Methanol-powered vehicles: a new symbol of green development in Guizhou!

Thread Content

Methanol-powered vehicles: a new symbol of green development in Guizhou! Author/Source: Date: 2022-11-14 Clicks: 9 As the \"Coal Sea of Jiangnan\" with large coal reserves, a wide variety of coal types, and high-quality coal, Guizhou possesses unique resource advantages for coal-to-methanol production, providing strong support for the promotion of methanol-powered vehicles. " Since switching to a vehicle powered by methanol, the operating costs have decreased, and its performance is no worse than that of a gasoline vehicle; it’s very comfortable to drive, with no unpleasant odors at all – really great! " With 6 years of experience in the industry, and having switched from traditional gasoline-powered cars to methanol-powered ones, Mr. Wu, a taxi driver in Guiyang, speaks highly of methanol vehicles. Master Zeng, one of the first ride-hailing drivers to switch to Geely’s new generation of methanol hybrid cars, also said, \"Previously, the cost per kilometer for gasoline was a little over 6 fen, but now with methanol, the cost per kilometer is less than 3 fen. Sometimes I can drive over 500 kilometers in a day, and over the course of a year, I can save around 40,000 yuan just on fuel costs.\" " It is understood that in 2014, with the approval of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Guiyang was designated as a pilot city for methanol-powered vehicles across the country. In 2015, Guizhou was included by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in the list of provinces designated as pilot areas for methanol-powered vehicles, among which it was the first to launch a three-year pilot program for such vehicles in Guiyang. Since then, Geely Holding Group has established a methanol vehicle production base in Guiyang, providing strong technical support and a complete industrial chain for the production and promotion of methanol vehicles. At the end of 2018, Guiyang accelerated the promotion of methanol-powered vehicles, gradually establishing a comprehensive system for their production, sales, and service, as well as a framework for the supply and distribution of methanol fuel. A series of incentives were introduced for various types of vehicles, including taxis, and a regulatory system and management mechanisms were put in place to ensure the proper operation of these vehicles. Through market-based approaches, over 17,000 methanol-powered vehicles were deployed in Guiyang; nearly 90% of the city’s taxis are of this type. There are more than 60 methanol fuel filling stations in the province, with each vehicle capable of covering over 1.2 million kilometers before needing refueling. The annual consumption of methanol amounts to about 250,000 tons, which is equivalent to replacing 150,000 tons of gasoline. At the \"2022 Guiyang Carbon Neutrality Methanol Vehicles Application Summit Forum,\" Wei Anli, Secretary-General of the Expert Advisory Committee for the Promotion of Methanol Vehicles under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that in the eight years of pilot programs for methanol vehicles carried out in Guizhou Province, the biggest challenge has been the public’s lack of clear understanding of methanol as a fuel and their slow willingness to adopt it. Continued and more effective promotion of methanol vehicles requires collaboration and commitment from both the government and private sectors. As a pioneer, Geely Holding Group showed great foresight by establishing a production facility for methanol-powered vehicles in Guiyang early on; currently, all the methanol taxis in Guiyang are produced at Geely’s factory there. Faced with the fact that methanol-powered vehicles lack a strong public foundation, Geely took prompt action, and its \"integration of alcohol vehicles\" strategy provided a targeted solution. According to the plan, the Geely methanol-powered vehicles intended for use in Sui County as part of Geely’s \"integration of alcohol and vehicles\" strategy will be employed in various applications, including taxis, ride-hailing services, **official vehicles, driving school cars, and retail vehicles. With a total area of 1,035 square kilometers and a permanent population of around 170,000 people, Sansui County will see a significantly higher level of awareness regarding methanol-powered vehicles, as well as a greater number of consumers who have experienced such vehicles. This provides an excellent public foundation for accelerating the adoption of methanol-powered vehicles in this region. Thanks to the cleanliness, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness of methanol fuel, which contribute to better air quality and a healthier ecosystem, methanol-powered taxis have now become a new symbol of Guiyang’s efforts in ecological civilization construction. According to a report issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in September, Guiyang’s environmental air quality ranked 4th among the provincial capitals, with a 100% rate of good air quality – and methanol-powered taxis played a key role in this.