More than a dozen experiment racks and an extravehicular experiment platform will be installed to support hundreds of research projects in fields such as astronomy, space life science, biotechnology, microgravity, basic physics and space materials. China is aiming to boost global collaboration in this regard.
China is considering the launch of a faster supercomputer. The Chinese team that won the 2021 award described in their winning paper a yet-to-be-published powerful machine that can achieve a sustained performance of 1.2 exaflops of single-precision computing power.
Such a device could be used to screen out therapeutical molecules and to simulate the chaotic planet climate which could help slow down global warming. Although many complex problems in the real world cannot currently be solved through the quantum computer, its performance continues to rapidly improve. In 2021, Chinese scientists launched two superconducting quantum computing systems, Zuchongzhi and Zuchongzhi 2.1 within a half year, making China one of the world leaders in the field.
In the environment, as China is aiming to peak its CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, technology reducing carbon emissions is in high demand. While the country’s drive to develop renewable energy is in full swing, its power-intensive industries are being overhauled to make them more eco-friendly. Win-win techniques will be applied more in the coming years, translating China’s carbon-reduction promises into lucrative opportunities.
China has also published plans broadly outlining how it might achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, and a peak of emissions before 2030. Researchers say the documents, released ahead of the COP26 climate talks that concluded, send a strong message to the industry, government agencies and universities in China to ramp up their efforts to help the country meet its climate goals. Already this year, more than ten prominent universities and institutions have set up carbon-neutrality-research institutes; the Chinese Academy of Sciences launched a centre last month.
Achieving carbon neutrality is a big challenge for China. From emitting more than 11 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide in 2020, China has to drop to net zero within four decades. This is a scale and speed that no other country has attempted before. China’s current emissions are more than double of the United States and three times as big as those of India. There will be a lot of areas needing contribution from researchers. Researchers will also need to study which sections of China’s population will be most affected by the transition and learn how to help them cope.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, a white paper shows Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications will help China cut down over 35 billion tonnes of carbon emission by 2060, the year the nation pledged to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. At least 70% of China’s carbon reductions will involve AI-related technologies by 2060. The white paper was jointly released by research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) and a Chinese tech company that has greatly dived into AI technology in recent years.
The paper also estimated that cloud computing technology helped the world to reduce carbon emissions equal to what 26 million cars could exhaust in 2020. China has vowed to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The country has since adopted a series of policies, measures and actions to push forward carbon emission reduction despite economic challenges. China has also rolled out new guidelines on carbon reduction promoting the integration of the carbon industry and techs such as big data, AI and 5G.
