Summer Schools & Courses

On August 6, 2025, amid the rustling bamboo and cicadas of Moganshan, the 7th Future Scholars Summer School of the China Emissions Accounts and Datasets (CEADs) drew to a successful close. Co-hosted by Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang University of Technology, and other leading institutions, this year's summer school brought together more than 160 young scholars from around the world for an intensive academic and intellectual exchange centered on carbon accounting in Deqing, Zhejiang.

Led by academicians, nine authoritative institutions launch the program

The opening ceremony was hosted by Professor Guan Dabo of Tsinghua University. Nine distinguished guests jointly lit the spark for the summer school:

Cai Yongbo, Director of the Beijing Office of the Zhejiang Provincial Government

Zhang Yongtao, Deputy Director of the Administrative Center for China's Agenda 21

Zeng Rong, Executive Vice President of Tsinghua University

Wu Zhiyong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Huzhou Municipal Committee

Sun Jie, Chief Sustainability Officer of Envision Group

Gao Xiang, President of Zhejiang University of Technology (academician)

Ding Hui, Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment

He Kebin, Academician of the Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Tsinghua University

Wang Bo, Secretary of the CPC Deqing County Committee

Led by academicians and joined by government, industry, academia, and research leaders, the guests encouraged young scholars to devote themselves to the dual-carbon cause.

Breaking the ice and forming teams to shape the carbon research blueprint

Foundation building

The CEADs team systematically explained core achievements such as point-source carbon emissions accounting and applications of multi-regional input-output models for global emerging economies, laying a research foundation.

Creative team formation

All participants formed 12 cross-disciplinary teams through a fun puzzle-based icebreaker.

Direction setting

Each group quickly chose its focus for the next 10 days and began a collaborative journey.

Dual-carbon knowledge exchange: an academic feast for the future

This year's "Great Lecture Series" gathered world-class experts to broaden participants' horizons in cutting-edge carbon science and ignite their academic engines.

Academician He Kebin (Tsinghua University): The industrial transformation logic driven by carbon neutrality

Academician He Kebin systematically explained the industrial transformation China has promoted to achieve carbon neutrality, outlined the key technologies required for net-zero emissions, and proposed pathways for coordinated governance of dual carbon and clean air. He further discussed the importance of frontier technologies such as nuclear fusion and high-altitude wind power in building a new-type power system.

Academician Liu Congqiang (Tianjin University): Decoding sustainable development in the Anthropocene from a geochemical perspective

Academician Liu Congqiang noted that since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have driven a global structural shift, ushering Earth into the Anthropocene. This is mainly reflected in rising carbon dioxide concentrations and global warming, fundamentally a disturbance to Earth's biogeochemical cycles caused by human activity. To address the resulting survival crisis, he stressed the need to develop Earth system science as a "navigational science" to understand and respond to challenges systematically.

Professor Sun Laixiang (University of Maryland): Reconstructing models for consumption-based carbon footprint assessment

Professor Sun shared multi-scale consumption footprint accounting results under a micro-macro integrated framework and pointed out that high-income groups rely on luxury goods and services, while low-income groups rely on necessities such as food. Consumption-side policy should fully consider group differences and balance emission reduction with social equity through measures such as international carbon tax funds and targeted domestic subsidies.

Academician Chen Jingming (Fujian Normal University): China's forest carbon sink potential and current status

Academician Chen pointed out that China's terrestrial carbon sink is about 1.4 ± 0.3 billion tons of CO2 per year, with forest carbon sinks playing the dominant role. The national afforestation potential is about 40 million hectares, but constraints such as moisture and terrain still need to be considered. Forest age is a key factor affecting carbon sinks, and accurate age prediction through multi-dimensional monitoring is urgently needed.

Liu Shijie (Envision Group): Sharing real-world corporate decarbonization experience

Liu Shijie proposed a three-part decarbonization pathway of management, reduction, and offsetting. Among them, green electricity procurement is critical and includes self-generation, PPA direct purchase, and green certificate separation strategies. Future corporate decarbonization efforts should focus on breakthroughs in electrolyzer technology to solve issues of fluctuation tolerance and durability, while combining with digital tools to improve efficiency.

Professor Gu Baojing (Zhejiang University): Quantifying the coupled impacts of carbon and nitrogen cycles on climate

Professor Gu proposed that agricultural nitrogen management is the core lever for pollution reduction and carbon reduction, especially in the later stage of achieving carbon neutrality. Future moderate-scale operations can effectively reduce fertilizer use and pollution while increasing farmers' income.

Dr. Xia Yang (Nature Group): Strategies for publishing in top journals

Editor Xia systematically explained the complete publication process in top journals, recommending that authors choose suitable journals according to their target readers and build a clear narrative around the novelty and importance of their research. She also outlined the editorial standards of the Nature portfolio and detailed key points from submission preparation, peer review, response to comments, to appeals and transfer submissions.

Professor Zhang Qiang (Tsinghua University): How energy storage will reshape the power system

Professor Zhang noted that the energy revolution requires multi-dimensional coordination of energy storage technologies, giving full play to the respective strengths of short-duration and long-duration storage in smoothing volatility and enabling energy transition. In particular, lithium batteries are focused on high energy density and solid-state development, while green electricity and green hydrogen are key carriers for solving carbon neutrality.

Learning by doing: a walking classroom in green mountains and clear waters

Anji Yucun

Participants went deep into Yucun Village in Anji, the birthplace of the "two mountains" theory, and experienced ecological governance wisdom amid bamboo forests and tea fields, rooting theory in China's practice.

10 days of refinement, a brilliant finale

Team collaboration

Showcasing results

Lasting friendships

Major announcement! The first Carbon Trail Awards are decided

The closing ceremony reached its highlight with the first presentation of the newly established Tsinghua-ENN Carbon Trail Award. The award aims to encourage outstanding young teams and individuals in carbon accounting and emission-reduction pathway research.

Outstanding Team Award

Academician Gao Xiang of the Chinese Academy of Engineering personally presented the award and encouraged the young scholars: "You are the new force in the dual-carbon cause, and we look forward to your innovation injecting new momentum into the country's green development!"

Team 3 of the Young Scholars Group (Wisdom in youth means wisdom for the nation!)

I am very grateful for the opportunity to attend this summer school. I learned a great deal here, including how to work in teams, which helped strengthen my own abilities.

Group 50,000 (The name is the result!)

We sincerely thank our like-minded teammates. The selfless dedication of members in both the front and back teams allowed exploration and innovation up front and support and stability behind the scenes, jointly achieving the final result. The summer school helped us make friends, meet knowledgeable professors, and practice ecological case studies, bringing rich gains. We thank the organizers for this valuable opportunity and wish everyone continued sincere cooperation and many more achievements.

Outstanding Individual Award - Ma Qiwen

Receiving the honor of the CEADs Tsinghua-ENN Carbon Trail Award, I am most grateful to the members of the "Action Speaks Louder Than Words" team for standing with me. I also thank my mentors for their guidance, my senior classmates for their support, and my fellow participants for their companionship! In the future, I will continue to work steadily and live up to everyone's recognition.

The closing is not an ending; the torch continues to be passed on

Although the summer school has come to a temporary close, the journey of young scholars exploring new knowledge in dual carbon will never end.

As the closing remarks said: "The grand gathering of academic cooperation never disperses, and the footsteps of exploration never cease. We hope young participants will take dual carbon as their mission and continue writing new chapters for the sustainable development of the Earth!"

The future is here, and youth sets sail - CEADs participants, let us meet again in the vast ocean of dual carbon stars!

✨ Advancing on the dual-carbon path, youth sets sail again

Innovation never stops, exploration never ceases! We look forward to meeting more young talents next year!

Organizers

Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University

Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Tsinghua University

Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Zhejiang University

College of Energy and Carbon Neutrality Science and Education Integration, Zhejiang University of Technology

Guiding organizations

Administrative Center for China's Agenda 21

Beijing Office of the People's Government of Zhejiang Province