On February 4, the 24th Winter Olympic Games, which attracted worldwide attention, opened grandly in Beijing. The lighting of the torch at the opening ceremony was exciting. In particular, in Zhangjiakou competition area, the green hydrogen independently developed by Petrochina Company Limited(601857) lit the prince City torch platform. This is the only green hydrogen torch for the Beijing Winter Olympics and the first torch to use green hydrogen as fuel in the history of the Winter Olympics in recent 100 years.
Green hydrogen refers to the hydrogen obtained by electrolyzing water with renewable energy, which only produces water during combustion. Compared with gray hydrogen and blue hydrogen with coal and natural gas as raw materials, green hydrogen realizes zero carbon emission from the source and plays an important role in the global energy transformation. Goldman Sachs recently released a report that green hydrogen has become a key pillar to achieve global net zero emissions, helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 15%, and is the ultimate solution for deep decarbonization.
The green hydrogen that ignited the torch of the Winter Olympic Games is one of the important achievements of Petrochina Company Limited(601857) in tackling key scientific and technological problems in the field of new energy. It highlights the innovation and efficiency creation ability of PetroChina’s green hydrogen technology team, demonstrates PetroChina’s green and low-carbon development concept, and highlights China’s scientific and technological strength in green hydrogen development.
As early as 2012, Petrochina Company Limited(601857) exploration and Development Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as “Exploration Institute”) established a nanotechnology research team to carry out cutting-edge technology research and reserve. In 2017, the team began to focus on key technologies such as green hydrogen production from renewable energy, hydrogen storage and transportation, and efficient hydrogen use.
Dr. Jin Xu, head of the hydrogen energy team of the Exploration Institute, admitted that Petrochina Company Limited(601857) has no absolute resource advantage in hydrogen energy research, and the talent reserve and R & D foundation are relatively weak. From scratch, the green hydrogen team established a cooperation mechanism with international well-known academic institutions such as the University of Tokyo in Japan, grasped the development trends and prospects of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) hydrogen production materials and technologies, and learned core technologies such as the development of key materials in the field of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) photocatalytic hydrogen production. Facing the problems that the laboratory equipment lags behind the world advanced level and the preparation of high-efficiency catalyst materials, the team members overcome the difficult experimental conditions, seize the opportunity to investigate and apply for the purchase of applicable equipment, and actively cooperate with external experimental institutions.
Hard work pays off. Soon, the green hydrogen team obtained the experimental results of reducing the overpotential of decomposed water with electrolytic water catalyst materials. However, the team members enjoyed only a short period of joy and quickly entered the repeated experiment stage. They repeatedly carried out hundreds of experimental synthesis and 5000 hours of performance test to ensure the stability and reliability of material performance data.
In less than three years, this young interdisciplinary team has not only made major breakthroughs in the core technology of nickel iron based catalyst for photovoltaic electrolytic water, but also designed and built an electrolytic cell demonstration system for hydrogen production from electrolytic water, which provides a prerequisite for promoting the industrialized application of laboratory results.
In addition, the green hydrogen team has also made significant research progress in the fields of solid metal hydrogen storage, organic liquid hydrogen storage, pipeline hydrogen doping, high-temperature solid oxide fuel cell and so on, paving the way for the release of green hydrogen energy for the first time in the Winter Olympics. The hydrogen energy team of the Exploration Institute also thrived and contributed to the Winter Olympics.
As the only green hydrogen fuel supplier for the Beijing Winter Olympics, the green hydrogen team of the new energy research center was ordered to strictly implement the safety measures in all links and orderly promote various preparations. Finally, it successfully provided Petrochina Company Limited(601857) self-produced green hydrogen for the torch of the Winter Olympics.
Xiong Bo, director of the new energy center of the Exploration Institute, said that in the future, the green hydrogen team will continue to strengthen the support of basic research on green hydrogen in accordance with the idea of “technical breakthrough, engineering demonstration and commercial application”, do a good job in tackling key and difficult technologies such as electrolytic water hydrogen production, photolysis water hydrogen production, solid hydrogen storage and solid oxide fuel cell, and guide and promote the orderly development of green hydrogen business; Formulate the development plan of green hydrogen project, continue to carry out the development of photocatalysts, electrolytic cells, solid metal hydrogen storage and other products, improve the efficiency of photocatalysis and conversion, and reduce the cost of equipment; Form a series of standards and specifications to promote the large-scale development of green hydrogen; Set up the industrialization demonstration project of photovoltaic electrolytic water hydrogen production in the oilfield as soon as possible, strengthen the layout planning of the whole hydrogen energy industry chain, combine the independently developed technology with practice, explore the “production, learning and research” mode, carry out demonstration and application, and form a complete hydrogen energy technology system with Petrochina Company Limited(601857) independent intellectual property rights.
Lighting the green winter Olympics is just a milestone for the green hydrogen team. As Zou Caicai, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief expert of new energy of Petrochina Company Limited(601857) group, said, “the ultimate goal of the green hydrogen team of Petrochina Company Limited(601857) exploration and Development Research Institute is to pursue green innovation, contribute green energy and build a green home.”
