(Yicai Global) Aug. 3 -- Shanghai is making energy consumption a key measure to determine whether to permit certain manufacturing projects to go ahead so as to encourage local firms to become more eco-friendly, more high-end and emit less carbon dioxide emissions in order to meet the country’s carbon agenda.

Shanghai will speed up the optimization and upgrading of its industrial structure, layout and technological processes so that the steel and petrochemical sectors reach peak greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the target of 2030, according to a plan released by the municipal government on July 28.

By 2025, the megacity will have 30 zero carbon factories, five zero-carbon industrial parks and five zero carbon data centers.

The city will phase out outdated data centers or gradually change their purpose over the next few years, the plan said. Energy audits or energy-conservation monitoring shall be conducted on companies with high energy consumption, especially those whose power consumption exceeds 5,000 tons of standard coal a year.

The construction of rooftop photovoltaic facilities at factories and industrial parks should be vigorously promoted, with the ratio of usable rooftop solar panels by local industry and communication firms to reach 50 percent by 2025.

The plan puts the emphasis on environmental protection and low carbon as major directions for industrial development and emerging growth points. Policies conducive to low-carbon research and development and industrial development will be cultivated.

The city laid out a clear plan for energy conservation and carbon emission cuts by the industrial and communication sectors in June, proposing that they should endeavor to use 1 percent less power on average each year between 2022 and 2025.

New green industrial parks have been unveiled this year. For example, International Hydrogen Energy Valley will focus on making core components for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and building a full industrial chain of hydrogen energy equipment.

And the Baowu Shanghai Carbon Neutrality Industrial Park will serve as a low-carbon industrial demonstration zone to develop new materials, smart manufacturing, new energy as well as recycling.

Shanghai has managed to more than halve carbon dioxide emissions per unit of economic output since 2010 and leads the country in energy consumption per unit of economic output and emissions per unit of economic output.

Editors: Xu Wei, Kim Taylor