Skip to content
1900

Deploying Green Hydrogen to Decarbonize China's Coal Chemical Sector

Abstract

China’s coal chemical sector uses coal as both a fuel and feedstock and its increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are hard to abate by electrification alone. Here we explore the GHG mitigation potential and costs for onsite deployment of green H2 and O2 in China’s coal chemical sector, using a lifecycle assessment and techno-economic analyses. We estimate that China’s coal chemical production resulted in GHG emissions of 1.1 gigaton CO2 equivalent (GtCO2eq) in 2020, equal to 9% of national emissions. We project GHG emissions from China’s coal chemical production in 2030 to be 1.3 GtCO2eq, ~50% of which can be reduced by using solar or wind power-based electrolytic H2 and O2 to replace coal-based H2 and air separation-based O2 at a cost of 10 or 153 Chinese Yuan (CNY)/tCO2eq, respectively. We suggest that provincial regions determine whether to use solar or wind power for water electrolysis based on lowest cost options, which collectively reduce 53% of the 2030 baseline GHG emissions at a cost of 9 CNY/tCO2eq. Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Xinjiang collectively account for 52% of total GHG mitigation with net cost reductions. These regions are well suited for pilot policies to advance demonstration projects.

Funding source: Y.G., L.P., and D.L.M. acknowledge support from the Ma Huateng Foundation’s grant to Princeton University and the Princeton University Library Open Access Fund. Y.G. acknowledges support from the Schmidt Science Fellows, in partnership with the Rhodes Trust. J.T. acknowledges support from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China through project 2022-YRUC-01-0403 and the National Science Foundation of China through project 72348001
Related subjects: Applications & Pathways
Countries: United States
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal5409
2023-12-07
2024-12-10
/content/journal5409
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error