Orange Persimmon Interactive Reporter Weng Danni and Jin Jingxin
At the beginning of the movie "The Wandering Earth", the young Liu Qi asked his father Liu Peiqiang, who was about to go to the navigator's space station: "Dad, what is hydrogen", and the answer was "Hydrogen is the fuel for my father to drive a big rocket".
Hydrogen (H), which is first in the periodic table, is the most common substance in the universe. The usual elemental form of hydrogen is hydrogen, a colorless, odorless, and highly flammable gas.
As the lightest gas, even the Earth's gravity cannot fully capture hydrogen, which makes it almost zero in the air. However, hydrogen has a high calorific value of combustion, and it produces water after the energy released by combustion, which is a very clean and pollution-free energy source. The heat emitted per kilogram of hydrogen combustion is 143 megajoules, which is more than three times the calorific value of petroleum. So, liquid hydrogen is used as fuel for launch vehicles.
The Wandering Earth is set in the year 2075, when hydrogen energy is already widely used in transportation, industry, chemical industry, and construction.
In fact, according to the International Hydrogen Council, hydrogen energy is expected to contribute 18% of the world's overall energy demand by 2050, creating an average annual output value of $2.5 trillion. According to the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance, hydrogen energy is expected to contribute 10% of the country's final energy demand by 2050, creating a total output value of more than 10 trillion yuan.
On the afternoon of April 24, the Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology 2024 "Into the New Quality Productivity" series of popular science activities took the children of Jiaxing Wenxian School into the Smart Energy Research Center of the Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Tsinghua University, Zhejiang. As an innovative scientific research institution focusing on the research and development of common technologies and key materials in the hydrogen energy industry, and for the purpose of carrying out applied scientific and technological research, the Smart Energy Research Center of Changsan Hospital can let children intuitively feel the surging charm of hydrogen energy.
What are "gray hydrogen", "blue hydrogen" and "green hydrogen"?
At the beginning of the activity, Wang Zongyu, assistant director and postdoctoral fellow of the Smart Energy Research Center of Changsan Hospital, gave the children a little knowledge about "hydrogen". Despite the very low amount of hydrogen in the atmosphere, hydrogen is widely distributed in nature and is one of the foundations of the material world. Among them, the familiar water is the "storehouse" of hydrogen, and the soil also contains about 1.5% hydrogen. Wang Zongyu also told the children that hydrogen energy is a secondary energy source, which needs to be produced by using other energy sources through a certain method, unlike coal, oil, and natural gas that can be directly extracted.
According to the carbon emission intensity of the production process, hydrogen can be divided into "gray hydrogen", "blue hydrogen" and "green hydrogen". The mainland is the world's largest hydrogen producer, with a hydrogen production capacity of about 33 million tons.
Wang Zongyu explained to everyone that gray hydrogen refers to the hydrogen produced by the conversion of fossil fuels, which will emit a lot of carbon dioxide in the production process, blue hydrogen is based on gray hydrogen, carbon capture and storage technology is applied to achieve low-carbon hydrogen production, and green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water through renewable energy such as solar energy and wind power, and there is no carbon emission in the hydrogen production process, which is regarded as the best way to achieve carbon neutrality.
At present, the mainland hydrogen production is mainly based on coal-to-hydrogen, accounting for about 80%. In the future, as the cost of renewable energy power generation continues to decrease, the proportion of green hydrogen will increase year by year, and is expected to reach 70% by 2050.
When it comes to the application of hydrogen energy, Wang Zongyu told everyone that the largest proportion of hydrogen energy applications in mainland China is the industrial field. In addition to its energy fuel properties, hydrogen energy is also an important industrial raw material. Hydrogen can replace coke and natural gas as a reducing agent and can eliminate the vast majority of carbon emissions in ironmaking and steelmaking.
In the field of electricity, hydrogen energy can become a new form of energy storage through the conversion of electricity-hydrogen-electricity due to the instability of renewable energy. During the off-peak period, the surplus renewable electricity is used to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen, which is stored in the form of high-pressure gaseous, low-temperature liquid, organic liquid or solid materials, and then the stored hydrogen is generated by fuel cells or hydrogen turbines during peak demand periods and connected to the public grid. Hydrogen energy storage has a larger storage scale, up to one million kilowatts, and a longer storage time, and can achieve seasonal storage according to the difference in output of solar, wind, and water resources.
"Do you know what other applications of hydrogen energy do you know?" the children actively replied, "I saw that there are buses that say hydrogen energy buses", "That's right, we already have hydrogen fuel buses in use now." ”
In the interactive session, the children also expressed their curiosity about hydrogen energy, "Since there is so much hydrogen in the universe, can we transport it to the earth for our use?" "Your idea is very good", Wang Zongyu said, "but it is very difficult to realize this idea, our technology is not yet possible, maybe you can become a scientist in this field of research in the future and find a better solution." ”
Experience the hydrogen energy experience
After listening to the popular science about hydrogen energy, the children walked into the workshop exhibition hall of Deran (Zhejiang) Power Technology Co., Ltd., and Dr. Xia Quangang, the technical director of Deran Power Market, explained the hydrogen fuel cell power system to the children, "The fuel cell is an energy conversion device, according to the principle of electrochemistry, the chemical energy stored in the fuel and oxidant is directly converted into electrical energy, in fact, this is a redox reaction. Xia Quangang pointed to the device on display and introduced to the children, "The fuel cell is mainly composed of four parts, namely the anode, cathode, electrolyte and external circuit. Just as the heart of our body transports blood throughout the body, fuel cells are also the 'heart' that delivers energy to the powertrain, allowing the vehicle to continue to drive and work. ”
Xia Quangang told everyone that by the end of 2022, the number of new energy vehicles in mainland China was nearly 15 million, including 12 million pure electric vehicles, accounting for nearly 80% of the total number of new energy vehicles. With the development, the bottleneck of lithium battery technology is gradually emerging, and fuel cell vehicles will become a breakthrough and development trend in the future. The International Hydrogen Council predicts that by 2050, hydrogen will account for 18% of the world's energy end demand, and fuel cell vehicles will account for 20%-25% of the world's vehicles.
After listening to the explanation, the children also started their hydrogen energy application experience journey and got on the hydrogen energy bus. The bus runs slowly in the park, the vehicle runs smoothly without vibration, and it is more environmentally friendly, quiet and efficient than ordinary cars. "Usually I smell of gasoline when I sit in an ordinary car, but I don't smell at all when I ride in this hydrogen car," said one child excitedly.
【Popular Science Class】
Hydrogen: an all-rounder in application
Hydrogen energy is recognized as a clean energy source, and it is gradually being widely used in all fields of production and life, bringing many benefits.
Industrial
Hydrogen is a raw material for the production of chemicals such as synthetic ammonia and methanol. Synthetic ammonia contains one nitrogen atom and three hydrogen atoms, and is the main raw material for the fertilizer industry (nitrogen fertilizer) and organic chemical industry.
Transportation
In terms of transportation, the efficient use of hydrogen energy can both reduce carbon emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Among them, hydrogen energy vehicles have broad development prospects, and hydrogen fuel cells are the core components.
Energy storage
At the same time, it can improve the consumption of renewable energy, realize peak regulation and frequency regulation of the power grid, and smooth the output of the power grid.
Aerospace
Hydrogen has the smallest atomic weight, the best thermal conductivity, the most abundant content, high combustion calorific value, good combustion performance and high energy conversion efficiency. Liquid hydrogen is one of the main fuels for rockets.
Medical
Because hydrogen has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects, hydrogen has significant therapeutic and repair effects on more than 200 diseases (models) such as human respiratory system, digestive system, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular, skin, chronic diseases, and even cancer.
Agronomy
Hydrogen energy has the effect of regulating the growth and development of plants, enhancing the resistance of plants to adversity, and prolonging the shelf life of fruits and vegetables and the shelf life of flowers. A variety of hydrogen agricultural experiments such as hydrogen rice, hydrogen dragon fruit, hydrogen strawberry, hydrogen Chinese herbal medicine, hydrogen preservation, etc., have achieved fruitful results.
["Into the New Quality Productivity" series of popular science activities]
With the rapid development of science and technology, new quality productivity is reshaping our world at an unprecedented rate. Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology actively responds to the call of the times and strives to create a series of popular science activities of "entering new quality productivity", aiming to deepen the popular science education of young people, relying on the unique "315" scientific and technological innovation system of Zhejiang Province and the forward-looking "9+6" future industrial layout, leading the public to enter the frontier of science and technology, perceive the charm of science and technology, improve the scientific quality of the whole people, and draw a blueprint for innovation and development.
The 2024 Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology "Entering the New Quality Productivity" series of popular science activities will build a bridge between the public and cutting-edge science and technology in a rich and diverse scene-based, experiential and immersive form of popular science, aiming to stimulate scientific interest, cultivate the spirit of innovation, and lay a solid public foundation and social consensus for the creation of a scientific and technological innovation atmosphere, scientific and technological talent reserve and the development of high-tech industries in Zhejiang Province and even the whole country.
The first phase of the event led the public into the Hangzhou International Graphene Expo to unveil the mystery of the "King of New Materials". Subsequently, a series of exciting science popularization tours will be launched one after another, in-depth visits to Tsinghua Changsan Hospital, Xianghu Laboratory and other scientific research centers, to jointly explore the innovation of eight future industries, including synthetic biology, gene editing, brain science and artificial intelligence, hydrogen energy storage, aerospace information, ground-air integration, metaverse, and deep earth and deep sea.