Where is the scale application of hydrogen energy stuck? Expert: Only by reducing costs and increasing subsidies can we "eliminate congestion points"
The picture shows experts at the meeting giving a report. Photo by Wei Lu
"There are three driving forces for energy transformation. One is the sustainability of the long-term use of fossil energy, such as whether there is a peak in oil as the main energy source; the second is the environmental pressure caused by large consumption of fossil energy, including air, water and health; and the third is energy security. In recent years, our driving force has been the 'double carbon' goal." Liu Jianguo, a professor at North China Electric Power University, said at the recently held green energy development conference. Promoting the transformation of the energy system from fossil energy to renewable energy is a global trend. What role does hydrogen energy play in this process? What are the "blockages" for large-scale application of hydrogen energy? Many experts reported on this.
Hydrogen energy is not about doing it, but how to do it well
"Although we have achieved a large number of replacements for primary energy by renewable energy, hydrogen energy is still needed in some areas. In addition to improving energy efficiency, hydrogen energy can also consume more renewable energy across time and space." Liu Jianguo said at the meeting.
Since 1990, the United States has enacted a number of regulations to promote the development of hydrogen energy, but it has still not been promoted because of the high price of hydrogen energy in the United States in the early days.In fact, energy has three characteristics: stability, reliability, and low cost.
Since the 21st century, my country has become one of the engines promoting the development of hydrogen energy in the world. "my country's energy endowment is characterized by a large amount of coal and a lack of oil and gas. Based on the data released at the end of last year, we calculated that renewable energy other than water accounted for only 8% of primary structural energy, and water remained stable at 7%. In addition, there is also about 4% of nuclear power.Therefore, my country's energy transformation must take the 'second path', that is, the utilization of high-carbon energy with low carbonization. This process is a process of hydrogenation and carbon reduction."said Peng Suping, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing).
In 2019, hydrogen energy was included in the government work report for the first time; after the "double carbon" goal was proposed in 2020, my country's hydrogen energy ushered in greater promotion efforts; in March 2022, the National Energy Administration upgraded hydrogen energy to my country's future energy. Important part; In August 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission proposed a guidance catalog for hydrogen energy products.“Therefore, the problem facing my country's hydrogen energy now is not whether to do it, but how to do it well."Peng Suping said.
Other countries in the world are also slowly raising their awareness. Currently, nearly 50 countries have formulated their own hydrogen energy development plans, and about 40 countries have also entered this circle.
How to develop hydrogen energy in the future? Peng Suping believes that six application scenarios should be grasped. The first is hydrogen-electricity coupling to absorb renewable energy and increase the proportion of renewable energy; the second is the application of coal gasification fuel cell technology to improve coal gasification power generation efficiency and reduce CO2Capture costs while achieving CO2and near-zero emission of pollutants; third, hydrogen (ubiquitous) energy is coupled with coal chemical industry and petrochemical industry to promote carbon neutrality; fourth, hydrogen (ubiquitous) fuel and heavy trucks and other fields; fifth, hydrogen (ubiquitous) fuel cell ship applications; sixth, hydrogen metallurgical applications.
Many experts pointed out at the meeting that fuel cell vehicles are an important link in the development of the hydrogen energy industry.
Fuel cell industrialization is a breakthrough in hydrogen energy application
"The power generation principle of fuel cells is electrochemistry, and its main components are electrolyte membrane, catalyst and bipolar plates. Replace fuel tanks with hydrogen cylinders and replace internal combustion engines with fuel cell engines, and the only emissions you get are water. Moreover, the specific energy of fuel cells is high, reaching 0.5-1.0KWH/Kg. Under extreme cold conditions, the fuel cell mileage is not discounted. Waste heat can heat the car. Its driving range, refueling time, and driving comfort are all comparable to fuel vehicles." Yi Baolian, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at the meeting.
It is understood that the use scenarios of heavy trucks require higher endurance. Hydrogen energy is a better route to replace diesel heavy trucks. Commercial vehicles such as public transportation and heavy trucks are the hydrogen fuel cell commercial development models that most suit my country's national conditions. Hydrogen fuel cell heavy trucks are used in mines. Fixed transportation special lines such as coal and ports have good application prospects.
With all its advantages and prospects, why can't fuel cells be industrialized? The key blocking point is high cost.
"The cost of fuel cell vehicles is twice that of fuel vehicles and 1.5 times that of lithium-ion battery vehicles. The main reason is the price of generators. In addition, the construction cost of its supporting hydrogen refueling stations is also high, with each station being about 12 million yuan to 15 million yuan. At the same time, the price of pure hydrogen added to fuel cells is also higher, about 60-70 yuan per kilogram. Only with government subsidies can we reduce it to below 30 yuan and compete with fuel vehicles." Yi Baolian introduced that another competitor of fuel cells is pure electric cars. Although using fuel cells has advantages over replacing electricity at low temperatures, at present, the former has higher vehicle prices and operating costs.
my country has invested a lot of energy in promoting hydrogen energy heavy trucks. "Taking a tractor with a total mass of 49 tons as an example, among its entire life cycle operating costs, if it runs at high speeds, fuel prices account for 1/3, high-speed fees account for 1/3, and vehicle purchase and personnel costs account for 1/3. Recently, many regions have implemented a free policy on hydrogen energy and heavy truck highways in order to reduce the operating cost of 100 kilometers and improve economy." Liu Jianguo said.
In addition to policies, the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles to be achievedThe cost of fuel cell engines and hydrogen preparation costs must be greatly reduced, and at the same time, the construction cost of hydrogen refueling stations must be reduced.
"In order to reduce the cost of the engine, we must first reduce the cost of the stack, increase the specific power of the stack, and reduce the amount of platinum; secondly, we must break through the 'stuck neck' technology and realize mass production of key materials such as electrocatalysts, proton exchange membranes, bipolar plates, membrane electrode three-in-one (MEA), etc.; in addition, control strategies are formulated based on working conditions and appropriate operating conditions of the stack to ensure that the reliability and durability of the battery system meet the requirements." Yi Baolian said.
The main components of the hydrogen refueling station expenses are hydrogen compressors, hydrogen storage tanks and hydrogen refueling machines. Yi Baolian said that by realizing the localization and mass production of these equipment, the construction cost of hydrogen refueling stations can be greatly reduced. When the density of hydrogen refueling stations reaches a certain level, it is expected to realize the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles.
Economy determines the development speed of hydrogen energy
What is worth mentioning is the cost of hydrogen production. To promote the development of hydrogen energy, it is very important to build an industrial chain from upstream hydrogen production to midstream storage and transportation to downstream applications. In this process, whether the economy of hydrogen energy can reach the level of fossil energy determines the development speed of hydrogen energy. Peng Suping pointed out thatSince the introduction of hydrogen energy in 1990, there have been more calls and less results. There are two problems. First, the cost is high; second, safety is not recognized.
According to the process of carbon neutrality, global demand for hydrogen will increase by 5-6 times in 2050 compared with the current basis. Currently, the global consumption of raw materials for hydrogen production from fossil energy is nearly 100 million tons. But hydrogen production from fossil energy itself will emit a large amount of carbon dioxide. Liu Jianguo pointed out thatIn the future process, reducing carbon from the original process and preparing "low-carbon hydrogen" is a requirement for practitioners.
It is understood that the international community defines the carbon intensity of "low-carbon hydrogen" as that from raw material production to hydrogen production, the carbon emission intensity should be less than 3.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide/kilogram of hydrogen, corresponding to an emission of 28.3 grams of carbon dioxide per megajoules of hydrogen. "Our goal is to reduce the cost of hydrogen production to around US$1/kg while meeting this standard." Liu Jianguo said.
Electrolytic water preparation is a popular source of low-carbon hydrogen. The hydrogen prepared in this way is called "green hydrogen". It has two commercially mature technologies, namely PEM (proton exchange membrane electrolysis water) and ALK (alkaline electrolyzed water). Liu Jianguo introduced that most of these two methods currently use grid-connected hydrogen production. In the future, under the requirement of carbon neutrality, electricity prices will become more and more expensive. Once electricity prices are online, it will be difficult to obtain low-cost hydrogen, so many people Turn their attention to off-grid hydrogen production.
This also involves safety issues. Due to the lack of stable power grid support, off-grid hydrogen production has high technical requirements for hydrogen energy storage and transportation. The reporter learned that the electricity cost of off-grid hydrogen production projects is calculated from the comprehensive calculation of the project's total power generation capacity, power generation equipment and other investment and operation costs. At present, the comprehensive hydrogen cost of off-grid hydrogen production may not be lower than that of grid-connected hydrogen production.
In addition, Yi Baolian mentioned that my country's northwest and southwest are rich in renewable energy, but transporting renewable energy electrolyzed water from these areas to the Central Plains region will create long-distance transportation problems of hydrogen, which is currently the most difficult in the field of hydrogen energy. Overcome the problem. "In the long run, we hope to transport hydrogen derivatives in the form of synthetic natural gas, ammonia or methanol to reduce storage and transportation risks; more ideally, they are transported through natural gas pipe networks. Our country is experimenting with their safety, pure hydrogen The planning and construction of the pipe network are also in progress."
The preparation of "blue hydrogen" has also attracted much attention, namely, the capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) of carbon dioxide by-products emitted during the combustion of fossil fuels to produce hydrogen. "For 'green hydrogen', the key is to reduce costs; for' blue hydrogen', the key is to solve the carbon emission problem. At present, in the Asia-Pacific region, due to the superposition of factors such as electricity prices, electrolytic cell prices, operating costs, and hydrogen storage costs, the price of 'green hydrogen' is 2-4 times that of 'blue hydrogen', which also faces challenges such as immature technology and safety issues after carbon dioxide landfill." Liu Jianguo said.
How to accelerate the large-scale application of green hydrogen? In the opinion of experts, the way out is government subsidies.Liu Jianguo introduced that Section 45V of the Clean Hydrogen Energy Production Tax Reduction Policy of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by the United States in 2022 stipulates that the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of hydrogen fuel produced are less than 4 kilograms (measured in CO2Equivalent), you can obtain tax exemptions, and different emission levels can obtain different tax reductions.
"This is also one of the reasons why green hydrogen has developed relatively rapidly in the United States in the past two years. The inspiration it gives us is that to develop an industry, we must create a market. Without creating a market, we cannot achieve cost scale. In addition to scale, the more important thing is to promote scientific and technological progress." Liu Jianguo said.
