One of Hong Kong’s largest oil and gas companies, Sinopec, is looking for ways to introduce hydrogen fuel to the city’s commercial transportation industry in order to help the government reach its 2050 objective of net-zero carbon emissions.
Sinopec which runs 54 of the city’s 179 petrol stations, has lobbied the government to hurry up decisions so that zero-emission fuel can be supplied sooner. Commercial vehicles in Hong Kong are one-quarter as numerous as private vehicles, but Poon estimates that their carbon emissions are 2.7 times higher.
Sinopec HK held a lucky draw to reward those who vaccinated against Covid-19, and 230 people won prizes worth HK$1.68 million (US$220,000) as a result. Up-to-date 2030 climate action plans, which will likely include more information on the implementation of regulations to stimulate hydrogen adoption in transportation, are planned to be announced by the government by the end of 2018.
According to Wrights Group, a UK-based technology partner of Hong Kong bus operator KMB, the firm was interested in investigating hydrogen fuel-cell technology to attain zero emissions for its double-decker fleet in 2018. Poon stated that because Hong Kong is so close to Guangdong Province’s hydrogen production facilities, the city should have no problem getting supply.
Around 448 zero-emission delivery trucks and 1,000 hydrogen-powered green buses dwell in Foshan, China, which is 133 kilometers northwest of Hong Kong. Additionally, hydrogen supply chain development takes place in this city. More than a quarter of the world’s hydrogen refueling stations have been developed in China. The government’s 2021-25 strategy calls for the addition of an additional 1,000 jobs.
According to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, the usage of hydrogen as a fuel might expand six-fold over the next three decades to meet 10% of total energy use by 2050. For hydrogen to be genuinely green, however, it must be emissions-free across the entire supply chain, not just on the road.
A new analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that nearly all of the 90 million tonnes of energy used last year came from fossil fuels, resulting in the emission of about 900 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the environment. A considerable cost drop and extensive global growth are just around the corner for clean low-carbon hydrogen.
0.3 gigawatts of global green hydrogen capacity has been added in the last five years, using renewable energy to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen with no pollution. Another 35GW of capacity is in the early stages of construction, according to the research, which may bring the total up to 54GW by 2030. By 2030, the worldwide supply of green hydrogen might reach more than 8 million tonnes if all of these projects come to fruition.
