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Jinzhong, Shanxi: Pioneering the New Methanol Industry Track Author/Source: Coal-Based New Materials Date: 2022-07-15 Clicks: 12 On July 2, reporters visited Shanxi New Energy Vehicles Industry Co., Ltd. in Yuci District, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, where they saw the methanol-powered vehicles that were just produced last month. Shanxi has unique advantages in developing the methanol industry. As the birthplace of methanol fuel and methanol vehicle technology applications in China, Shanxi boasts nearly 40 years of experience in promotion and pilot projects, and has established a complete green industrial chain that spans from the production and supply of methanol fuel to the manufacturing and use of methanol vehicles. Among them, Jinzhong is the prefecture-level city in China that started this work earliest, achieved the most results, and has made the greatest efforts in terms of industrialization. As a methanol vehicle production base in Shanxi Province, Jinzhong has currently established a comprehensive methanol industry ecosystem that includes methanol research and development, methanol equipment manufacturing, and fuel distribution. It has become the city in China that has achieved the most progress in the adoption of the methanol economy and has the strongest level of industrialization in this field. In recent years, Shanxi Province has ranked the new energy vehicle industry among its eight key emerging industries. Driven by five leading enterprises—Geely, Meijin, Paul, Snard, and AVIC Lantian—a cluster of 60 enterprises involved in the production of components has been established, enabling a production capacity of 100,000 passenger vehicles, 20,000 special-purpose vehicles, and 5,000 commercial vehicles. In 2021, the output value of the Jinzhong New Energy Vehicle Industrial Park exceeded 15 billion yuan. Last year, Jinzhong was the first in China to propose a new approach for producing methanol from biomass. The so-called production of methanol from biomass refers to the use of biomass such as household waste, straw, and livestock manure in rural areas, combined with hydrogen produced from green electricity, to manufacture green methanol. “The “Methanol Town” concept was developed based on the technology for producing methanol from biomass. “Next, we will select 3 to 5 towns with suitable conditions to produce green methanol using rural household waste, biomass such as straw, and energy sources such as wind and solar power as raw materials. At the same time, green methanol and its derivatives are used for green transportation in small towns, clean heating, methanol-powered cooking appliances, methanol-based agricultural machinery, and other aspects of daily life and production, thereby achieving energy self-sufficiency in rural areas, establishing positive channels for energy supply in these areas, and helping to revitalize agriculture. ”Zhu Ziqiang, a second-level researcher at the Jinzhong Development and Reform Commission, told reporters, “This is the vision for the ‘Methanol Town’, one of the four key components of our Methanol Economy Demonstration Zone.” ” Currently, Geely Commercial Vehicles’ Jinzhong branch has entered into a strategic partnership with Jiexiu Changsheng Gasification Co., Ltd. to promote the pilot use of methanol-powered trucks. The Jiexiu Changsheng 250,000-ton methanol project is expected to come online in June 2023. Once in operation, the methanol produced there will be sufficient to meet the needs of 5,000 methanol-powered trucks. By 2025, it is expected to enable the surrounding coal chemical enterprises to produce 1 million tons of methanol, enough to support 20,000 such trucks in operation. Once the project is fully operational, a complete system for methanol production, blending, and refueling will be established. All of the company’s own transportation vehicles will be replaced with methanol-powered trucks, thereby covering the entire methanol value chain and facilitating a green and low-carbon transformation in the chemical industry. This “green chemical engineering” model will be promoted as soon as possible in all coal chemical enterprises in Jinzhong City that meet the requirements. “Shanxi is a pilot province for the energy revolution, and Jinzhong City is also striving to become an economic demonstration zone for the industrialization of methanol. Therefore, the development of methanol-powered vehicles and heavy trucks holds great practical significance; it also helps to promote the further processing of local methanol resources and the coal chemical industry, which is important for energy conservation, emission reduction, and energy security. ”Liu Hanru, the chief scientist at Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicles Group, said that there are bright prospects for the development of methanol-powered trucks in Jinzhong City, with a promising future ahead. In the future, Jinjiang City will make every effort to help the \"key enterprise\" in this sector grow in scale and strengthen its capabilities, thereby enhancing its role as a leader and supporter ； Efforts are being made to cultivate a group of enterprises that are \"specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative\" as well as \"core enterprises in industrial chains\", thereby effectively driving the specialized development of upstream and downstream supporting enterprises and continuously increasing the local supply rate. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the goal is to introduce and develop over 60 new manufacturers of complete vehicles and auto parts, striving to build a new energy vehicle industry worth 50 billion yuan.