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On July 15, 2025, the 12th World Congress on Chemical Engineering and the 21st Asia-Pacific Chemical Engineering Federation Conference were held in Beijing. At the sub-session on \"Hydrogen Energy and the Hydrogen Energy Industry Chain,\" reporters learned that China has currently established a relatively complete hydrogen energy industry chain. However, overall, this industry chain is still in its developmental stage, facing key challenges related to technology and cost-effectiveness. It is necessary to steadily advance research and development as well as the construction of demonstration projects in order to promote the development of hydrogen energy and facilitate a green and low-carbon transformation of the energy system. New progress has been made in the production, storage, and utilization of hydrogen. Reporters have learned that, driven by policies and supported financially, a relatively complete hydrogen industry chain has been established in China, laying a solid foundation for the development of this industry. In the field of hydrogen production, industrially produced by-product hydrogen boasts significant advantages in terms of cost, resource efficiency, and environmental sustainability, making it an indispensable method for hydrogen production in the short to medium term ； In terms of green hydrogen, hydrogen production via water electrolysis is the supply method with the greatest potential for development. Among them, alkaline electrolysis water hydrogen production (ALK) has the lowest cost, the most mature technology, and the largest market share. In recent years, competition in the field of alkaline electrolyzers has become increasingly fierce. The market has seen an upgrade from electrolyzers with a capacity of 500 standard cubic meters per hour to those with a capacity of 3,000 standard cubic meters per hour, achieving an electrolysis efficiency of over 80%. Proton exchange membrane electrolysis for hydrogen production (PEM) is evolving toward higher power and lower costs. Due to its fast response time, small size, and wide power range adaptability, most green hydrogen projects choose the \"alkaline + PEM\" hybrid hydrogen production approach. Photocatalytic hydrogen production has also evolved from small-scale laboratory tests to operations on a square-meter scale. In the field of hydrogen storage and transportation, both the liquefaction capacity and efficiency of cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage have been improved. In September 2024, the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and Aerospace Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd. unveiled a hydrogen expansion and liquefaction system with a capacity of 5 tons per day. In terms of high-pressure hydrogen transport, 100 MPa hydrogen storage containers have been commercialized ； The verification of pipeline hydrogen transport projects is progressing steadily. Good news has also come from downstream application areas. Currently, there are at least 13 megawatt-class hydrogen energy storage projects in the country, of which 3 have started construction and 2 have been put into operation. Several projects have also been launched in the field of green amino alcohols. According to Guojin Securities’ research report on the hydrogen and fuel cell industry, as of June 2025, the total number of green hydrogen projects registered nationwide (including those involving hydrogen, ammonia, and alcohol production) reached 849, with a total production capacity of 7.6 million tons per year. These projects cover the entire industrial chain, from hydrogen production using wind and solar energy to storage, transportation, and downstream applications. At present, the capacity of projects that are actually in operation amounts to approximately 1.8 million tons per year, accounting for 24% of the total registered capacity. Most projects are still in the preliminary planning or approval stage, with 11 large-scale projects already in operation. The development of this industry still faces key challenges. Hu Song, a professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, pointed out that hydrogen production currently encounters several significant obstacles, with the issues related to hydrogen-electric coupling systems being particularly prominent. Specifically, dynamic mismatch is its core issue; in addition, there is a problem of delay in the energy chain transmission, such as the timing mismatch between renewable energy sources like wind and solar power and the demand for hydrogen at the downstream end. Hu Song analyzed that there are four reasons for the aforementioned problems. First, there is a mismatch in timing and cycle between the fluctuations in wind and solar green electricity and those in hydrogen demand downstream, which makes regulation difficult ； Secondly, the demand for hydrogen fluctuates on an hourly basis; therefore, optimization algorithms must be used to address this issue, taking into account both short-term benefits and long-term economic efficiency ； Thirdly, the hydrogen-electric coupling system involves multi-energy systems such as energy conversion, transmission, and storage, and the characteristics of various energy sources differ significantly ； Fourth, large-scale hydrogen production requires the coordination of electrolyzers of different power levels and types. Furthermore, the hydrogen production system itself also exhibits differences in electrical, thermal, and mass response times, which further poses challenges to hydrogen production control. “The hydrogen energy industry chain is not yet mature and is still in the development stage. The high popularity in the previous two years was due to the industry’s overly optimistic views on this matter. ”Hu Song said, “How to configure and regulate hydrogen energy systems to achieve good operational performance and economic efficiency is a very complex engineering task.” Currently, the economic viability results calculated by different parties vary; there is no standard criterion, and the details and extent taken into consideration also differ, which will affect the progress of subsequent work. ” He further pointed out that the safety and reliability issues exposed by the hydrogen energy demonstration projects that have been implemented so far not only provide guidance for the industry to address its shortcomings, but also encourage all parties to view industry development in a more objective manner. Technological innovation has become the key to solving these problems. \"Hydrogen energy, especially green hydrogen, belongs to the industries of the future and requires time to develop.\" Overall, the development prospects and trends for hydrogen energy are quite promising. ”Tang Yunlei, deputy dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Southwest Petroleum University, told reporters that hydrogen energy is currently in a phase of rapid progress through small steps, with development being promoted through the integration of industry, academia, and research. The research sector in universities focuses on the challenges associated with industrialization, working on theoretical research related to hydrogen energy as well as on solving key technical problems ； Companies scale up technologies through pilot testing, establish relevant demonstration projects, and feed the data back to universities via project evaluations in order to achieve rapid technological iteration. He further stated that at the current stage, the hydrogen energy industry needs to focus its efforts on technology research and development as well as the construction of demonstration projects, in order to create various application scenarios and truly refine the technologies and develop high-quality products. At the same time, its development also requires support from various resources; in particular, **in terms of top-level planning, it is necessary to vigorously promote the implementation of relevant policies and measures. For example, establishing new evaluation standards for clean and low-carbon hydrogen energy, as well as accelerating the development of zero-carbon industrial parks, can all help advance the growth of the entire green hydrogen industry. Hu Song believes that developing hydrogen energy requires following the basic logic of \"scaling up, point-to-point delivery, and short distances.\" “Hydrogen production must be matched with its consumption, so that the hydrogen produced can be used locally, thereby reducing the overall costs associated with production, storage, and transportation; only in this way can hydrogen energy be considered economically viable. ”He said, “It is recommended to **provide guidance on expanding the application scenarios for hydrogen energy in order to improve the economic viability of these projects.** ” At the meeting, experts put forward four suggestions regarding the development of the hydrogen energy industry chain: First, accelerate the establishment of a green hydrogen industry framework similar to that of the natural gas industry, build large-scale green hydrogen production facilities in oil and gas basins, and plan for green hydrogen pipelines ； Second, accelerate technological innovation and integration across the entire green hydrogen industry chain, and intensify efforts in developing technologies for producing hydrogen from renewable sources, storing and transporting hydrogen efficiently, as well as utilizing hydrogen in various applications ； Third, establish hydrogen energy application and consumption centers (clusters), achieve technological breakthroughs in various applications, and provide the necessary foundation for their use as well as market momentum ； Fourth, it is necessary to enhance the substitution of green hydrogen for gray hydrogen and blue hydrogen, promote the use of green raw materials, carbon-free fuels, as well as the integration of hydrogen with electricity, in order to lay the foundation for the large-scale development of green hydrogen.