A surge in energy metals has made the new energy vehicle market in full swing begin to think "cold": in the era of global competition for new energy, multiple energy sources are carried out at the same time, and multiple technologies are the basic guarantee for energy security.
The pure electric route has the internal driving force of the market, the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle has a nationwide policy escort, and the methanol vehicles that Geely Automobile has been deeply engaged in for 17 years are expected to open another growth track of the new energy technology route.
Methanol cars or into a new track
Why develop a methanol technology route? According to experts, methanol has a hydrogen content of 12.5% and an oxygen content of 50%, which is similar to hydrogen energy and has the characteristics of efficient combustion, clean emissions and renewable. Among the many new energy and clean energy sources in the field of transportation (electricity, hydrogen energy, natural gas, ammonia, etc.), methanol is the only liquid energy at room temperature and pressure, with excellent fuel characteristics, safe and convenient use, and both gasoline and diesel combustion characteristics. Moreover, methanol production sources, huge economic volume, sustainable development of the whole industry chain, has gradually become an ideal new clean renewable fuel recognized by the global industry.
According to the methanol vehicle pilot operation data of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, methanol vehicles are about 21% more energy efficient and about 26% less CO2 emissions than gasoline vehicles. Modern coal chemical industry and renewable energy to produce green hydrogen green oxygen technology coupling, in the process of preparing methanol, every 1 ton of methanol produced can consume about 1.4 tons of CO2. Methanol vehicles have significant advantages in energy saving and emission reduction.
Li Can, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that renewable methanol is known as "liquid solar fuel", methanol main raw materials include coal, natural gas, biomass, etc., China is relatively rich in coal, so China's production of methanol has advantages.
"Methanol will play an extremely important role in establishing a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system. Promoting the use of methanol vehicles is the most realistic and effective way to achieve healthy and sustainable development in the field of transportation. Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, said.
National ministries and commissions are also exploring the development and application of methanol vehicles. In September 2021, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment opened the methanol vehicle announcement declaration port, and methanol vehicles were included in the unified management of the national automobile industry. In December 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Industrial Green Development", which mentioned that "promoting the promotion of alternative fuel vehicles such as methanol vehicles" was included in the "green products and energy-saving and environmental protection equipment supply project", and the "carbon dioxide coupling methanol" was included in the "green low-carbon technology promotion and application project".
It can be said that a new category of new energy vehicles is ready to develop.
17 years of deep cultivation of methanol vehicles Geely is ready
Methanol vehicles are a highly promising technical route identified by Geely, and geely has been working on this route for 17 years.
According to reports, Geely has solved industry problems such as alcohol resistance and durability of methanol engine parts, mastered the core technology of methanol vehicles, formed more than 200 patents, and developed more than 20 methanol fuel models.
Geely is not only the enterprise with the largest number of methanol vehicles promoted in the market, but also the automobile manufacturer with the most vehicles in the pilot operation of methanol vehicles. In the ministry of industry and information technology's nearly five-year pilot project of methanol vehicles in five provinces and cities, Geely invested 908 methanol vehicles, accounting for nearly 90% of the total number of pilot vehicles.
Industry insiders said that the operation mode of methanol economy is similar to that of oil and natural gas, and it needs to have an ecological chain. Geely is establishing a circular ecology of alcohol, transportation, stations, vehicles and catches, and comprehensively promoting the development of methanol energy and methanol vehicles.
Just this past March, methanol cars and remote methanol trucks developed and produced by Geely Holding Group began testing and demonstration operations in Aalborg, Denmark, which is the first methanol car in Denmark.
The Danish Minister of Transport rides a long-range methanol heavy truck
New models of methanol passenger cars will also be unveiled soon. Geely revealed that in the second quarter of this year, the world's first alcohol-electric hybrid sedan - the 4th generation Emgrandol electric hybrid sedan, which will be equipped with the world's first alcohol-electric hybrid engine and 3-speed hybrid electric drive DHT PRO, 100 kilometers of alcohol consumption is about 9L, alcohol consumption is reduced by more than 40%, and the cost of travel per kilometer is less than three cents, so as to achieve "low energy consumption" and "strong power".
From the Guizhou model to see the road to the large-scale development of methanol vehicles
It is reported that Guizhou Province has established a relatively complete methanol vehicle production, sales, service system and methanol fuel transmission and distribution supply guarantee system, and introduced a series of incentive measures to ensure the operation of methanol vehicles System system and management mechanism gradually formed. At present, 16,400 methanol vehicles are promoted through market-oriented methods, with a total operating mileage of more than 6.5 billion kilometers, and more than 50 methanol fuel filling stations have been put into operation in the province, consuming about 250,000 tons of methanol and replacing about 150,000 tons of gasoline. Guiyang has become one of the most successful, largest and widely covered cities in the global market promotion of methanol fuel and methanol vehicles.
Geely methanol taxi operated on the road in Guiyang City
Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, said that the development of methanol fuel in the mainland and the promotion and application of methanol vehicles are of great significance to achieving the strategic goal of double carbon in the transportation sector, ensuring energy security, and promoting economic, healthy and sustainable development.
Industry insiders suggest that the same policy support for methanol vehicles and new energy vehicles can be considered, so that methanol vehicles can form a synergy with electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, open up another new road for energy conservation and emission reduction, and provide more guarantees for energy security in the new energy era.