JD to build carbon-neutral logistics industrial park in Xi'an

JD, a prominent Chinese online marketplace known for its logistics prowess, plans to build China's first carbon-neutral logistics industrial park in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

JD is accelerating steps to reduce energy consumption and bolster green and sustainable development.

Its Asia No 1 intelligent logistics park in Xi'an will cover an area of nearly 300,000 square meters, and is expected to achieve carbon neutrality in early 2022, JD said.

So far, the park has built a 100,000-sq-m rooftop photovoltaic power generation system, which generated about 8.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity from January to October this year.

This has helped reduce carbon emissions by about 5,670 metric tons compared to purchasing electricity from local power plants, JD said.

The company's green goals include reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 compared with 2019. JD has already finished installing PV systems at 12 logistics parks across the nation.

"The total production capacity of JD's PV power generation systems will be 100 megawatts by the end of this year, which could provide energy for 50,000 households in a year. And in the next three years, the capacity will reach 1,000 megawatts, contributing green energy to 85 percent of JD's intelligent industrial parks," said Duan Yanjian, in charge of JD's "Green Stream Initiative," a green supply chain project.

With the support of advanced technologies including 5G, blockchain and artificial intelligence, JD is committed to improving the operational efficiency of intelligent logistic parks and lowering carbon emissions, the company said.

Aiming to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, China is forging ahead in clean and renewable energy development amid its transition to a low-carbon economy.

In line with the national green goals, JD Logistics said in October it will invest 1 billion yuan ($157 million) to set up a green supply chain system, expecting its carbon efficiency to increase by 35 percent within the next five years.

Yu Rui, CEO of JD Logistics, called for efforts to collaborate with upstream and downstream partners. This, he said, will help promote the application of more recyclable packages and new energy vehicles.

It will also help transform the supply chain operations and enable management with digital technology, he said.

Yang Daqing, a parcel delivery industry specialist at the China Federation of Logistics and Purchase, said, "Logistics enterprises are mainly engaged in providing storage, delivery and terminal distribution services, and they are also the main source of carbon emissions."

He also said the photovoltaic power generation systems could not only generate enough electricity resources for enterprises, but create economic value for the whole society.

Over the past four years, JD Logistics has used nearly 12,000 new energy vehicles in more than 50 cities in China, making use of over 1,600 charging terminals.

This kind of usage could reduce at least 120,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, experts said.

Wang Can, a professor of environmental planning and management with Tsinghua University, said technological innovation plays a vital role in helping the country to achieve the dual carbon goals.

Advanced clean energy and low-carbon technologies will become the next battlefield for global technology companies, Wang said.