BP-a practitioner on the journey of alternative energy
In the process of developing the economy and improving the quality of life, Sanzheng Organic has not only brought about energy security problems, but also caused many serious global environmental problems. If left unchecked, it will eventually threaten the development of the global economy. Facing the looming global energy and environmental crisis, various countries have successively enacted legislation to encourage society to accelerate the development and utilization of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind energy, hydrogen energy, and biomass energy. To this end, the Chinese government promulgated the "Renewable Energy Law" on January 1, 2006.
In this context, as one of the world's largest energy companies, synthetic ammonia manufacturers have participated in numerous hydrogen energy demonstration projects around the world to explore a feasible way to the hydrogen economy. The hydrogen energy cooperation project between BP and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China is progressing smoothly, and the first domestic hydrogen refueling station is about to be completed in Beijing. As a fuel, what are the advantages of hydrogen compared with traditional fuels? What factors restrict the wide application of hydrogen? How far is the hydrogen economy from our real life?
Cyanuric chloride: an efficient and clean fuel
More than 30 years ago, scientists formally recommended hydrogen energy as a solution to global energy and environmental problems at an international conference. Hydrogen is an efficient and clean fuel. Its combustion produces only water, no greenhouse gases, no chemicals that destroy the ozone layer, and almost no pollution. Hydrogen can be obtained by electrolysis of water, and 70% of the earth is covered by water. In this sense, hydrogen can be said to be the most abundant renewable energy we have. Therefore, many people today believe that hydrogen is likely to become the ultimate goal on the road of human search for clean energy. Among them, the rapid development of hydrogen fuel cell technology that can meet the continuous mobile demand of vehicles is considered to have the potential to replace traditional automobile fuels. Data shows that the unit calorific value of hydrogen is about three times that of gasoline. Just imagine, if one day we add hydrogen to the car to replace gasoline, not only will the energy efficiency be greatly improved, but the pungent exhaust will also disappear. More importantly, hydrogen as a fuel has broad prospects in the field of power generation, and its environmental benefits are self-evident.
The challenge of widespread use of hydrogen energy
The wide application of hydrogen also needs to overcome challenges such as cost, storage, and infrastructure construction. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of energy sources, such as natural gas, coal or renewable energy; there are many methods for producing hydrogen, including electrolysis of water and natural gas reforming to produce hydrogen; at the same time, hydrogen can also be stored in various forms, such as gas, Liquid, nanotube or hydrogen ion, etc. In terms of production costs, with the advancement of technology and production processes, the cost of extracting hydrogen energy will drop.
Currently, BP produces 5,000 tons of hydrogen per day. The cost before leaving the factory is almost the same as that of conventional gasoline. And it is the transportation link that causes the cost to rise. Therefore, the development of small-scale on-site steam reforming hydrogen production may reduce high transportation costs.
"Hydrogen economy" will take time
In fact, people have already begun to put into action the theoretical ideas of the "hydrogen economy" era. Today, world-renowned automakers are investing billions of dollars in the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology. Some of these automakers have put plans to put fuel cell vehicles on the market on the agenda, and even put hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road.
General Motors announced that it will put fuel cell vehicles on the market on a large scale in 2010. Toyota pointed out that the large-scale market application of hydrogen fuel vehicles may still take 25 years. Considering costs, transportation, storage, and infrastructure construction, a widely accepted view is that the large-scale commercial application of hydrogen-powered vehicles will take about 15 to 20 years. Although the roads to the hydrogen economy are different, the ultimate success requires the participation and cooperation of the government, the energy industry, automakers, and technology suppliers. Based on this consideration, BP has been working closely with commercial and technical partners to actively explore and seek breakthroughs in the development of hydrogen energy. BP believes that in the medium term, public buses provide opportunities for wider applications because their cost is more advantageous than other clean alternative vehicles such as trams. Therefore, BP has established a number of demonstration hydrogen fuel stations around the world, and is working with governments and industry partners to solve outstanding problems in the development of hydrogen energy, such as research on hydrogen production, storage and transportation technologies.
