To prevent the uncontrolled development of coal-based chemical industries and coal-to-hydrogen production, it is not advisable to convert every coal resource into chemical products”

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On June 28, Li Yizhong, former Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and President of the China Industrial Economic Federation, said at the Guosi Forum’s “Energy China – China’s Next Five Years” that, under the current technological conditions, it is necessary to prevent the uncontrolled development of coal-based chemical industries and coal-to-hydrogen production; one should not resort to converting every coal resource into chemical products, in order to avoid new risks related to ecological damage and climate change. 　　Li Yizhong said that in the process of producing hydrogen from coal, \"green hydrogen\" represents the ultimate direction for development; it is necessary to vigorously promote research and development in technologies such as carbon dioxide capture, storage, and utilization, in order to achieve industrialization, specialization, and commercialization. At the same time, it is recommended to **establish standards and regulations for carbon taxes, carbon dioxide emissions, etc., and enforce them strictly. 　　Li Yizhong said that the Paris Agreement, reached at the Paris Climate Change Conference at the end of 2015, calls for global average temperatures to be kept within 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century, with efforts to keep the increase at 1.5 degrees or less. At the same time, as one of the parties to the Paris Agreement, China has committed to reaching its peak carbon emissions around 2030 and increasing the share of non-fossil energy in total energy consumption to 20%. 　　Global carbon dioxide emissions did not increase in 2019, while China’s emissions rose by 1.75%. This requires our country to strictly practice energy conservation and reduce consumption, while improving the structure of energy use by increasing the proportion of non-fossil fuels, particularly by reducing the share of coal. 　　Li Yizhong said that reducing carbon dioxide emissions focuses on the industrial sector, as well as on the clean and efficient use of coal. The coal chemical industry generates large amounts of carbon dioxide; producing one kilogram of hydrogen through coal chemical processes results in the emission of 11 kilograms of carbon dioxide. If hydrogen is produced from oil, 7 kilograms of carbon dioxide are emitted, while 5.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide are produced when hydrogen is generated from natural gas. When producing hydrocarbons such as urea and methanol through coal chemical processes, carbon dioxide remains in excess. While using coal as a raw material to synthesize ammonia and then convert it into urea can absorb two-thirds of the carbon dioxide, approximately 25%-30% of it still has to be emitted. 　　In the currently popular hydrogen fuel cell industry, there is considerable debate regarding the source of hydrogen. Li Yizhong believes that insufficient research has been conducted in this area; it is unacceptable to produce hydrogen using fossil fuels and then release all the resulting carbon dioxide emissions. 　　In 2019, the World Energy Council referred to hydrogen produced from fossil fuels such as coal, with significant carbon dioxide emissions, as \"gray hydrogen\"; hydrogen produced from fossil fuels but with carbon capture, followed by the storage and utilization of that captured carbon dioxide, was called \"blue hydrogen\"; whereas hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources was termed \"green hydrogen\". 　　Li Yizhong said that gray hydrogen is clearly not a viable option; only through CCS (carbon capture and storage) or CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) can gray hydrogen be transformed into blue hydrogen. The use of blue hydrogen is of great significance for China’s energy transition. 　　Li Yizhong concluded that gray hydrogen is not usable, blue hydrogen can be used, waste hydrogen can be recycled, and green hydrogen represents the future direction. 　　Therefore, he believes that under the current technological conditions, to prevent the uncontrolled development of coal chemical industries and coal-to-hydrogen production and to avoid new risks such as ecological damage and climate change, it is first necessary to make significant efforts in advancing technologies for carbon dioxide capture, storage, and utilization, in order to achieve industrialization and specialization in these areas. 　　In recent years, international energy giants such as Total and BP have considered decarbonized natural gas to be one of the most cost-effective energy sources in a low-carbon future, and they attach great importance to technologies such as CCUS. **Data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also show that by 2050, CCUS technologies will be used to handle one-third of global carbon dioxide emissions. 　　It is worth noting, however, that although the industry generally agrees that CCS and CCUS technologies are crucial for achieving carbon reduction targets, actual progress in research in this field has been relatively slow. At present, many CCUS technologies are still in the laboratory stage, and challenges such as high costs, insufficient public awareness, and a lack of international cooperation exist in their large-scale commercial application. 　　In 2010, China’s Shenhua Group launched the country’s first CCS demonstration project, with a designed capacity of 100,000 tons per year. Li Yizhong explained that the project was put into operation in 2011 and has already achieved initial results. However, with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year, it is still far from meeting industrial standards, and issues such as high costs and insufficient scale exist. This means that the application of CCS technology in our country is still some distance away from industrialization due to issues such as cost and risks. In addition, CNPC and Sinopec, which are part of the \"big three oil companies,\" are also piloting the use of carbon dioxide to drive oil extraction and improve oil recovery rates. Li Yizhong said that all these efforts still require further support in order to create the conditions necessary for the industrialization and commercialization of this technology. 　　In response to this, Li Yizhong suggested that the relevant departments should formulate relevant regulations and standards as soon as possible. As one of the parties to the Paris Agreement, China must meet goals such as reaching a peak in carbon emissions and increasing the share of non-fossil energy use; therefore, it is necessary to establish objectives and tasks related to emission reduction and carbon taxation at the earliest possible time. Starting with the 14th Five-Year Plan, efforts should be intensified to establish an effective management system