Expressway service station in Shandong achieves carbon neutrality

A man surnamed Lin, driving a new energy vehicle, was on his way from Jinan to his hometown Weifang, both in east China's Shandong province. As the battery of his vehicle ran low, he pulled up in a service station along the Qingdao–Yinchuan Expressway.

Experience told him that a service station was a place where drivers and passengers could refuel vehicles, use the bathroom, grab a drink of water and have a meal. However, he found this service station a little bit different.

The Jinan East service station was a key zero-carbon station built by Shandong Hi-Speed Group. It was put into operation on July 26, 2019. During China's just-concluded National Day holiday, the service station received an average of 13,000 vehicles and 44,000 passenger visits on a daily basis.

Photo shows the Jinan East zero-carbon service station. [Photo provided by Shandong Hi-Speed Group]

"How long does it take for a vehicle to get 200 kilometers of range with this ultra-fast charging pole?" Lin asked a staff member of the service station.

"One second for one kilometer of range," the staff member replied, pointing to an advertising board above that said "Get Fully Charged over a Cup of Coffee."

Being skeptical about it, Lin scanned a QR code on the charging pole with his phone. Then, he unwound outside his car and went to get a cup of hot water. When he came back, he found his car fully charged.

The power level of the charging pole Lin used was 600 kW, and there were also charging poles of different models and power levels available for users to choose from at the service station.

The Jinan East service station covers an area of 300 mu, or 20 hectares. With so many charging poles in service, it consumes about 6,000 kWh of electricity each day. Where does such a huge load of electricity come from?

On the canopy, rows of solar panels were neatly paved. They were a part of a renewable energy utilization system - a 3.2 MW solar farm built on side slopes of the expressway, parking lot canopies and rooftops. The system also comes with a 3.2 MWh power storage facility.

At present, the service station generates an average of over 10,000 kWh of electricity on a daily basis, far exceeding its daily power consumption volume. This saves 1,200 tons of standard coal per year. The service station also transmits extra electricity to the power grid through safe and efficient means.

At noon, the fragrance of food was floating in the corridors of the crowded comprehensive building of the service station. As one of the busiest service stations in Shandong province, the Jinan East service station welcomes over 10 million passenger visits each year. How does it manage the wastewater generated by such a huge crowd?

In the "backyard" of the service station, there were two white bungalows at the corner of a tree lawn. Inside them, sewage treatment facilities were running, processing wastewater and pumping it back to the water tanks, which would be used for irrigation and floor washing.

Photo shows the wastewater treatment facility of the Jinan East zero-carbon service station. [Photo provided by Shandong Hi-Speed Group]

The treatment system for waste and pollutant resources successfully addresses the challenges of the huge variation between water usage peaks and lows, as well as significant greenhouse gas emissions from sewage, effectively recycling and reusing treated water.

"In the past, diesel vehicles were used for service area operations and cleaning, but now they have been replaced with electric vehicles. The catering businesses have also undergone electrification upgrades for their gas stoves, replacing them with clean energy sources wherever possible," a staff member said.

Carbon emissions are invisible and intangible. How are they measured?

Shandong Hi-Speed Group has independently developed a smart energy management system, which builds a digital twin of the station and displays all relevant data on a screen, including daily electricity generation, charging station power, peak electricity generation periods, air conditioning usage and more.

It is learned that this zero-carbon smart energy management system collects data of all indirect carbon emission sources such as photovoltaics, energy storage, micro grids, lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), and wastewater treatment. It can automatically calculate, make decisions, and intelligently control equipment.

For example, if the air conditioning is set at 26 degrees Celsius indoors, the system can automatically shut down some air conditioners when the temperature falls below this threshold, refining energy management and enabling intelligent equipment control.

According to real-time monitoring by the system, the service station emits an average of 2,060.97 tons of carbon dioxide per year. By planting over 19,000 square meters of greenery, the service station offsets greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently, the forestry area of the service station covers 67,000 square meters, or about 33 percent of the station's total area. Through forestry carbon sequestration, the system helps reduce an annual average of 3,410.1 tons of carbon dioxide, with a forestry carbon sequestration volume of 53.4 tons of carbon dioxide, realizing "zero-carbon" operations. The service station now has the capability for sustainable carbon neutrality.

"So far, China has built nearly 4,000 pairs of expressway service stations. If we can promote zero-carbon experiences in more service stations, it would be of great significance," said Zhou Pengfei, deputy director of the energy and environment department of Shandong Hi-Speed Group.