China has become the only country in the world that has adopted coal for hydrogen production on a large scale

On November 16, local time, at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, China Corner held a side event
entitled "New Progress of China's Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS)".
At the meeting, the "China Coupled CCUS Hydrogen Production Opportunities (Report)" (hereinafter referred to as the report) was officially released
.

According to the report, China's hydrogen production in 2020 was about 33 million tons, accounting for about 30% of global production, about two-thirds of China's hydrogen production came from coal-to-hydrogen plants, and the hydrogen production industry emitted a total of 360 million tons of carbon dioxide, making China the only country
in the world that uses coal to produce hydrogen on a large scale.

For hydrogen to contribute to China's goal of carbon neutrality, it is critical
to shift the hydrogen production process to low emissions, the report notes.
China's energy resource endowment is "rich coal, lack of oil, less gas", in areas with abundant coal resources, good carbon dioxide storage conditions, and limited renewable energy, coal-to-hydrogen technology coupled with CCUS will be a low-cost option for producing low-emission hydrogen, and at the same time can drive the construction of
carbon dioxide transportation and storage infrastructure.

According to the report mentioned that according to the forecast of the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance, China's hydrogen energy demand will increase to 37 million tons by 2030 and more than 90 million tons
in 2060.
Moreover, many coal-to-hydrogen plants in China will be completed in the near future, and the installation of CCUS will play a key
role in reducing emissions from these plants.

According to the report, capturing carbon dioxide and hydrogen is a key feedstock for
future synthetic fuels.
Despite the current high production costs, synthetic fuels are one of
the few options to reduce emissions for long-distance transport, particularly in aviation.
In addition, China's capture of carbon dioxide can also be used for enhanced oil recovery, chemicals and building materials
.
It is important to note that in some uses, CO2 may be released back into the atmosphere (including emissions from the combustion of synthetic fuels), so emissions reductions need to be determined through rigorous accounting
.

It is understood that the report was compiled
by the International Energy Agency in cooperation with the China Agenda 21 Management Center, China Energy Group and Beijing Institute of Technology.
The report also explores the current state of hydrogen and CCUS development in China, and analyzes the potential evolution of hydrogen demand by various sectors of China's economy and industry by 2060
.
(Reporter He Liang)