Go to hydrogen! How will hydrogen energy enter life? Get to know together →
Today we focus on a clean energy source, hydrogen.
In order to reduce carbon emissions, many factories are now using hydrogen as an alternative energy source, and some hydrogen energy vehicles are also put into use. Our country also regards the development of hydrogen energy as a direction for future clean energy.
Not long ago, my country's longest hydrogen energy corridor was officially put into use. It spans 5 provinces and cities from Beijing to Shanghai, with a total length of more than 1200 kilometers. A few days ago, CCTV reporters also rode a hydrogen energy truck and experienced a hydrogen energy truck and a hydrogen energy highway from Beijing.
Reveal hydrogen energy heavy trucks
What were we discovering along the way? What is the difference between hydrogen trucks and ordinary trucks? What is different about the Hydrogen Energy Corridor?
CCTV reporter Zhang Congjing: The biggest difference between this hydrogen energy heavy truck is that you see between the front and the cargo box, there is a big box like this, which contains hydrogen fuel.
CCTV reporter Zhang Congjing: While this car is replenishing hydrogen, let's take a look at this hydrogen heavy truck. If it is an ordinary fuel vehicle, it will emit exhaust gases. But what it actually emits here is water vapor. Let's look forward to a more intuitive one. This part of the car also has a drain, and now it is dripping water. As you can see, the cup in my hand is the product produced by this hydrogen energy heavy truck power generation. It looks colorless, transparent, very pure, and smells without any taste. This is actually a cup of pure water. In this way, it can be very intuitive to see that hydrogen energy heavy trucks are very environmentally friendly, clean and pollution-free. The inside of this hydrogen heavy truck may not look much different from an ordinary truck, but the feeling when sitting up is still very different. This position of the cab is actually the engine. Because there is no fuel engine, the whole car does not drive with any noise or smell of oil smoke.
The latest data shows that in the first seven months of this year, sales of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were 3422 units, a year-on-year increase of 25.5%.
Visiting the Hydrogen Energy Expressway
In addition to large trucks like this that use hydrogen energy, cars, buses, sanitation vehicles, logistics vehicles, etc. that are common in daily life also have hydrogen energy. As the number of models increases and the number of application scenarios increases, how will these cars run after they hit the road?
Early in the morning, the reporter came to Beijing's Daxing Angu Hydrogen Refueling Station, which was already full of cars.
Wang Yi, employee of Sinopec Angu Hydrogen Refueling Station: The main thing is to eliminate static electricity from hydrogen refueling vehicles first, and then the human body must also release static electricity. Because we are hydrogen, which is compressed gas, this gun is heavy. The hydrogen detector detects whether hydrogen leaks, and then we just turn on the machine and start it.
Staff told reporters that a large truck like this can be filled with nearly 60 kilograms of hydrogen in about 20 minutes. The hydrogen gas is about 2000 yuan and can run more than 600 kilometers.
Reporters at the scene saw that, like oil storage tanks, the station also had large tanks dedicated to storing hydrogen. Staff told reporters that these large cans can fill dozens of vehicles with hydrogen every day.
Along the way, the reporter saw many hydrogen energy trucks and hydrogen energy cold chain logistics vehicles. Nearly 20 hydrogen refueling stations have been built on this hydrogen energy highway.
Hydrogen energy industry chain accelerates development
Most of the hydrogen currently filled with vehicles is hydrogen produced incidentally in industrial production. So what is the current development status of the hydrogen energy industry chain?
The reporter first came to Yanshan Petrochemical, which produces hydrogen. As soon as he walked into the hydrogen supply center, he saw a huge device full of storage tanks and pipes.
Li Junliang, chief expert of Yanshan Petrochemical: Hydrogen mainly comes from industrial by-product hydrogen, which is a by-product of gasoline and diesel produced by refineries. The hydrogen gas we produce needs to be transported outside, and it has to be pulled outside through this long tube trailer. It is equivalent to loading two swimming pools with a volume of hydrogen gas into this car under strong pressure.
The key to hydrogen storage lies in storage tanks. The reporter saw at a hydrogen storage bottle production company in Jiangsu that staff were winding carbon fiber to make high-strength hydrogen storage bottles.
Ding Leizhe, Executive Deputy General Manager of Jiangsu Guofu Hydrogen Energy Technology Equipment Co., Ltd.: This is one of our core processes, carbon fiber winding. You can see the carbon silk at the back connection, weaving layer by layer like a loom. Carbon fiber is mainly used to bear pressure.
Technicians told reporters that the liquid hydrogen storage and transportation technology they developed has also made new progress.
Wang Kai, General Manager of Jiangsu Guofu Hydrogen Energy Technology Equipment Co., Ltd.: This is a liquid hydrogen storage bottle developed by our company. Compared with the conventional three-type bottle and 35 MPa grade, the hydrogen storage mass density ratio is three times that., it is very helpful for the vehicle's cruising range.
Shandong is the first in China to launch high-speed hydrogen energy vehicles free of charge. The reporter learned here that Shandong Province has organized more than 30 advantageous enterprises and universities in the hydrogen energy industry to carry out technological research in Jinan, Qingdao, Zibo and Weifang. The hydrogen energy industry resource agglomeration and development pattern is becoming increasingly effective.
Han Shaohua, Director of the Major Special Affairs Office of the Department of Science and Technology of Shandong Province: From key materials, key parts and components, and ultimately to vehicle equipment, there are nearly 200 enterprises in the core chain of the hydrogen energy industry chain, which probably drives more than 1000 related supporting enterprises. Hydrogen energy communities, parks, ports, and terminals are basically complete.
According to the "Medium and Long-Term Plan for the Development of Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035)", by 2025, China will basically master the core technology and manufacturing process of hydrogen energy, and the number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is expected to reach approximately 50,000. At the same time, a number of hydrogen refueling stations will be deployed and constructed. In addition, the hydrogen production from renewable energy will reach 100,000 to 200,000 tons/year, and carbon dioxide emission reduction is expected to be achieved by 1 million tons to 2 million tons/year.
Accelerate layout in various places
Expand hydrogen energy application scenarios
During the investigation, the reporter learned that in recent times, many places have introduced hydrogen energy industry support policies to accelerate the development of the hydrogen energy industry. my country has made progress in various aspects in hydrogen energy preparation, storage and transportation, and infrastructure construction, and the development potential of the hydrogen energy industry is gradually being released.
At a hydrogen energy heavy truck fuel cell system manufacturer in Shanghai, the person in charge told reporters that they are the first domestic fuel cell system to equip domestic proton exchange membranes in batches. Proton exchange membranes are the core components of hydrogen energy fuel cells and have long relied on imports.
Liu Yisu, Director of the Strategic Marketing Department of Reshaping Energy: This is the most critical material, so the use of domestic proton exchange membranes in batches will allow more people to enjoy the application of hydrogen energy technology. In addition, as a key technology, we can avoid dependence on the supply chain and achieve domestic autonomy.
At present, hydrogen energy heavy trucks equipped with domestic proton exchange membrane fuel cells in batches can travel more than one million kilometers in their entire life cycle. In Sichuan, the first commercial large-scale water electrolysis hydrogen production project in Southwest China has been officially put into commercial operation, with an annual output of 1860 tons of hydrogen. In Shaanxi, the first fully automatic hydrogen fuel cell stack production line in northwest China is stepping up production of the first batch of orders this year. The hydrogen energy industries in the three major regions of the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Bohai Rim have shown a cluster development trend.
As of the end of 2023, the number of hydrogen refueling stations built and operated in my country has reached 428, and a total of 58 renewable energy hydrogen production projects have been built, covering 21 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. It is predicted that my country's hydrogen energy consumption will reach nearly 86 million tons in 2060, and the industrial scale will reach 4.6 trillion yuan.
