China launches world’s first panoramic AI model for carbon emission accounting

China has unveiled a pioneering large-scale model for carbon emission accounting, marking a significant technological advancement in the global effort to monitor greenhouse gas emissions and support climate governance, reports CGTN, a partner of TV BRICS.

The innovative system provides a comprehensive framework for assessing emissions across production, consumption and natural sources, offering a more accurate and transparent approach to carbon measurement.

Developed by the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the model is the world’s first panoramic carbon accounting system capable of dynamically mapping global carbon flows. Carbon emission accounting is a fundamental basis for international climate compliance, carbon pricing mechanisms and the achievement of national targets for peak emissions and carbon neutrality.

The new system addresses key limitations of traditional carbon accounting methods, including complex data processing, long timeframes and limited analytical resolution. By leveraging generative artificial intelligence, it reshapes the paradigm of carbon accounting, enabling real-time analysis and enhanced traceability of emissions.

The service interface features a vertical-domain large language model with 32 billion parameters and an intelligent database, providing both conversational and programming capabilities.

Five specialised intelligent agents have been incorporated to perform digital simulation and optimisation of industrial systems, trade-related carbon transfer accounting, life cycle assessment, natural source emission accounting and uncertainty analysis. In particular, the life cycle assessment agent can autonomously complete the entire process of product carbon footprint evaluation, from defining objectives to interpreting results, significantly streamlining environmental assessments.

In addition, the model quantified the global environmental benefits of China’s green technology exports. Wind turbines and photovoltaic products exported in 2024 generated approximately two million tonnes of emissions during production but delivered an estimated 350 million tonnes of carbon reduction benefits worldwide during their operational phase.

The system is expected to provide critical support for the compilation of national greenhouse gas inventories, the development of the national carbon market, the green transformation of key industries and the country’s response to international carbon policies, while contributing to the establishment of a fairer and more scientifically grounded global carbon accounting framework.