Is the environmental protection industry a sunrise industry or a sunset industry?

It can be said to still be an emerging industry, but today’s environmental protection companies lack core technologies and investment in research and development; one copies the other, and so on. No one is trying to solve these difficult problems; everyone is competing on price. Even those multinational companies that claim to be very sophisticated cannot guarantee that the systems they create will function properly. This illustrates both the current problems and the fact that this industry urgently needs real technological progress; with core technologies in place, great things can be achieved.

Whether it is a sunrise industry or a sunset industry depends entirely on the position of the sun. If the sun rises more in the east, it is a sunrise industry ； If the sun rises in the west, it is a sunset industry. In China, where the sun rises depends entirely on policy formulation and implementation.

The market size of the environmental protection industry is set to double over the next five years. China plans to invest approximately 10.8 trillion yuan in strategic industries over the next five years. For the industries and leading companies involved, this is undoubtedly good news, and as a result, the industry is busy predicting and analyzing which enterprises and sectors will emerge as leaders first. Analysts believe that, as industries that receive strategic support, it is quite likely that 10.8 trillion yuan will be invested in these strategic emerging industries over the next 5 years; however, such investments are likely to be made in phases, rather than all at once. Feng Fei, head of the Industrial Economics Research Department at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said at Shen Yin Wan Guo’s 2012 Investment in China Strategy Conference that strategic emerging industries have two types of development goals. The first category consists of industries that are being developed into key sectors, including energy conservation and environmental protection, the next-generation information industry, the biotechnology industry, and high-end equipment manufacturing ； The second category is becoming leading industries: such as new energy, new materials, and new energy vehicles. The overall target is to achieve a share of 8% of GDP by 2015 and 15% by 2020. Feng Fei identified 24 key areas of focus for China over the next seven years: First, energy conservation and environmental protection – efficient energy use, advanced environmental protection measures, and resource recycling ； II. Next-generation information technology--next-generation information networks, core electronic industries, high-end software, and emerging information services ； III. Biology – Biopharmaceuticals, Biomedical Engineering, Bioagriculture, Biomanufacturing ； IV. High-end equipment manufacturing – aviation equipment, rail transit equipment, satellites and their applications, offshore engineering equipment, intelligent manufacturing equipment ； V. New Energy – Next-generation nuclear energy, wind energy, solar energy, biomass energy ； VI. New Materials – New functional materials, advanced structural materials, high-performance composite materials ； VII. New energy vehicles – plug-in hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles. Energy-saving industry: industrial energy savings, building energy-saving materials. During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, China’s energy-saving services industry experienced an average annual growth rate of over 60%; by the end of that period, its total output value reached 83.6 billion yuan, representing a 16-fold increase compared to the end of the 10th Five-Year Plan period. “During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the total investment in contract energy management projects reached 68.395 billion yuan. During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, it is expected that the growth rates of both the output value and investment in the energy-saving services industry will remain above 50%; in the future, the growth rates of the output value and investment in energy-saving services in the construction sector are likely to stay between 30% and 50%. Inverters: They excel in the fields of energy saving and control. Over the next three years, the overall compound growth rate of China’s frequency converter industry is expected to be around 26%. The market size is projected to reach 34 billion yuan by 2012. High-voltage frequency converters are expected to see an even faster growth rate, with a compound growth rate of around 48% over these three years; their market size is set to exceed 15 billion yuan by 2012. Energy-saving renovation of central air conditioning: Among the building’s mechanical and electrical equipment, the energy consumption of central air conditioning systems typically accounts for 40% to 60% of the total energy consumption of the building. A central air conditioning system consists of a main unit responsible for cooling, a water system that transports chilled water and cooling water, and an terminal air handling system that generates cold air through heat exchange with the chilled water. These three subsystems typically account for 40%, 35%, and 25% of the energy consumption of a central air conditioning system, respectively. Waste heat boiler: Industrial waste heat accounts for approximately 17% to 67% of the total thermal energy of its fuel, with a recoverable rate of 60%. At present, the utilization rate of waste heat resources in our country is low; large steel enterprises achieve a waste heat utilization rate of around 30% to 50%, while other enterprises have an even lower rate. It is estimated that the market size for the waste heat boiler industry could reach 50 billion yuan over the next five years, with an average annual growth rate of 30% to 40%. High-efficiency motors: In China, high-efficiency motors refer to those with an energy efficiency rating of level 2 or above. High-efficiency motors can save 2% to 8% more energy compared to ordinary motors. In 2006, China issued the \"Specifications for Energy Efficiency of Small and Medium-Sized Three-Phase Asynchronous Motors and Criteria for Energy Saving Evaluation,\" which stipulated that motors with an energy efficiency rating below level 3 would be banned from sale starting from July 1, 2011. The mandatory energy efficiency standards will lead to the complete replacement of high-energy-consuming motors with efficient ones, and their market effects will gradually become apparent. Environmental protection industry: sub-sectors such as denitration and sewage treatment. The market size of the environmental protection industry is set to double over the next 5 years; it is estimated that China’s investment in environmental protection during the 12th Five-Year Plan period will reach 3.1 trillion yuan, doubling the 1.54 trillion yuan invested during the 11th Five-Year Plan period ； It is estimated that the industry’s output value will reach 2.2 trillion in 2015, doubling the 1.1 trillion level of 2010. The industry’s annual compound growth rate is expected to be between 15% and 20%, with leading companies in this sector seeing growth rates of over 30%. The denitration industry, wastewater treatment, and waste management industries look promising. Waste gas treatment: During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, investments in desulfurization were focused on the power industry; it is expected that in the future the desulfurization market will be dominated by non-power industries such as steel, building materials, and chemicals. It is anticipated that the desulfurization industry will still have a capacity of 20 to 30 billion yuan per year. Nitrogen oxides are included in environmental protection indicators, driving demand for new denitration technologies. Wastewater treatment: The rate of urban wastewater treatment needs to be improved. With stricter new emission standards, urban sewage treatment is expected to become a key area for investment. “During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, ammonia nitrogen emissions were added to the list of key pollutants whose emissions are required to be reduced, and the emission standards became stricter. In 2008, the market share of MBR was 2%, and it is expected to reach 27% by 2015, with an annual growth rate of over 50%. Solid waste treatment: With a series of new policies being introduced, the waste management sector is entering a golden decade. Its development has been slower than that of air and wastewater treatment, yet it holds the greatest potential for investment. In contrast, investment in solid waste treatment has decreased rather than increased, leaving ample room for investment during the 12th Five-Year Plan period. Waste disposal in China relies mainly on landfilling, which accounts for about 80% of the total waste processed. It is expected that during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, waste treatment methods will drive the entire solid waste management industry to grow at a rate of 20% per year. Industry of resource recycling: industrial waste, slag, etc. Statistical data show that during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the amount of industrial solid waste that was recycled in China increased from 770 million tons in 2005 to 1.52 billion tons in 2010, while the recycling rate rose from 55.8% to 69%. It is predicted that by 2015, the output value of the energy-saving and environmental protection industry will exceed 4.5 trillion yuan, accounting for about 8% of that year’s GDP. Among this, the scale of the resource recycling industry will grow rapidly, with its output value reaching 1.5 trillion yuan. Recycling of metal resources: Metals have the advantages of low loss rates, ease of recovery, and ease of being reprocessed in furnaces. The recycling of metals helps to save electricity and water, while also reducing waste emissions during the production process. The metal recycling industry currently features low market concentration, outdated technology and processing capabilities, as well as insufficient pollution control measures; it needs to be integrated. It is recommended to focus on leading companies in specific sectors. Recycling of non-metallic resources: Compared to metals, the sources from which non-metallic resources can be recovered are more diverse; recyclable materials can be found in industrial waste, food waste, and construction waste. These recycled materials can be used to produce products such as rubber, plastics, and recycled paper. Recycling of electronic devices, auto parts, and electrical equipment: Compared to the recycling of metals and non-metals, the recycling of electronic and electrical equipment started later, has a smaller scale in terms of industry volume, and lacks sufficient supporting infrastructure. Given the development progress of industries such as electronics, electrical appliances, automobiles, and electrical equipment in our country, it is expected that a large number of electronic and electrical products will be upgraded gradually.

The environmental protection industry is undoubtedly a sunrise industry.

It’s certainly an industry with great potential; in China, it still has a lot of room for development

It used to be a declining industry, but if the sunset has arrived, can the sunrise be far away? So now, it has to become a sunrise industry

It’s an industry with which we are in contact day and night: lol. When there are few people in an area, the waste is dealt with by nature without any human intervention. But as more people move there, the natural capacity to handle such waste becomes insufficient, and human assistance is needed. As the population continues to grow, the demands on waste management capabilities and technologies increase accordingly. That’s why technological innovation is the future; P

Whether the environmental protection industry is a sunrise industry or a sunset industry depends mainly on whether those in charge of it are genuine environmentalists. If it’s done solely for making money or running a business, it might be an industry on the decline. If it is for environmental and survival needs, it is indeed an emerging industry, as too many problems remain unsolved. So what exactly is it? It’s up to you.

It should be a sunrise industry, as it is related to the improvement of people’s living standards and quality of life.

As it belongs to a sunrise industry, the conflict between economic development and environmental resources is becoming increasingly apparent. To address the issues arising from economic development, particularly those related to resource waste and environmental pollution, continuous innovation and practical application in the environmental protection sector are necessary; thus, the environmental protection industry holds great potential.