(Yicai) April 8 -- China has launched an artificial intelligence-driven carbon emission accounting system, which covers everything from production and consumer use to natural sources, such as forests. The tool aims to help the country meet its emission reduction targets of reaching peak emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

The ScienceOne·Yuheng carbon accounting model is designed to meet China’s strategic needs in tackling carbon change and to advance carbon emission accounting from manual, traditional methods to a smart, systematic and dynamic process, Wei Wei, deputy director of the model’s lead developer the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said today at a press conference.

Calculating carbon emissions by hand faces several big challenges, Wei said. Industries are diverse with high professional barriers, data comes in many formats and is difficult to process, the accounting cycles are long, labor costs are high and the results often lack precision or fine time-and-space resolution.

The research team built a specialized AI agent powered by large language models using CAS’ ScienceOne Scientific Foundation Model as a base, Wei said. This agent improves the accuracy and completeness of carbon accounting and ensures that data is updated frequently and integrated efficiently by connecting with multiple departments and industries.

Thanks to this system, ScienceOne·Yuheng can precisely measure how China’s green products contribute to global emission reductions. For example, the model can calculate how the wind turbines and solar panels exported by China in 2024 generated around two million tons of greenhouse gases during manufacturing, but will save roughly 350 million tons globally during operation, according to data released at the press conference.

On a practical level, ScienceOne·Yuheng can provide more accurate data for compiling national greenhouse gas inventories, building carbon emission trading markets, evaluating the carbon footprint of key industries and guiding green transformation across major industrial chains.

The system will also supply international organizations with Chinese carbon data and standards, giving China a stronger voice in global carbon markets and carbon tariff negotiations.

Looking ahead, the research team plans to deepen development across production, consumption, natural sources and carbon tracing, aiming to produce proprietary algorithms, data and carbon accounting results, Wei added.

Editor: Kim Taylor