Recently, with the issuance of the "Medium and Long-term Plan for the Development of hydrogen energy industry (2021-2035)", it has brought "great luck" to the A-share hydrogen energy sector, so that the stocks of many hydrogen energy companies have soared by more than 10%, and even let a small number of hydrogen energy companies directly rise and fall. It can be said that the hydrogen energy stock market is now red to purple, which is also the epitome of the hydrogen energy stock market in recent months, and it can also be seen that hydrogen energy is the trend of future automobile development.
The advantages are many
You may not know that hydrogen is an excellent energy storage medium, different from the single storage method of electric energy storage, hydrogen can not only be stored in the form of gaseous and liquid in the form of high-pressure tanks, but also in the form of solid phase storage in hydrogen storage materials.
The principle of hydrogen energy vehicles is to convert the chemical energy generated by the hydrogen reaction into mechanical energy to propel the vehicle. There are two types of hydrogen energy vehicles, one is a hydrogen internal combustion vehicle (HICEV), which is an internal combustion engine burning hydrogen to generate power to push the car; the other is a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCEV), which uses hydrogen or hydrogen-containing substances to react with oxygen of the air in the fuel cell to generate electricity to push the motor, and the motor pushes the vehicle.
Hydrogen energy vehicles have three main advantages, one is that the calorific value of hydrogen is very high, the heat generated by combustion is as high as 142KJ/g, which is about three times that of gasoline, so under the same thermal efficiency, hydrogen combustion produces more power and can provide more powerful power for cars, which is also the reason why buses, submarines and rockets use hydrogen fuel in different forms.
The second is zero pollution emissions, traditional fuel vehicles will produce 2.9251 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of fuel vehicles, and the "exhaust gas" emitted by hydrogen energy vehicles after burning hydrogen is water, which will not produce any substances that pollute the environment, and truly achieve zero carbon emissions in the theoretical sense.
The third is rich in energy extraction methods, hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements on the earth, while hydrogen energy is still renewable energy, and can also produce hydrogen through a variety of ways, including industrial by-product hydrogen production, coal to hydrogen, the use of photovoltaic, wind power and other renewable energy electrolysis of water to hydrogen, it can be said that hydrogen is inexhaustible.
In addition, compared with pure electric vehicles, hydrogen energy vehicles are convenient for refueling, just like refueling, the mileage is more than 800 kilometers, there is no endurance anxiety, and hydrogen energy vehicles will not lose power in winter, whether it is endurance, energy replenishment time, or in the face of cold weather, hydrogen energy vehicles have advantages over pure electric vehicles.
So the question is, since hydrogen energy vehicles have many advantages, why are hydrogen energy vehicles rarely seen on the road and in the market? In fact, at present, domestic hydrogen energy vehicles are still in the development stage, and there are still many technologies, supporting facilities, and costs that have not been solved, which is also the reason for the slow development of hydrogen energy vehicles.
The dilemma is difficult to solve
First of all, the technical problem, one is the way to produce hydrogen, at present, the domestic mainly through mineral combustion and electrolyzed water these two methods to produce hydrogen, the use of mineral combustion method to produce hydrogen will produce a large number of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and wastewater and other pollutants; and the energy conversion rate of hydrogen production through electrolysis of water is not high. Even if hydrogen energy vehicles do not pollute the environment during driving, they are not as environmentally friendly as imagined in the hydrogen production process, which is why many countries do not recognize hydrogen energy vehicle technology.
The second is the problem of technology patents, the country with the most hydrogen fuel technology patents is Japan, which has mastered 85% of the world, which can be said to be the world's first, and also has the world's largest hydrogen production plant; of which Toyota's hydrogen fuel technology patents account for 61% of Japan's total hydrogen fuel technology patents. However, other car companies do not want to buy technology patents from Japan, and can only study and explore on their own, so the development of hydrogen energy vehicles is relatively slow.
The second is the cost of the car, because there are only two ways to produce hydrogen in China, and there is also a cost of the transportation link, which uses industrial hydrogen trucks, which has a relatively high transportation cost, and also leads to some hydrogen volatilization and other issues during transportation. The sum of the costs of each link has led to the terminal price of hydrogen that makes people look forward to "gas" sighing.
Taking the price of hydrogen refueling stations in 2020 as an example, the retail price of hydrogen is about 67 yuan / kgH2, then the cost of 100 kilometers of hydrogen energy vehicles is about 65 yuan, while the cost of 100 kilometers of traditional fuel vehicles is about 33 yuan, and the cost of 100 kilometers of pure electric vehicles is about 10 yuan; in contrast, the travel cost of hydrogen energy vehicles is higher and does not meet the needs of consumers for affordable cars.
The third is the problem of equipping facilities, the cost of hydrogen energy vehicle hydrogen refueling station is too high, the cost of building a 500kg 35MPa fixed hydrogen refueling station is about 12 million yuan, and the construction cost of large hydrogen refueling station will exceed 40 million yuan.
In contrast, the charging station of electric vehicles is much cheaper, an ordinary charging station only needs to cost about 1 million, while Tesla's super charging station is a little more expensive, one needs more than two million; and pure electric vehicle users can also install charging piles themselves, without charging at the charging station. The low cost, the low technology of equipping facilities and the difficulty of popularization are also one of the reasons why electrification has become a wave.
By the end of 2021, there are 181 hydrogen refueling stations under construction or have been completed nationwide, of which 124 have been built. According to the development plan in the "Blue Book on the Development of Infrastructure in China's Hydrogen Energy Industry", China will build 1,000 by 2030. But China is a large country with 960 square kilometers of land, and only 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations will be built by 2030, which is a drop in the bucket for the development of domestic hydrogen energy vehicles.
Breaking the game is the key
Although the development of hydrogen energy vehicles is very difficult, but the development of the mainland hydrogen energy industry is ahead of other countries, to hydrogen energy production capacity as an example, since 2009 the mainland hydrogen energy production for the first time exceeded 10 million tons, the next year has shown a steady growth trend, and there are 9 consecutive years to maintain the world's first; in 2020, the country's hydrogen production capacity is about 25 million, accounting for about one-third of the global output, laying a good foundation for the development of hydrogen energy vehicles in China.
At this year's Winter Olympics, the torches used in the competition and the buses used in the core area are all hydrogen energy, of which more than 1,000 hydrogen energy vehicles have been invested this time, and more than 30 hydrogen refueling stations have been equipped; this is not only a demonstration of the development of hydrogen energy vehicles to the world, but also a direct demonstration of the country's attitude towards the development of hydrogen energy vehicles.
In March this year, LONGi set up a hydrogen energy technology company, Li Zhenguo personally served as a legal person and chairman, referring to photovoltaic hydrogen production; Sinopec announced that it would build 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations or oil-hydrogen mixing stations, with the goal of becoming the largest hydrogen energy company in China. As these hydrogen companies increase their chips, hydrogen energy can move from the military and aerospace fields to large-scale civilian links, and the future road is full of hydrogen energy vehicles.
The people evaluate the car
Hydrogen production costs, supporting facilities and other issues make hydrogen energy vehicles in a state of slow speed, but with the country's emphasis on the development of hydrogen energy vehicles, hydrogen energy companies gradually increase chips, the construction of hydrogen refueling stations accelerate; the future to solve these problems, hydrogen retail prices are also reduced, then hydrogen energy vehicles can really run.