Green methanol: Solving the problem of energy security and "double carbon"
The picture shows the scene of the 2024 Green Methanol Energy Industry Development Forum.
The 2024 Green Methanol Energy Industry Development Forum was recently held in Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Focusing on related topics such as the development of the green methanol energy industry, industry experts, business representatives, and scholars in related fields attending the meeting discussed ways to develop new energy and draw a blueprint for the development of new quality productivity.
The "super fuel" to solve the problem of energy security and "double carbon"
Energy issues are overall and strategic issues related to the country's economic and social development. my country's energy structure is "rich in coal, little gas, and lean in oil", and its dependence on foreign oil has exceeded 72%. Finding an energy form that is suitable for China's national conditions and can vertically replace crude oil is my country's ability to improve its energy self-sufficiency and meet high-quality economic growth. The key driving force. Methanol has been used in my country for more than 40 years. On the one hand, among many new and clean energy sources such as electricity, hydrogen energy, natural gas, and ammonia, methanol is the only energy source that can exist in liquid form at normal temperature and pressure, which determines its advantages of convenient use, safety and low cost; At the same time, China is the world's largest producer and user of methanol, with a production capacity accounting for 60% of the world. Its technology in the fields of methanol preparation and application is very mature. Therefore, methanol is also an independent energy source with Chinese characteristics.
Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, said: "Promoting the energy revolution and industrial transformation and achieving green, low-carbon and sustainable development have become the theme of the times. Geely has been deeply involved in the methanol economy for 20 years. We believe that the development of the green methanol industry is not only related to China's energy security and green development, but also a realistic path to achieve carbon neutrality, energy internal circulation, and energy self-sufficiency."
The picture shows Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group, delivering a speech at the forum.
"Green methanol is the best energy carrier for storing solar energy and wind energy. As a liquid fuel, green methanol has low transportation costs and can be stored for a long time." Liu Ke, a foreign academician of the National Academy of Engineering of Australia and dean of the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Southern University of Science and Technology, pointed out that green methanol is the best carrier of green hydrogen, and green hydrogen and green oxygen are used to develop a green methanol hydrogen energy development route suitable for China's national conditions. The construction of China's green methanol system should be based on China's energy endowment and current industrial structure.
"Methanol has both energy properties and low-carbon properties. It can be renewable through the entire process of green electricity, green hydrogen and green alcohol, and has become one of the important starting points for ensuring national energy security." Chen Qi, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Yunda Co., Ltd., said that with technological advancement and large-scale production, green methanol is expected to become an important pillar in the future energy field, and trillion-level market space is about to be released.
Greg Dolan, CEO of the Global Methanol Industry Association, said that China accounts for two-thirds of global methanol demand. China holds a leading position in global renewable methanol production capacity. It is expected that 75% of new production capacity will come from China in 2026. "With the construction of more and more renewable methanol projects, the next few years will be a critical stage for the development of the methanol industry."
Methanol circular economy builds new productivity
The transportation sector is a major consumer of oil in my country, and China's automobiles consume 70% of the total oil. The large-scale promotion and application of methanol as a vehicle fuel will accelerate the development of the transportation industry in a green and high-quality direction. Yao Chunde, deputy director of the Expert Steering Committee for the Promotion and Application of Methanol Vehicles of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and a professor at Tianjin University, said that after years of hard work, methanol, as a low-carbon fuel that conforms to the characteristics of my country's energy resources, has been widely used in various power forces in the transportation field. It will play an important role in achieving large-scale substitution of petroleum energy and the transformation and upgrading of transportation fuels.
"Alcohol-hydrogen electric vehicles can solve most of the problems currently faced in the process of new energy conversion of commercial vehicles." Shi Jianhua, deputy secretary-general of China Electric Vehicle 100 People's Association, pointed out that the application of alcohol-hydrogen electric technology is the connection point between the automobile industry and energy transformation. It can take advantage of the development of new energy vehicles to guide and promote methanol as a fuel by promoting alcohol-hydrogen vehicles. Widely application and greening.
"Grasping the potential and momentum of innovation in the changing times, green methanol is a 'China-style innovation' under the changing times." He Dan, a China business historian, president of the Sino-German Manufacturing Research Institute, and director of the Specialized and New Research Center of the Zhejiang University Management Institute, believes that the methanol circular economy builds new productivity and is an important path to achieve the "double carbon" goal and is important for ensuring national energy security. strategic significance. By turning waste into treasure, methanol will create the "second mine" of resources. With the advancement of energy transformation, the potential of the methanol economy will continue to be released.
Explore the development path of methanol industry
Shortly before the forum was held, the launching ceremony of the first phase of the 100,000-ton demonstration project with an annual output of 500,000 tons of green methanol was held in Alxa. By utilizing Inner Mongolia's rich wind, solar and power resources, combining electrolyzed water hydrogen production and carbon dioxide capture technology, the project converts carbon emissions into green methanol, which can consume green electricity on a large scale, driving the construction of wind, solar and clean energy power generation bases and promoting high-end hydrogen production equipment. Upstream and downstream industries. By capturing carbon dioxide from the industrial exhaust gas in the park, the 500,000-ton project is expected to reduce carbon by 750,000 tons annually after reaching production capacity, which can further enrich my country's energy conservation and emission reduction methods and have good social and economic benefits.
In recent years, Hohhot City has focused on the goal of building an "energy headquarters base and new energy equipment R & D and manufacturing base" in the autonomous region, and has made every effort to promote the energy revolution and industrial upgrading. It has laid out the construction of methanol fuel production, storage and transportation, and supporting systems in advance, formulated the "Work Plan for the Promotion and Application of Methanol Vehicles", actively introduced and laid out leading enterprises and major projects in the fields of green methanol development, promotion, and application, and comprehensively explored new space for "chain development" of the green methanol industry. Focus on building a new highland for industrial development.
Geely's long-range new energy commercial vehicle group is actively deploying and exploring new paths for the development of the methanol industry according to local conditions. Relying on the exploration and research of Geely's entire methanol industry chain, long-range new energy commercial vehicles have created a characteristic strategic technical route for alcohol-hydrogen electric vehicles, which is now fully industrialized. It has signed a cooperation agreement with the People's Government of Hohhot City and the Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee. The construction project of the Hohhot Industrial Park of the Long-range New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group started on July 16 in Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone. It also actively introduces remote's intelligent network transportation platform to accelerate the formation of an industry-wide ecosystem such as vehicle manufacturing, operations, services and financial support.
On the morning of the forum, a long-distance new energy commercial vehicle alcohol and hydrogen product tasting tour was held at Hohhot Station. Orders for 1233 alcohol and hydrogen vehicle products were signed with 9 companies including Inner Mongolia Juanda, Green Energy Supply Chain, and Lianjiao Technology, and successfully delivered the first batch of vehicles.
