Boao Dongyu Island Zero-Carbon Demonstration Zone takes off

By Chen Shumin / HICN / Updated: 19:36,24-March-2023

A press conference held on March 22 revealed that the zero-carbon emissions demonstration zone on Bo’ao’s Dongyu Island (Boao Dongyu Island Zero-Carbon Demonstration Zone) has seen progressive achievements, with the first 16 projects completed and set to enter trial operations. The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2023 is scheduled to be held from March 28 to 31 on Dongyu Island in Bo’ao, a coastal town in south China’s island province of Hainan.

Aerial view of Dongyu Island in Bo’ao Town, Qionghai, Hainan Province. [Photo / Xinhua]

One of these projects, covering 22 hectares, is located a stone’s throw away from Dongyu Island. The project comprises a 10-kilovolt switching station, photovoltaic power generation facilities, and agricultural greenhouses. “Making full use of the abundance of solar power, both the electric power generated by the solar panels and the vegetables and fruits planted in the greenhouses under the panel will serve the BFA, which will be zero-carbon, green, and environment friendly,” said Mao Weihua, director of the project constructed by China Energy.

Aerial view of the project in combining photovoltaic power generation and agricultural development near Dongyu Island. [Photo / Xinhua]

“The Dongyu Island demonstration zone makes the most of local natural resources like wind, light, and heat,” said Hu Yaowen, dean of the Hainan institution of the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design.

According to Hu, the demonstration zone prioritizes utilizing natural ventilation and the addition of sunshades and green plants instead of other higher-cost technologies. Natural gas boilers will be replaced by air-source heaters to provide hot water for the hotels in the area. The photovoltaic power generation system maximizes the use of real estate, being positioned on buildings, ground, parking areas, and landscape facilities on Dongyu Island, which serves as a benchmark for the development of China’s photovoltaic technology.

On February 2022, the Hainan provincial government and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, responding to China's goal of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, set out to co-construct a zero-carbon emissions demonstration zone on Bo’ao Dongyu Island within three years. The move also serves to further the development of the national ecological civilization pilot zone in Hainan.

Aerial view of the Boao Forum for Asia International Conference Center and Media Center in the Dongyu Island Zero Carbon Demonstration Zone. [Photo / Xinhua]

The goal of a zero carbon emissions demonstration zone is achieving localized near-zero carbon emissions with advanced emission reduction technologies in applied energy, architecture, transportation, waste disposal and other areas, as well as high-quality offset measures like arboreal carbon sinks.

The Boao Dongyu Island Zero Carbon Demonstration Zone is China’s first zero-carbon pilot zone to be created by renovating existing facilities. The demonstration zone will serve as an in-depth, small-scale exploration of a replicable and adaptable green renovation model that could be applied on a greater scale to even more places in the future.

The completed 16 projects in the 18,000-square meter zero-carbon emissions demonstration zone around Dongyu Island are estimated to reduce carbon emissions by 9055.8 tons and produce 15.1 million kilowatt-hours of power annually. The remaining projects are expected to be completed by the BFA 2024 annual conference, whereupon zero-carbon operations will be fully realized.

Aerial view of the Boao Forum for Asia International Conference Center under renovation in the Dongyu Island Zero Carbon Demonstration Zone. [Photo / Xinhua]

According to Liu Lianwei, deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, a series of conventions based on the zero-carbon policy will be established as guidance for conferences and tourist activities to be held in the demonstration zone, in a bid to promote the goal of zero carbon emissions.

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