【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】The World’s First Large-Scale Demonstration Project for Solar Fuel Synthesis from 1978 to 2020

Solar fuel synthesis refers to the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power to generate electricity, which is then used to electrolyze water in order to produce green hydrogen, as well as to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels like methanol, thereby storing renewable energy in liquid form. In short, it involves using renewable energy sources such as solar energy, along with carbon dioxide and water, to produce clean and renewable liquid fuels such as methanol; it is also an energy storage technology for collecting and storing intermittent and dispersed renewable energy sources like solar energy. The project consists of three basic units: solar photovoltaic power generation, hydrogen production via water electrolysis, and methanol synthesis through carbon dioxide hydrogenation. The project utilizes carbon dioxide as a carbon resource to achieve significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. The solar fuel methanol produced is green methanol, which differs from methanol made from traditional coal and natural gas, as it results in zero carbon emissions.

It is reported that this project is based on two key innovative technologies developed by Academician Li Can’s team at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics: electrocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production, and catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into methanol through hydrogenation. In the field of alkaline electrolysis for hydrogen production, Academician Li Can’s team has developed new catalysts for this process that possess independent Chinese intellectual property rights. In collaboration with Suzhou Jingli Hydrogen Production Equipment Co., Ltd., they have manufactured hydrogen production equipment on a large scale (1,000 standard cubic meters per hour), which significantly reduces the cost of hydrogen production by electrolysis. This represents the highest efficiency for large-scale alkaline electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen in the world today. In the field of carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol, a solid-solution bimetallic oxide catalyst developed independently by Academician Li Can’s team is used; this catalyst enables the high-selective and highly stable hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to produce methanol. The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics states that this project is of great significance for addressing China’s energy security issues as well as for the advancement of global ecological civilization. On the one hand, it explores optimal ways to utilize the abundant renewable energy sources such as solar energy in China’s western regions, providing an effective alternative to ultra-high voltage power transmission for converting such renewable energies into the liquid fuel methanol ； On the other hand, methanol, which is a solar fuel, serves as a carrier for green hydrogen, helping to address the safety challenges associated with the storage and transportation of hydrogen energy.

On September 10, 2020, the world’s first demonstration project for the synthesis of solar fuel on a scale of 1,000 tons in the Green Chemical Industry Park of Lanzhou New Area had met all the required technical specifications. The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has applied for the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation to organize an evaluation and acceptance process involving academicians and industry experts in mid-October.