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“The “Chain” – The Green Engine Driving Shanxi’s Energy Revolution. Author/Source: Date: 2022-11-07. Clicks: 14. In August 2020, the province’s 77th executive meeting decided to develop the methanol vehicle industry as a key strategy for advancing the energy revolution and promoting green production and lifestyle practices, thereby turning challenges into opportunities and accelerating the establishment of a green economic ecosystem. On October 12, 2020, 12 departments and agencies led by the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued an implementation plan to accelerate the development of the methanol vehicle industry and its widespread adoption across the province. By leveraging the technical advantages of leading enterprises such as Geely Automobile, this plan aims to enhance the competitiveness of the industry and foster innovative development models. Through the promotion of M100 methanol vehicles, it seeks to promote the coordinated development of the upstream and downstream industrial chains related to coal, coke, gas, methanol, and engines in our province. This approach offers a Shanxi-based solution to alleviate China’s energy supply pressures, optimize the energy consumption structure, and build a green, low-carbon, circular economic system. From September 1st to 2nd, the Methanol Economy Sub-forum of the Taiyuan Energy Low-Carbon Development Forum was successfully held in Jinzhong City. On June 22, the world’s first alcohol-electric hybrid sedan, Geely’s fourth-generation Emgrand alcohol-electric hybrid sedan, and the province’s first methanol-enhanced heavy truck were both produced on the production line at the same time. This marks a milestone in the development of Shanxi’s new energy vehicle industry, with the Jinzhong manufacturing base serving as its core. Methanol fuel has opened up a new green horizon for the new energy vehicle industry; it represents a new starting point. The role of Shanxi’s new energy vehicle industry within the framework of Shanxi’s energy revolution is now taking on new meaning. Methanol fuel: A new driving force for the sustainable development of the green economy. Methanol is regarded as a clean version of coal, an inexpensive alternative to oil, a simplified form of gas, mobile electricity, and liquid hydrogen. In the field of energy, there is a theory known as the \"energy impossible triangle,\" which states that it is difficult to achieve all three aspects simultaneously: energy security and stability, low prices, and cleanliness and low carbon emissions. But methanol found a balance point and a breakthrough among these three. Chang Shuming, mayor of Jinzhong City, said, “The core of the ‘dual carbon’ goal is carbon reduction. A methanol molecule (CH3OH) contains only one carbon atom (while gasoline contains about 6–12 carbon atoms, and diesel about 10–22). Being low in carbon and rich in oxygen and hydrogen, methanol is recognized worldwide as a clean energy source; therefore, it is considered a clean fuel.” Methanol is also cost-effective; taking methanol-powered trucks as an example, their operating costs are lower compared to those of diesel trucks, with savings of at least 0.5 yuan per kilometer. Over a distance of 150,000 kilometers per year, this translates to savings of at least 75,000 yuan. Assuming a lifespan of 6 to 7 years for each truck, the total savings can reach around 500,000 yuan. Methanol is also safe; at normal temperature and pressure it is in a liquid state, has stable properties, and a high safety factor (relative fuel risk: gasoline 41, diesel 34, methanol 28). ” According to statistics, in China’s transportation market, commercial vehicles, primarily freight trucks, account for 10.9% of the total number of vehicles in the country. Their carbon dioxide emissions make up 56% of all vehicle-related emissions, and they are responsible for 80% of all air pollutants emitted by vehicles. The pollution emissions of one diesel truck are equivalent to those of 306 passenger cars. With the mass production of methanol-powered long-haul trucks, they will gradually replace traditional diesel long-haul trucks. It is predicted that if more than 350 million tons of methanol fuel are used, China’s dependence on imported crude oil could be reduced to around 30%, thereby maximizing energy security. According to the five-year pilot data on methanol-powered vehicles provided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, compared with traditional gasoline cars and hybrid cars, methanol-powered vehicles can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 26%. Taking Geely’s fourth-generation Emgrand Hybrid vehicle as an example, it consumes 9.2 liters of methanol per 100 kilometers; driving it for 10,000 kilometers can result in a reduction of 0.8 tons of carbon emissions, which is equivalent to adding 40 cubic meters of forest to the Earth. As a major province in the coal and coal chemical industries, Shanxi has a long way to go to achieve the goal of \"carbon neutrality.\" Coal-to-methanol is an effective approach for the clean and efficient utilization of coal, as well as for promoting the development of a low-carbon energy system. The process of producing methanol from coal not only enables the proper collection and utilization of the three types of waste generated by coal chemical processing, but also results in almost zero emissions. For every ton of methanol produced, 1.4 tons of carbon dioxide can be removed, and green methanol is considered to be the key to achieving \"carbon neutrality\". The new energy vehicle industry: A new engine driving the high-quality development of Shanxi’s economy. In 2011, Geely’s automobile manufacturing facility was established in Jinzhong, Shanxi. Jinzhong and Geely share one thing in common: both are leaders in the research, development, and application of methanol on a global scale. Jinzhong is the only methanol vehicle production base to pass **the relevant acceptance tests. As one of the earliest cities in the country to explore the use of methanol fuel and methanol vehicles, it has, through over 30 years of development, established a comprehensive methanol industry framework that includes research and development, manufacturing of related equipment, and fuel distribution. It is the city in China that has achieved the most results in promoting the use of methanol-based technologies and has the strongest level of industrialization in this field. It holds a significant first-mover advantage in the production of methanol vehicles, methanol fuel production technologies, and methanol fuel refueling. Geely Holding Group has been dedicated to the research, development, and manufacturing of methanol-powered vehicles for 17 years. It was the first in the world to successfully overcome industry challenges related to the resistance of methanol engine components to alcohol and their durability, mastering the core technologies behind such vehicles. The company holds over 200 patents and is the only automaker in the world to have achieved mass production of methanol-powered vehicles. Geely’s Jinzhong manufacturing facility was established specifically for the production of methanol-powered vehicles. To date, it has carried out a number of national and provincial pilot projects, producing the most advanced methanol-powered vehicles and achieving numerous firsts on both the international and domestic levels. Driven by Shanxi’s new energy vehicle industry with Geely as its core, companies in the province such as Taiyuan Taigang for high-end stainless steel products, Changzhi Sino-German Aluminum for aluminum structural components, Linfen Huaxiang for engine components, Jiaocheng Lihu for four-door glass, and Taiyuan Majie for molds, are now engaged in supporting production for Geely. Work to extend, supplement, and strengthen the industrial chain related to new energy vehicle manufacturing is carried out simultaneously. Every effort is being made to build an industrial chain for new energy power batteries; battery-related projects such as Shangtai Lithium Battery, Shanxi Huashun New Energy anode materials project, and Chuangpus New Energy cathode materials project have already been established in Jinzhong and Changzhi. Once these projects are completed, Shanxi will have all the necessary conditions for a complete industrial chain in the production of power batteries for new energy vehicles, and it will possess the best resource conditions in the country to attract companies such as CATL to invest in setting up factories there. Make every effort to develop a complete industrial chain for methanol-powered heavy trucks. Taking the implementation of Geely’s methanol-powered heavy truck project as an opportunity, every effort will be made to promote the coordinated development of related industries such as engine power systems, braking systems, hydraulic control systems, and specialized vehicle modifications, in order to increase the proportion of locally produced components used in these vehicles. Develop the new energy vehicle industry chain. At present, the new energy vehicle industry in Jinzhong has developed a structure of \"one chain and three lines,\" with passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, and special-purpose vehicle manufacturers such as Geely, Lantian, Paul, Opas, and Meijin serving as the key players in this industry ； In line with the principle of coordinated development, the next step will be to make every effort to build a new energy vehicle industry chain that includes \"vehicle raw materials – components – system assemblies – complete vehicles – as well as the necessary infrastructure for gas storage and transportation\", with the goal of establishing this region as an important production base for new energy vehicles and automotive components in central China. As one of the 14 iconic and leading industrial clusters that Shanxi is committed to developing, Shanxi’s new energy vehicle industry, with the Geely Jinzhong facility as its core, currently has the longest supply chain, the largest scale, and the widest range of products within Shanxi’s automotive industry. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the annual production of new energy vehicles at this base will account for 95% of the total output in Shanxi province. At the beginning of 2022, building on the established new energy vehicle industry cluster, Jinzhong City launched the construction of a **-level methanol economy demonstration zone, aiming to develop it within three years and establish it as a significant industry within five years, thereby creating an methanol economy ecosystem worth hundreds of billions. At the same time, with the goal of establishing a first-class methanol economy demonstration zone, every effort is being made to implement the \"11155\" project, which aims to produce 1 million tons of green methanol per year, 100,000 methanol-powered vehicles per year, build 1,000 methanol refueling stations, produce 50,000 methanol-powered heavy trucks per year, and achieve an annual economic output of over 50 billion yuan. At the same time, it is necessary to develop a number of high-quality enterprises that specialize in specific segments of the industry, either by expanding existing ones, nurturing new ones, or attracting them from outside. This will help to foster coordination between different stages of the automotive industry chain. The goal is to create new landmarks within the strategy for developing advanced manufacturing bases in the central cities of Shanxi, thereby driving rapid progress in the equipment manufacturing sector there and in Shanxi as a whole. This will serve as another important engine for the economic transformation and high-quality development of Shanxi. Going forward, Shanxi’s new energy vehicle industry will plan its future development based on new concepts, focusing on expanding the production capacity of complete vehicles in the middle segment of the industrial chain, addressing the shortcomings in the production of key components in the upstream segment, and developing after-sales services in the downstream segment. The goal is that by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, there will be over 60 enterprises within this cluster; 2–3 new new energy vehicle manufacturers will be introduced, raising the total number of such manufacturers to over 10. Additionally, 30 new companies specializing in the production of supporting components will be brought in, bringing the total number of such companies in the cluster to over 50. The target is to achieve an annual production of 200,000 passenger vehicles, 70,000 special-purpose vehicles, and 15,000 commercial vehicles; coupled with a smart logistics service platform that supports 500,000 vehicles online, the output value of this industrial cluster is set to exceed 50 billion yuan. At the same time, it will develop related industries such as the automobile trade and automotive service sector, and make every effort to build a concentrated development area for the new energy vehicle industry across the province, as well as a demonstration zone for improving the quality of this industry and expanding its scale. The methanol ecosystem: Pioneering a new direction for Shanxi’s energy revolution. Through nearly 40 years of practical exploration, methanol production in China has now moved toward lower-carbon and even carbon-neutral levels. At the same time, the applications of methanol are becoming more diverse and efficient, and fostering a methanol economy as a means to achieve carbon neutrality is increasingly seen as a global consensus. In recent years, thanks to the clean properties and various advantages of methanol as a fuel, there has been an increasing trend internationally to utilize methanol widely in fields such as automobiles and ships. In our country, thanks to over a decade of continuous technological innovation by vehicle manufacturers, as well as pilot deployments of more than a thousand M100 methanol-fueled vehicles in ten cities over a period of five years, the economic efficiency, environmental friendliness, safety, reliability, and practicality of these vehicles have been thoroughly proven. The range of the M100 methanol vehicle can reach 450 kilometers. Compared to gasoline vehicles with the same displacement, it offers a 5%-10% increase in power, while reducing fuel costs by 35%-50%. At the same time, the renovation cost of around 200,000 yuan per methanol filling station is 1/20 that of natural gas filling stations and 1/50 that of hydrogen filling stations. Given these advantages, it is imperative to vigorously promote methanol-powered vehicles in areas where the conditions are suitable. In 2019, eight ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the \"Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Use of Methanol Vehicles in Certain Areas.\" In 2021, the \"14th Five-Year Plan for Green Industrial Development\" included methanol vehicles among green products. In 2022, the Ministry of Transport, the Railway Administration, the Civil Aviation Administration, and the Postal Service, in their implementation plans for the \"Opinions of the Central Committee and the State Council on Fully and Accurately Implementing the New Development Concept to Achieve Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality,\" included methanol as a fuel option for ships, thus setting the direction for the comprehensive development of the methanol economy in the future. In the new stage of development, promoting the high-quality development of the methanol economy industry chain is of great significance for the energy revolution, energy security, the ecological environment, and the establishment of a green and low-carbon industrial system. Zhang Peng, deputy mayor of Jinzhong City, said, “Shanxi is a province designated by the central government as a pilot area for comprehensive reforms in the energy sector. It is part of the **‘26+2’ region as well as the key air pollution control zone in the Fenwei Plain; it is also a major area for ecological protection and high-quality development along the Yellow River basin. Protecting the ecosystem and promoting green development are tasks that require a long-term approach.” The methanol economy is connected on one end to energy sources such as coal, wind, solar power, and biomass, and on the other end to the clean applications of methanol in various fields such as transportation, industry, daily life, and the energy chemicals sector. In between lies a diversified industrial system centered around methanol production and the manufacturing of methanol-powered vehicles. Developing the methanol economy offers not only the practicality of integrating traditional energy sources, new energy sources, and high-end equipment manufacturing, but also the potential for low-carbon and green development across the entire supply chain; it is in line with industrial policies as well as the national and regional conditions. ” **In implementing the important directives of central leaders regarding the methanol economy, the National Development and Reform Commission emphasized at the meeting on advancing methanol-powered vehicles held in January 2020 that Shanxi should leverage its own advantages and existing foundation to expand methanol production and application, drive industrial development, create new use cases, and take the lead in conducting pilot projects in order to pave a new path for the development of the methanol economy across the country. In 2021, Jinzhong City was the first in the world to introduce the production of methanol from biomass, that is, the use of straw, tree branches, livestock manure, and urban waste as raw materials to produce green methanol. Currently. The world’s first biomass-to-methanol project, located in Jinzhong City, is advancing at full speed. Methanol towns developed based on the production of methanol from biomass play a significant role in driving the energy revolution in rural areas and promoting rural revitalization. Adhering to the energy consumption concept of \"All things produce methanol, and methanol benefits all things,\" this small town converts all household waste generated in the rural area into green methanol. This green methanol is then used to achieve self-sufficiency in energy for the town, helping to revitalize agriculture while simultaneously addressing environmental and air pollution issues in rural areas – achieving multiple benefits at once. “With the development of the methanol economy to this point, there is an urgent need to establish comprehensive methanol economy demonstration zones in areas where the conditions are suitable. These zones should facilitate industrial clustering, create applications for methanol, and serve as models; by enabling early development in one area, it will be possible to promote marketization across multiple regions. This approach will help pave new paths for the rapid development of the methanol economy and add new dimensions to Shanxi’s energy revolution and high-quality development. We will make every effort to build high-standard methanol economy demonstration zones. Based in Jinzhong, it serves Shanxi and has an impact across China. ”Chang Shuming told the reporters.