What is the strategic position of artificial hydrogen production and hydrogen industry in China?

00 Introduction

The world is experiencing the third major transition period of the energy system from fossil energy to non-fossil energy such as hydrogen energy [1]. In 2017, China's energy production was 25×108 t of oil equivalent, and the consumption reached 31×108 t of oil equivalent, and the entire energy needs to import 20%, especially the oil import volume was 4×108 t, and its external dependence reached 70%, which had an adverse impact on energy security. In order to provide reference for China to realize the transformation of energy system and the strategic goal of "energy independence", the development status and development trend of hydrogen industry at home and abroad are reviewed, the development ways of artificial hydrogen production and hydrogen storage technology are discussed, and the strategic position of hydrogen industry is defined.

Hydrogen is widely distributed in nature, and only a very small amount of free hydrogen exists in the natural state. Industrial hydrogen refers to the product of combustible gaseous hydrogen produced on a large scale from industrial raw materials by certain means. This process of extracting industrial hydrogen from hydrogen-containing raw materials through energy input is called artificial hydrogen production, including hydrogen production from fossil fuels, hydrogen production from water decomposition, hydrogen production from biotechnology and solar energy [2]. Hydrogen energy as the chemical energy of hydrogen is the energy released in the process of physical and chemical changes, and is an important type of energy with secondary energy properties. This large-scale artificial hydrogen production and utilization of hydrogen energy industry is called the hydrogen industry, including upstream hydrogen production, midstream storage and transportation, and downstream applications. The hydrogen industry chain is based on the technical and economic correlation among various industrial departments in the hydrogen industry system, including the hydrogen industry value chain, the hydrogen industry enterprise chain, the hydrogen industry supply and demand chain and the hydrogen industry space chain.

In order to better read and understand the content of this paper, the author suggests to first define and clarify the above five basic concepts (industrial hydrogen, artificial hydrogen production, hydrogen energy, hydrogen industry, hydrogen industry chain), and thus establish the concept system of hydrogen industry. Hydrogen storage is one of the key technologies to realize the effective utilization of hydrogen energy, including high pressure gas hydrogen storage, low temperature liquid hydrogen storage, metal hydride hydrogen storage, organic compound hydrogen storage, microsphere hydrogen storage and carbon nanomaterials hydrogen storage. Based on large-scale low-cost hydrogen production and high-density hydrogen storage, the hydrogen industry application related to fuel cells will promote the development of energy transformation and new energy vehicles, distributed energy supply and other emerging industries, thereby changing the energy structure, and then realize the transformation of the whole industry chain from the energy supply side to the consumption side.

01 Development status of hydrogen industry

With the continuous development and gradual maturity of hydrogen energy application technology, as well as the continuous increase of global pressure to cope with climate change, we actively layout and force to promote the development of hydrogen industry.

1.1 The global hydrogen industry is taking shape

The global hydrogen industry is growing rapidly, with the market size growing from $187.082 billion in 2011 to $251.493 billion in 2017, a growth rate of 34.4% (Figure 1). Among them, the United States is the largest importer of industrial hydrogen, with a total import of $248 million in 2012-2016, while the Netherlands is the largest exporter of industrial hydrogen, with a total export of $342 million in 2012-2016.

Human society has experienced three industrial revolutions (Figure 2), and since the middle of the 20th century, with the fourth Industrial Revolution, the global transition to new energy has begun (Figure 3). Looking at the history of energy development, the three major energy upgrades reflect the "three economies" form. Watt's invention of the steam engine led to the first major conversion of firewood to coal, manifested as a "high carbon economy"; Daimler invented the internal combustion engine and completed the second major conversion from coal to oil and gas, presenting a "low-carbon economy"; The progress of modern science and technology and the requirements of environmental protection promote the third major transformation of traditional fossil energy to non-fossil new energy sources such as hydrogen energy, and the world may gradually enter the non-carbon "hydrogen energy era" [3-4].

1.2 Artificial hydrogen production mainly depends on fossil resources

The global industrial hydrogen market has a strong regional nature and has formed three regional maps: Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe. Fossil resources are currently the main raw materials for hydrogen production, among which coal gasification has great potential for development [5].