Foreign Academician Liu Ke: There are six misunderstandings about carbon neutrality. Electric vehicles are actually increasing carbon emissions.

Due to concerns about global carbon emissions, many countries have now issued a timetable for the withdrawal of fuel vehicles from the market. At that time, clean new energy vehicles, mainly electric vehicles, will replace fuel vehicles, accelerating the carbon neutrality goal and reducing the impact of fossil fuel combustion on the environment and climate.

Recently, Liu Ke, foreign academician of the Australian Academy of Engineering and dean of the Innovation Night School of Southern University of Science and Technology, gave a special lecture entitled "Misconceptions about Carbon Neutrality and How to Achieve It" in the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Academician Auditorium. He mentioned that the significance of electric vehicles for emission reduction and carbon neutrality is not what the public imagines.

In his speech, Academician Liu Ke listed six major misunderstandings about carbon neutrality in the current society:

1. Solar energy and wind energy are cheaper than thermal power, so solar energy and wind energy can replace fossil fuel power generation and achieve carbon neutrality.

In fact, the number of hours that solar energy can generate electricity varies from place to place, but on average it is only about 1,700 hours, accounting for only 19.6% of the whole year. If you want to store electricity, the cost will be much higher than thermal power.

2. Large-scale electricity storage technology exists.

Electricity storage technology has hardly evolved in the past 100 years. To date, the cheapest way to store electricity on a large scale is still the pumped storage technology invented more than a hundred years ago.

3. Using carbon dioxide to make chemicals can help reduce carbon emissions. 87% of the world's oil is burned, so converting carbon dioxide into chemicals is of little significance.

4. Carbon collection, utilization and storage technologies can achieve carbon neutrality.

The reason is the same as above. Compared with the huge production volume, large-scale carbon replenishment is costly and difficult, and the amount of carbon that can be solidified by this technology is extremely limited.

5. Improving energy efficiency can achieve carbon neutrality.

Improving energy efficiency can indeed reduce carbon emissions from industrial processes and product production, but based on China's experience in the past 20 years, energy efficiency has improved significantly, but total carbon emissions have increased instead of decreased. Therefore, as long as fossil energy is used, improving energy efficiency will have limited help in carbon neutrality.

6. Replacing fuel vehicles with electric vehicles can reduce carbon emissions.

Academician Liu Ke said that if the energy structure does not change, 67% of electricity comes from coal, then electric vehicles are also increasing carbon emissions. Only when most of the electricity in the power grid comes from renewable energy can electric vehicles be considered clean energy.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.