China intends to increase production of green hydrogen, a zero-carbon fuel derived from renewable energy sources, but urged for “logical and orderly” project planning on Wednesday in order to avoid disruptive competition.
China, the world’s greatest producer of greenhouse gases, has been balancing energy security and climate change goals by focusing on hydrogen to cut carbon emissions from transportation and industry.
By 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) stated in a statement on Wednesday, China plans to manufacture 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually and have approximately 50,000 hydrogen-fueled vehicles.
China presently produces 33 million tonnes of hydrogen annually, with around 64% coming from industrial sectors and the remainder primarily as a by-product of these industries.
“(We intend to) achieve significant progress in the production, storage, and transportation of hydrogen produced using clean energy, increase market competitiveness, and develop a supply system based mostly on industrial by-product hydrogen and green hydrogen,” the NDRC stated in a statement.
China’s state planner did not specify a target for total hydrogen production in 2025.
A green hydrogen production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year would still represent less than 1% of current production.
Additionally, the NDRC expressed concern about the industry’s disorderly competitiveness and urged for a sensible layout of hydrogen projects based on available resources and market need.
