The role of hydrogen energy in the future green energy structure
At present, the world energy production and consumption structure is forming a new energy system in the future under the joint action of the two trends: the global carbon emissions are still increasing, the proportion of renewable energy is increasing, and a variety of new energy coexist. However, the new system still faces many challenges, including the volatility caused by the increase of renewable energy installed capacity and the long distance between energy supply and demand.
The value of hydrogen energy is to provide coping strategies for various key energy challenges, that is, to provide solutions for material and energy conversion between multiple energy sources. The European Hydrogen Energy Roadmap describes the value of hydrogen energy as follows: First, hydrogen is the most realistic choice for large carbon emitters such as transportation, industry and construction to achieve large-scale decarburization; Secondly, hydrogen plays an important role in the systematic regulation of renewable energy production, transportation and consumption, providing a flexible energy circulation system that can cross fields, time and places; Finally, the utilization of hydrogen is more in line with the preferences and habits of current users. In the future energy system, hydrogen has the potential to replace traditional fossil energy such as coal, oil and natural gas.
According to the picture described by the hydrogen development routes of various countries, in terms of hydrogen production, the mature PowertoGas (PtG) technology is used to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen from renewable energy that cannot be connected to the grid, such as "wind and light", to solve the problem of renewable energy consumption. In terms of storage and transportation, hydrogen can be transported through pipelines, marine liquefaction transportation, automobiles and other ways. Under the condition of reducing the investment in power infrastructure, the problem of long-term storage and long-distance transportation of renewable energy has been solved. In terms of hydrogen energy utilization, due to its similar nature to natural gas, hydrogen can be directly used as fuel, mixed with natural gas in a certain proportion for co combustion or direct combustion in pure hydrogen gas turbine; The electrochemical properties of hydrogen can also be used as the raw material of fuel cells for fuel cell vehicles, distributed cogeneration, etc. It has become a general consensus in developed countries that hydrogen energy can be widely used.