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AI to help China cut over 35b tonnes of carbon emission by 2060: white paper
By Liu Wei
Traffic congestion during peak hour in Wuhan, Hubei Province, December 10, 2021. /CFP

Traffic congestion during peak hour in Wuhan, Hubei Province, December 10, 2021. /CFP

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 percent of China's carbon reductions will involve AI-related technologies by 2060.

The white paper was jointly released on Monday by research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) and Chinese tech company Baidu which has greatly dived into AI technology in recent years.

Carbon neutrality is set to be fueled by heavy technology involvement, according to the report. The communications infrastructures will help the deployment of AI technology in different sectors, it said.

In 2020, the carbon emission of transportation industry in China is estimated to be 1.04 billion tonnes, accounting for 9 percent of the country's total. AI technology can be deployed to process traffic data to improve efficiency at cross roads. A city with population of over 10 million will be able to cut down 41,600 tonnes of carbon emission, an equivalent of 14,000 private cars driving for a year.

The paper also estimated that cloud computing technology helped the world to reduce carbon emission 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.

In September, the country rolled out new guidelines on carbon reduction promoting the integration of carbon industry and tech such as big data, internet, AI and 5G.

Read more: China won't rush to accomplish carbon neutrality goal 'in one battle'

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