Legislators see potential of hydrogen as clean energy

National legislators have called for more preferential policies to help tap the potential of hydrogen as China makes its low-carbon transition.

Aside from using the clean energy source as fuel for more types of vehicles and industries, measures should also be rolled out to have more of the gas utilized as a byproduct in some industrial sectors, said Zhang Tianren, a deputy to the National People's Congress.

Recognizing hydrogen as an energy that could help reduce carbon emissions, bolster energy safety and help stimulate economic development, many countries have been striving to develop the gas, according to Zhang.

By the middle of this century, hydrogen is expected to create 30 million jobs and eliminate 6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions globally, he said, quoting a prediction from the Hydrogen Council.

The council is a collaborative group consisting of energy, transport, industry and investment companies worldwide.

Zhang, who is also chairman of the Tianneng Group, one of China's largest battery manufacturers, stressed the great potential of hydrogen development in China.

According to the White Paper of Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Industry in China, the production value of the hydrogen industry will jump to 12 trillion yuan ($1.9 trillion) by 2050, he noted.

However, he also pointed out some problems that may hinder hydrogen from having a stronger role in the country's energy production efforts, and he called on the government to hammer out preferential policies accordingly.

"The country still lags in terms of core technologies and equipment for hydrogen energy development and hydrogen fuel cells," he said.

Zhang noted the "slow-paced" development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and a lack of policy support to extend the application of the gas to other sectors.

By the end of last year, the number of new energy vehicles across the country had reached 7.84 million, he said. Of those vehicles, however, only 8,400 were powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

"The hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry is still in its early stages of development," he said.

Lured into the market because of preferential policies and subsidies, companies have yet to make adequate investment into research and development of such vehicles.

Hydrogen is an alternative energy for some major carbon emitters, including the inland shipping, railway, chemical and smelting industries, he said.

With no preferential policies in place, however, hydrogen hasn't been used much in these sectors.

Hydrogen is a byproduct in some industries, but in general such byproduct is simply discarded.

The production of 1 metric ton of caustic soda, for example, will usually generate nearly 25 kilograms of hydrogen as a byproduct. About 30 percent of that byproduct is discharged without being collected for utilization, he said.

This means that roughly 300,000 tons of the gas was wasted in the caustic soda industry in China last year.

Zhang called for more efforts to collect such byproduct. He said the collection will not only reduce the cost of producing hydrogen but also make mass production of the gas possible.

In an interview with Securities Times, national legislator Jiao Yun, president of Baotailong New Material Co, also stressed the great role hydrogen can play in carbon reduction, saying it can help transform sectors with high energy consumption and make them green and efficient.

He said that while building their own wind and solar power stations to address their dependence on traditional fossil energies, companies in such sectors can make full use of the surplus renewable energy they generate to make hydrogen.

The clean gas will make it possible for them to further reduce emissions, as they can use it and the carbon dioxide they emit to make chemical materials such as methyl and ethyl alcohols, he added.