Green transformation is not just a slogan.
A tire manufacturing company located in Jianyang, Sichuan, with its remarkable results of “saving 942 tons of standard coal a year”, has given an answer to how much energy-saving benefits can be tapped in the manufacturing industry.
During the National Energy Conservation Publicity Week in 2026, Sichuan Province officially released “Several Policies and Measures to Support Green and Low-Carbon Transformation and Development in Sichuan Province”, covering 14 fiscal, financial, and element guarantee measures, and at the same time launched the Sichuan Green and Low-carbon Comprehensive Service Platform.
At the national level, the “Notice on Carrying out Three-Year Action for Energy-saving and Carbon-Reducing Transformation in Key Industries” jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and five other departments states that by the end of 2028, the proportion of energy efficiency benchmark-level production capacity in key industries will increase by an average of 20 percentage points, with a cumulative energy saving of more than 100 million tons of standard coal.
During this critical period when a series of policy signals were intensively released, the energy-saving transformation results of Sichuan Kailiwei Technology Co., Ltd. became a typical example of local implementation of national strategies.
The energy-saving benefits of Kailiwei come from two technical transformations in the workshop.
The first item is the nitrogen recovery system for the vulcanization process.
In the past, tire shaping relied on steam, which was not only costly but also the process was unstable.
After the transformation, the high-pressure nitrogen gas during the vulcanization process was recycled and processed. The nitrogen purity reached 99.99% and the recovery rate exceeded 70%, directly replacing steam for shaping.
The effect of this change is remarkable. The comprehensive energy consumption of the production line has been reduced by 42%, saving 6,964 tons of steam per year, equivalent to 859 tons of standard coal.
The second item is the air compressor room upgrade.
Compressed air is the “power source” of tire manufacturing. Kailiwei replaced the old power frequency air compressor with a two-stage compression permanent magnet synchronous variable frequency screw air compressor.
The new equipment can automatically adjust working conditions according to real-time production load to avoid idling waste.
After the transformation, the energy consumption of the unit dropped by about 20%, saving 670,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, equivalent to 83 tons of standard coal.
Adding up the two transformations, this company with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million sets of all-steel radial tires has saved a total of 942 tons of standard coal a year, while saving more than 1 million yuan in costs.
According to the national general conversion standard, this is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 1,884 tons to 1,978 tons.
What’s more worth mentioning is that this transformation not only achieved “cost reduction”.
Chen Yong, deputy director of the company’s energy and power management center, said that after the level of automation has been improved, quality defects such as tire pockets have been significantly reduced, achieving the dual benefits of energy saving and quality improvement.
From a policy perspective, Kailiwei’s energy-saving direction is highly consistent with provincial and national policies.
Sichuan Province’s “Policies and Measures” clearly focus on supporting industrial energy-saving transformation and provide differentiated financial subsidies, green financial support and factor guarantees.
The nitrogen recovery and air compressor frequency conversion transformation adopted by Kailiwei are exactly the type of transformation with “mature technology and short investment return period” that are prioritized in the policy list.
Moreover, Kailiwei has been listed as an “energy-saving benchmark enterprise” in Jianyang City. The comprehensive energy consumption per ton of tires is far lower than the national standard advanced value, and it is accelerating towards the goal of “provincial green factory”.
Chengdu made it clear during the 2026 Energy Conservation Publicity Week that it plans to add more than 40 green factories and 8 (nearly) zero-carbon factories (parks) within the year.
This means that Kailiwei’s transformation path is likely to become a replicable template for the manufacturing industry in Jianyang and even Chengdu.
In the tire industry, the annual energy saving of 942 tons of standard coal is close to the “1,000-ton level” industry benchmark level.
Compared with Wanli Tire’s integrated solution of “green power self-construction + system technical transformation + smart management and control” and Eagle Tire’s practice of reducing energy consumption by 10% – 15% through a digital energy management system, Kailiwei’s single-batch transformation focuses on the two core high-energy-consuming processes of vulcanization and power. The results are clear and the data is solid. It is a typical “small but precise” case.
Industry insiders pointed out that for more small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, this type of transformation with controllable investment and quick results is the most pragmatic starting choice.
For those in charge of manufacturing companies or those who pay attention to local energy-saving policies, there are several points worth paying attention to.
First of all, we must prioritize high-energy-consuming processes. Cases in the tire industry show that vulcanization (steam/nitrogen replacement) and power (air compressor frequency conversion) are the links with the clearest returns. This type of transformation technology is mature and low-risk, and is suitable as the first batch of green transformation projects.
Secondly, to align with local special policies, Sichuan Province has launched a comprehensive green and low-carbon service platform that integrates functions such as green diagnosis, supply and demand matching, and green finance. Enterprises can apply for energy-saving diagnosis and financial support through this platform, lowering the threshold for transformation.
Finally, we must pay attention to the application window period for “provincial green factories”. Chengdu has made it clear that more than 40 green factories will be added in 2026. Kailiwei’s experience proves that as long as “energy consumption per ton of products is lower than the national advanced value” and core process transformation is completed, there will be a chance to enter the cultivation echelon and obtain more policy preferences.
This “green ledger” of Kailiwei clearly shows that in today’s manufacturing industry, energy conservation and cost reduction are not multiple-choice questions, but must-answer questions, and policies are paving the way for companies to answer the questions.
