The technological complexity of the whole hydrogen energy industry chain cannot be underestimated
Time：2022/5/5 9:03:26 Tag：hydrogen energy，technological，market leadership
The mid - and Long-term Development Plan for hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035) has been released, which will play an important guiding role in the high-quality development of China's hydrogen energy industry. "Planning" the development of science and the hydrogen industry in China is analyzed the status quo, made clear the hydrogen energy in our country, the strategic orientation, general requirements of green low carbon transition and development target, put forward the innovation system of hydrogen, infrastructure, application, policy support and organize the implementation of specific planning, medium and long-term development of the hydrogen industry represents a grand blueprint.
The first five hydrogen fuel cell heavy trucks introduced in Tangshan Harbor Economic Development Zone of Hebei province were put into use in the port industrial concentrated area. The Xinhua News Agency
First, adhere to the green and low-carbon path, focus on hydrogen production from renewable energy, and keep in mind the original mission of developing hydrogen energy.
Hydrogen production based on fossil energy has been questioned for its low energy utilization efficiency and high carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, the author believes that hydrogen production by renewable energy is the inevitable choice to adhere to the green and low-carbon development road. Although there are energy conversion efficiency problems in the whole chain of production, storage, transportation and utilization of renewable energy hydrogen production, with the continuous expansion of installed renewable energy, the efficiency problem can be transformed into a cost problem. For example, in the Zhangjiakou Renewable Energy Demonstration Zone in Hebei province, the author's team tried to carry out the whole chain project verification from hydrogen production from renewable energy to terminal application. When the price of renewable energy power is lower than 0.15 yuan/KWH, the economy of hydrogen production from renewable energy can be guaranteed.
The Plan puts forward the development goal of "by 2025, the number of fuel cell vehicles will be about 50,000, and the amount of hydrogen produced by renewable energy will reach 100,000 to 200,000 tons per year". In terms of quantity, the amount of hydrogen produced by renewable energy can meet the use of fuel cell vehicles. In terms of quality, renewable electricity electrolysis water hydrogen production has high purity, which can meet the high requirements of fuel cells for hydrogen purity, and can completely avoid corrosion or poisoning of hydrogenation stations, hydrogen storage bottles and fuel cells.
Some experts predict that electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen will be in greater demand than fuel cells in the future. At present, China's energy industry actively invests in renewable energy hydrogen production, such as sichuan hydropower hydrogen production, Xinjiang photovoltaic hydrogen production, Inner Mongolia wind power hydrogen production, etc., which has laid a good industrial foundation for large-scale production of clean and low hydrocarbon energy.
Second, we need to make breakthroughs in hydrogen technology through innovation and self-reliance.
Hydrogen energy technology has a long chain and many difficulties, and the existing technology economy cannot fully meet the practical needs. It is urgent to make breakthroughs in hydrogen energy preparation, storage, transportation, refueling, fuel cell, hydrogen storage system and other major links, with the focus on "stuck neck" technology. At the same time, basic research and applied basic research should also be carried out towards the frontier of hydrogen energy technology. In the global competition of hydrogen energy industry, we should seize the opportunity to achieve revolutionary breakthroughs in hydrogen energy technology, promote the comprehensive maturity of hydrogen energy and fuel cell technology, promote the large-scale market penetration of hydrogen energy in key application fields such as transportation and industry, and seize the international frontier position.
Compared with electrochemical power cells, Hydrogen fuel cells in China are relatively weak in technology reserve, industrial base and talent team, and still lag behind the international advanced level. It is suggested to establish hydrogen energy innovation platform as soon as possible, carry out key core technology research and talent training, and build a self-reliant scientific and technological system. At the same time, an open and cooperative attitude should be adopted to pool innovative achievements of all parties and foster a sound international ecosystem for hydrogen energy application.
Third, we should put safety first, give priority to demonstration, and explore a scientific and reasonable industrial ecology.
Similar to battery safety for electric vehicles and electrochemical energy storage industry, hydrogen safety plays a self-evident role in the development of hydrogen energy industry, and we must strive to be foolproof. Therefore, a data monitoring platform for the whole industrial chain of hydrogen energy should be established, and a safety evaluation and testing system should be established. In particular, attention should be paid to the safety training of front-line staff, and daily operations should be carried out in strict accordance with safety specifications.
For example, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei province set up the Zhangjiakou Hydrogen Energy Research Institute to establish a safety monitoring platform and database for the whole industry chain of hydrogen energy, and jointly set up a hydrogen energy equipment testing center with China Special Prosecutor's Office to maintain the safe operation of the hydrogen fuel cell public transportation system in Zhangjiakou city. In order to ensure the safety of more than 1,000 fuel cell vehicles and more than 20 hydrogen refueling stations in Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the 2022 Winter Olympics has been successfully held. The International Expert Advisory Committee on Hydrogen Safety for the Winter Olympics has been set up to pool global experience in hydrogen safety management and ensure the safety of green travel for the Winter Olympics.
It is worth noting that fuel cell vehicles are only a breakthrough in hydrogen energy application, and the long-term development should be gradually expanded to diversified applications in transportation, electric power, chemical industry, metallurgy and other fields, so as to give full play to the important supporting role of hydrogen energy in green and low-carbon energy transformation and green development of the industry.
Fourth, we should follow the law of the development of emerging industries with market leadership and government guidance.
The application areas of pure electric vehicles in China are mainly concentrated in the east, central and south, while the distribution is less in the north, northeast and northwest, because the low winter temperature in these areas affects the power battery output. In contrast, fuel cells are less affected by temperature, and battery waste heat can be flexibly converted and utilized. Moreover, these regions are rich in renewable energy resources and have strong supply capacity of clean and low hydrocarbon energy produced from renewable energy. Therefore, fuel cell vehicles have great market application potential.
Compared with the development process of pure electric vehicles from breeding to high-quality development, China's fuel cell vehicle industry lags behind the pure electric vehicle industry by about 10 years. Currently, it is still in the product initiation stage and entering the growth stage of rapid reduction of application cost. According to the test data of fuel cell manufacturers at home and abroad, it is expected that the cost of fuel cell will be greatly reduced and the performance will be steadily improved in the next 10 years.
It is worth mentioning that the technological complexity of the whole hydrogen energy industry chain and the fierce competition between China and foreign countries cannot be underestimated. Therefore, at present, the support and guidance of the government is very important, especially in the overall industrial layout, application scenarios expansion and innovation, etc., measures should be taken according to local conditions, and the blind investment should be avoided.
(The author is a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor of Tsinghua University.)