Product differentiation is essential to stand out in a competitive market

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Despite decades of development, China’s coal chemical industry still cannot compare with the petrochemical industry in terms of energy consumption per unit of output, investment efficiency, or industrial scale. Only by leveraging its own advantages to produce differentiated, high-end, and functional products can the coal chemical industry secure a foothold in the market. Firstly, investment in technological innovation and R&D should be increased. Increase investment in research and development to promote the application of technologies related to clean production. Increase investment in research and development of advanced gasification and synthesis processes, improve the utilization rate of raw materials and energy recovery rates, and reduce pollutant emissions. This can be achieved by employing technologies such as efficient and clean coal combustion, high-temperature gasification, and coal gasification, in order to lower emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates resulting from coal combustion and coal chemical processing. Vigorously develop coupling technologies between new energy sources and coal chemical industry. By making use of the abundant local renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, integrate projects for producing hydrogen from wind and solar energy, thereby achieving a combination of green electricity, green hydrogen, and coal chemical processes. This approach helps to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency as well as the added value of products. Secondly, foster the diversified and integrated development of the industrial chain. Expand high-end new chemical materials and pursue development in the direction of higher quality and greater sophistication. Build a circular economy industrial chain to recycle wastewater and waste gases from coal chemical industries, thereby producing useful products. Fang Yitian, director of the Shanxi Coal Chemistry Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that three key areas should be focused on in order to foster new forms of productive capacity within the coal chemical industry. The first is to promote the clean and efficient conversion and utilization of coal, by developing new-generation technologies for integrating coal, oil, gas, and chemicals; moreover, combining coal chemical processes with green electricity or biomass energy is worth considering ； Second, it is to promote the application of existing coal chemical conversion technologies in the field of renewable energy ； Third, develop transformative and disruptive technologies to establish a new technological framework for the fossil fuel industry. Once again, green and low-carbon development remains the main theme. Low-carbon technologies should be actively explored, developed, and utilized, efforts to improve environmental protection should be intensified, and the green transformation of the coal chemical industry should be accelerated. Coupling green hydrogen is an effective approach to facilitating deep decarbonization in the coal chemical industry. Currently, large energy companies including Sinopec are carrying out relevant demonstration projects to explore the production of green hydrogen through water electrolysis and its integration into coal chemical processes.