Hydrogen energy, the new code of modern energy system

Hydrogen as an industrial raw material can be widely used in petroleum, chemical industry, metallurgy, electronics, medical and other fields, in addition, hydrogen can also be converted into electricity and heat energy through hydrogen fuel cells or hydrogen internal combustion engines, which can cover all aspects of social production and life. By 2060, China's hydrogen energy demand is expected to reach 130 million tons, of which industrial demand dominates, accounting for about 60%, and the transportation field will expand year by year to 31%.

The development and utilization of hydrogen energy is triggering a profound energy revolution

Hydrogen energy has broad application prospects in many fields such as transportation, industry, construction and electric power.

In the field of transportation, road long-distance transportation, rail, aviation and shipping regard hydrogen energy as one of the important fuels to reduce carbon emissions. At this stage, China is mainly dominated by hydrogen fuel cell buses and heavy trucks, with more than 6,000 vehicles. In terms of corresponding supporting infrastructure, China has built more than 250 hydrogen refueling stations, accounting for about 40% of the global number, ranking first in the world. According to data released by the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, the demonstration operation of more than 1,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in this Winter Olympic Games, and equipped with more than 30 hydrogen refueling stations, is the world's largest fuel cell vehicle demonstration application.

At present, the largest proportion of hydrogen energy application in China is in the industrial field. In addition to the properties of energy fuel, hydrogen energy is also an important industrial raw material. Hydrogen can replace coke and natural gas as a reducing agent, which can eliminate most of the carbon emissions from iron and steel making. The use of renewable energy electricity electrolysis water to produce hydrogen, and then synthesis of ammonia, methanol and other chemical products, is conducive to greatly reducing carbon emission in the chemical industry.

The fusion of hydrogen energy and building is a new concept of green building that has emerged in recent years. The construction field needs to consume a lot of electricity and heat energy, and has been listed as the three "energy-consuming" in China with the transportation field and the industrial field. The pure power generation efficiency using hydrogen fuel cells is only about 50%, while the combined efficiency through cogeneration can reach 85% - while hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity for buildings, waste heat can be recycled for heating and hot water. In terms of hydrogen transportation to the building terminal, it is possible to mix hydrogen into natural gas at a ratio of less than 20% with the help of a relatively complete household natural gas network and transport it to thousands of households. It is estimated that 10% of global building heating and 8% of building energy supply will be supplied by hydrogen in 2050, which can reduce the emission of 700 million tons of CO2 per year.

In the field of power, due to the instability of renewable energy, hydrogen energy can become a new form of energy storage through the conversion of electric-hydrogen-electricity. In the low period of electricity consumption, the use of surplus renewable energy electricity electrolysis water to produce hydrogen, and stored in the form of high pressure gas, low temperature liquid, organic liquid or solid materials; During the peak of electricity consumption, the stored hydrogen is then generated by fuel cells or hydrogen turbines and incorporated into the public grid. The storage scale of hydrogen energy storage is larger, up to one million kilowatts, the storage time is longer, and seasonal storage can be achieved according to the output differences of solar energy, wind energy, water resources, etc. In August 2019, China's first megawatt-level hydrogen energy storage project landed in Lu 'an, Anhui Province, and successfully realized grid-connected power generation in 2022.

At the same time, the electric-hydrogen coupling will also play an important role in building a modern energy system in China.

From a clean and low-carbon point of view, large-scale electrification is a strong starting point for carbon reduction in many fields in China, such as electric vehicles in the field of transportation to replace fuel vehicles, and electric heating in the field of construction to replace traditional boiler heating. However, there are still sectors that are difficult to achieve through direct electrification, the most difficult sectors include steel, chemicals, road transport, shipping and aviation. Hydrogen energy has the dual properties of energy fuel and industrial raw material, and can play an important role in the above-mentioned areas that are difficult to deeply decarbonize.

From the perspective of safety and efficiency, firstly, hydrogen energy can promote the development of a higher share of renewable energy and effectively reduce China's dependence on oil and gas imports; Secondly, hydrogen energy can carry out chemical energy storage and transportation, realize the time-space transfer of energy, and promote the regional balance of energy supply and consumption in China; In addition, with the reduction of the cost of renewable energy, the economy of green electricity and green hydrogen energy will be improved, and will be widely accepted and used by the public; As an energy hub, hydrogen energy and electric energy are more easily coupled with thermal energy, cold energy, fuel and other energy sources, and jointly establish an interconnected modern energy network, forming a highly resilient energy supply system, and improving the efficiency, economy and security of the energy supply system.