Blue Economic Zone Office, affiliated to Qingdao Development and Reform Commission.

Plenty of pertinent and practical suggestions were proposed and discussed by invited experts from the Alliance of Peaking Pioneer Cities of China (an alliance initiated by NDRC), Renmin University of China, and certain non-governmental organizations including the Energy Foundation China, Rocky Mountain Institute, and World Resources Institute.

"We will conscientiously build a basic data information system to support the peaking path study, and provide actionable plans for local government. We also hope to formulate a Qingdao model for other cities," said LU Xuefeng, Vice-Director of QIBEBT.

This meeting marked the full launch of the carbon emission peaking study and action plan compilation in Qingdao.

(Text by XIN Hongchuan and Image by LI Xiaoxiao)