Academician Li Can: Solar hydrogen storage for methanol is low cost, high safety, and can be built in the community

Li Can had a dialogue with Sohu Finance's "To 100 People"

Produced by | Sohu Business School

Edit | Zheng Qingchun

Click to read the full interview: Academician Li Can: Converting solar energy into liquid methanol can alleviate China's fuel shortage and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by billions of tons

According to the International Energy Agency's sustainable development scenario forecast, by 2030, the global demand for hydrogen in hydrogen terminal applications is expected to reach about 90 million tons, how can such a huge demand for hydrogen energy be used more effectively in all fields of the world? How does solar hydrogen production solve the problem of carbon dioxide emissions? Recently, Sohu Finance's "To 100 People" interviewed Li Can, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Li Can said that in the future, hydrogen energy will play an increasingly important role in China's energy structure. To achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in China, on the one hand, it is necessary to increase the proportion of renewable energy, and on the other hand, it is necessary to solve the rigid carbon dioxide emissions. Large-scale carbon reduction can be achieved through "green hydrogen energy" and "liquid sunshine methanol", and the increase in the proportion of renewable energy can be combined with carbon reduction to achieve the goal of double carbon.

"Hydrogen energy, which mainly refers to green hydrogen energy, will become one of the paths to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality." He pointed out that green hydrogen energy is hydrogen energy produced from renewable energy, solar energy, wind energy, and hydropower, which will be the most fundamental way to solve these carbon dioxide emissions, and there is no other better way to go.

He further explained that the use of renewable energy sources such as solar energy to prepare green hydrogen and convert carbon dioxide hydrogenation molecules into liquid fuels such as methanol are equivalent to storing renewable energy in liquid fuels. The efficiency of solar hydrogen production can reach more than 16%, which is the highest efficiency in the world. This process is equivalent to storing solar energy in hydrogen, which can be stored as liquid methanol. This "clean methanol", also known as liquid sunlight, can replace gasoline and is widely used in the chemical industry.

Li Can pointed out that the "liquid sunlight" process can achieve large-scale carbon reduction technology, the synthesis of each ton of methanol can convert 1.375 tons of carbon dioxide, China's current methanol production capacity is 80 million tons of methanol, if the production of 80 million tons of methanol can convert hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide.

How to view the safety of liquid sunlight hydrogen production and hydrogen storage? Li Can said that liquid sunlight methanol is an ideal way to store hydrogen in chemistry. The amount of hydrogen released can reach 18.75%. One ton of methanol can release 187 kilograms of hydrogen. The safety of hydrogen production and storage can be achieved through the technology of "liquid sunlight methanol".

According to Li Can's estimates, a kilogram of hydrogen costs less than 30 yuan, and the use of methanol is very cheap. Such hydrogen refueling stations, because they store methanol instead of hydrogen, are safer and can be built in the community. Hydrogen refueling stations can also be put together with today's gasoline stations.

"We have done a demonstration project in Shanghai. Now we are doing a hydrogen refueling station in Zhangjiagang. We are going to use the hydrogen refueling station for the Winter Olympics, which will be a new technology. Li Can said.