(Yicai Global) Oct. 27 -- China laid out its action plan on how to achieve its goal of reaching carbon emissions peak by 2030 yesterday. It includes having ten million new energy vehicles on the roads by then and a total installed capacity of wind and solar power of 1.2 billion kilowatts.

The share of new and clean energy-powered vehicles will reach 40 percent of new autos in 2030, the country’s cabinet said. China will also accelerate the construction of wind and photovoltaic power plants to reach a total installed capacity of over 1.2 billion KW.

The goals are within reach and will avert a ‘frenzy’ in the new energy market, Yicai Global noted. Based on last year’s sales of 25.3 million autos, a 40 percent share amounts to ten million NEVs. Car giant BYD sold 337,600 electric cars in the first nine months and other EV startups such as GAC Aion, Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto are accelerating growth.

The goal of bringing wind and solar capacity to 1,200 GWs is not a big challenge and the actual capacity by then might even exceed it, Yuan Jiahai, professor at the School of Economics and Management of North China Electric Power University, told Yicai Global.

“In recent years, China has added over 90 GW of solar and wind power a year. At this rate, with nine years to go, capacity could easily surpass 1,200 GWs,” Yuan said.

The action plan also required the steel industry to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to not expand any further, especially in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the country's main steel production base.

The steel industry has set an initial goal to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2030, said Li Xinchuang, chief engineer of China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute. This would be equivalent to a reduction of 420 million tons of carbon. However, most steel mills are just entering low-carbon development and it will be a big challenge to achieve this goal, he added.

In addition, the plan stated that carbon emissions per unit of commuting turnover will drop by 9.5 percent from last year, and railroads’ energy consumption will fall by 10 percent.

Editor: Kim Taylor