As a typical resource-based city, Lvliang in Shanxi Province has, in recent years, forged a new transformation path that is both forward-looking and deeply rooted in local realities—offering a distinctive approach to green and low-carbon development.
Lvliang's green transformation does not rely on simply replicating external models, nor is it driven by a single policy lever. Instead, it is firmly grounded in the city's unique resource endowment and developmental foundation. Emphasizing pragmatic, differentiated advancement, the city has demonstrated the strategic wisdom of adapting to local conditions. By building a systemic transformation roadmap that spans industrial restructuring to institutional innovation, Lvliang embodies a coordinated, place-based model of the "Chinese solution."
In the agricultural sector, Wenshui County—one of China's leading counties for beef cattle breeding—had a livestock inventory reaching 270,000 head by the end of 2023. However, this concentration of animal husbandry has long posed challenges in the form of manure pollution and environmental stress. To tackle this persistent issue, Wenshui introduced a county-wide livestock and poultry waste utilization program implemented by Yuhua Biotechnology Co., Ltd. The project established a decentralized collection and centralized treatment system to enable efficient transfer and energy conversion. Once operational, the system will process 1.5 million tons of solid manure annually, converting it into 80,000 tons of biomass fuel—effectively replacing 34,000 tons of standard coal. This enables full-cycle waste treatment, on-site energy conversion, and near-zero waste—easing the region's ecological burden while simultaneously driving the growth of the biomass energy sector. The initiative represents a win-win solution for both ecological restoration and resource utilization.
In the industrial sector, Lvliang is promoting the development of low-carbon building materials by leveraging byproducts and solid waste from coal-based chemical production. The Shanxi Industrial Solid Waste Utilization and Transportation Technology Park, in collaboration with nearby power plants, utilizes raw materials such as coal slag and fly ash to produce eco-friendly construction and transportation infrastructure materials—creating a cross-sector circular system that links solid waste, energy, and transportation.
In the field of hydrogen energy, Lvliang has capitalized on its high transportation demand and abundant byproduct hydrogen resources to explore hydrogen-powered heavy-duty freight applications. The city is home to approximately 70,000 heavy trucks, driven primarily by large-volume logistics demands arising from intensive coal mining and coke production. This presents a realistic scenario for clean energy substitution. Meanwhile, vast quantities of byproduct hydrogen generated during coal chemical processes have long gone underutilized. This dual advantage—strong demand and ample supply—helps Lvliang overcome two common bottlenecks in hydrogen development: a lack of hydrogen-powered vehicles and underused hydrogen sources.
As a model of green transformation among resource-based cities, Lvliang has demonstrated a distinctive development approach through its context-specific innovations and pragmatic transition strategies—balancing ecological restoration with high-quality economic growth.
Looking ahead, Lvliang can further advance its transformation along two strategic pathways: First, by promoting industrial green upgrading—leveraging smart microgrids to integrate photovoltaics, energy storage, and dispatchable loads, enabling local consumption of green electricity and flexible energy regulation. This would enhance both enterprise energy efficiency and overall system resilience. Second, by capitalizing on the Tianhe-2 supercomputing resources and its expanding green power infrastructure to deepen the synergy of computing power and electricity. This would dynamically match data center workloads with renewable energy output, providing green energy support for emerging digital industries. Through coordinated advancement along these two pathways, Lvliang is poised to establish a "Lvliang 2.0" development model—centered on green power and computing–electricity synergy—as a replicable and scalable example of Chinese-style green development. In doing so, the city will continue to contribute to regional economic transformation and global climate governance.
The author, Gao Feng, is deputy director of the Energy Internet Research Institute and Director of the Digital Transformation Research Lab, Tsinghua University.
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