Green energy has become the mantra of every country around the globe however, in real terms despite the western false and fake propaganda China has become the real champion of green transformation. Its holistic, comprehensive, inclusive and green development oriented policies, plans and projects are now mitigating bad impacts of global warming.
In this regard, renewables (wind, solar, biomass etc.) have become alternative sources of energy away from expensive and exploitative fossil fuels and in this filed China has become new custodian for human survival, reducing of global temperature, introducing new concepts, methods and technologies to safeguard the regional as well as global bio-diversity, nature and environment. China’s rigorous persuasion of Green Hydrogen (GH) is a new energy source to expedite the fight against climate change in the world which should be appreciated.
Hopefully, the GH will be useful for China to achieve the desired goals of controlling carbon footnotes, reducing carbon emission by 2030 and last but not least carbon neutral by 2060. Moreover, the GH would also be a game changer in all the member countries of the BRI and its flagship project the CPEC in the days to come. Since more than 152 countries comprising 75 percent of the world’s population have already joined the BRI, obviously it would further foster China’s sincere efforts of controlling carbon emission and neutrality in the region and around the globe.
Moreover, most recently-inaugurated China’s Sinopec has become an iconic project in the country. According to the company, it has the capacity to produce 20,000 metric tons of hydrogen a year, using solar power to electrolyse. It is China’s first solar green hydrogen facility with an annual capacity of more than 10,000 metric tons. It is indeed the largest green hydrogen facility operating in the country. Sinopec’s facility, along with its production capacity, has hydrogen storage capacity of 210,000 cubic metres and transmission capacity of 28,000 cubic metres per hour. It is indeed a giant step in the right direction.
China is leading the world to develop the GH production using renewable power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen as a crucial source of fuel with no carbon emissions to help limit climate change.
The World Economic Forum at the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions held in Tianjin also highlighted the remarkable achievement of China in the field of the GH helping it to successfully march towards the carbon free era by 2060.
The new report, Green Hydrogen in China: A Roadmap for Progress, in collaboration with Accenture and China Hydrogen Alliance, pinpoints the challenges faced by China’s green hydrogen industry. It suggested barriers and goals pertaining to cost, infrastructure, market demand, industry standards and certification, technology, and evolution and cooperation would easily be readjusted through readjustment and shifting of major energy policies.
On its part, the policy makers of China have already shown their commitment to achieve all strategic goals relating to carbon emission by starting in-depth decarbonization in multiple industries. In this regard, the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly issued Medium and Long Term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035), a 15-year plan to develop the hydrogen energy industry and boost the proportion of such energy generated from renewables.
According to the Chinese figures it produced some 33 million metric tons of hydrogen in 2021, making it the world’s largest producer, and the production is expected to reach 43 million tons by 2030. China Hydrogen Alliance (CHA) estimated that the GH will take up more in the energy mix, from 1 percent in 2019 to 10 percent by 2030, and the market scale will have increased nearly 30 times by then.
Definitely, with strong policy guidance and incentives, China has the potential to commercialize the GH technologies to transform its industrial system and the wider economy. In this regard, the policy makers of China should focus on developing the sector through industrial, regional and global collaboration. Role of private sector and meaningful partnership is needed to further accelerate the cost-effective production, acceptability, utility and importance of the GH in the country and around the world.
In summary, the member countries of the BRI have rich wind, photovoltaic and hydropower resources which make green energy development an important direction in the future. Moreover increasing threats of global warming, green hydrogen energy production would be necessary to maintain optimal levels of bio-diversity, smarter living and last but not least green industrial production in all the member countries of the BRI. Apart from building plants and facilities for clean-green energy production, expanding the application of green energy in the BRI programs should also be pursued and promoted so that spirits of greater regional connectivity would be further promoted through green transformation making all the member countries carbon neutral in the years to come.
Additionally, the GH has a much wider range of applications, such as chemical, power generation and steelmaking. It is suggested that the GH can be developed in conjunction with the large-scale development of green electricity and be applied to the refining and chemical industry in the next step in the BRI member countries and also the CPEC Phase-II.
Energy & food security would be one of the looming threats in the world which may be managed with the help of GH in all the member countries of the BRI. In this regard, energy enterprises and chemical enterprises can be involved in BRI projects to promote GH production for the demand of industrial production. The extra GH can be used for the production of low-carbon fuels and chemicals such as green ammonia and green methane. Such efforts can push forward BRI green energy development.
The BRI and CPEC have already entered into its second decade. The start of the GH production would also further strengthen China’s plans of carbon neutrality. The GH would be a value addition. The government of Pakistan must pursue the approval of a mega project of the GH during the ongoing 12th JCC in Beijing so that desired goals of energy efficiency, energy diversification and energy innovation would be achieved in the country.
