In the context of global energy transition, hydrogen energy, as a clean and efficient energy source, has gradually become an important component of the Earth's energy system. China is a major hydrogen producing country. At present, the main sources of green hydrogen in China are renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics and wind power for hydrogen production. At the same time, the reporter noticed that there are also some projects exploring the potential of biomass such as household waste and straw to produce green hydrogen.
Against the backdrop of accelerating the construction of "waste free cities" and the gradual decline of national subsidies for waste incineration power generation in various regions, if the domestic waste hydrogen production project can be successfully implemented, it will have significant social and environmental benefits. So, what are the key factors that affect the promotion of such projects? What measures have companies taken to reduce costs and how effective are they currently? Where does the produced hydrogen go? Around these issues, the reporter interviewed the relevant business leaders.
The raw materials for hydrogen production from household waste are abundant and free of charge, which is expected to eliminate dependence on government subsidies
According to statistics, in 2022, China's hydrogen production will be about 35.33 million tons, accounting for more than one-third of the world's total hydrogen production. Among them, green hydrogen accounts for only about 1%. Industry insiders believe that the growth prospects are broad.
Recently, China has released a series of important signals to promote the development of hydrogen energy. The four major energy-saving and carbon reduction action plans, including the "Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Cement Industry" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, all involve hydrogen energy related content; The recently released "Medium - and Long Term Plan for the Development of Hydrogen Energy Industry in Jiangsu Province (2024-2035)" aims to build Jiangsu into a high-quality development demonstration zone for the domestic hydrogen energy industry; The Shenyang Municipal Government also recently released a plan for the development of the hydrogen energy industry, proposing to build Shenyang into the "Northern Hydrogen Capital".
It can be seen that many industries and regions will increase their efforts to use hydrogen energy as an important lever to seize the high point of future technological development and promote industrial low-carbon transformation. It is reported that by the end of 2023, China has 337 green hydrogen projects, which have basically achieved nationwide coverage.
Among them, hydrogen production from household waste has become a new direction in recent years, and one of the important reasons why it has been "bet" by enterprises is that China produces a large amount of various organic solid wastes annually, facing enormous processing pressure. According to statistics, in 2022, the amount of urban garbage cleared in China reached 244 million tons, and the amount of garbage cleared in county towns reached 67 million tons.
As the investment and construction party of the first domestic household waste hydrogen production project located in Nanhai District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, Deng Lizhong, Vice President of Zhongpeng Future Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhongpeng Future), told reporters: "Currently, China's household waste mainly relies on incineration for treatment, but there are problems such as low energy conversion rate. In addition, the environmental pollution problem of landfill sites is also prominent. Some landfill sites were originally built around the city, and with the expansion of urban development, some have already been in the city. As for the waste from landfill sites, it can be utilized as a resource according to its heat value, composition, etc. Hydrogen production is an excellent option. In recent years, the production of green hydrogen from organic solid waste has received attention from academia and industry. Using urban household waste as raw material for large-scale, low-cost, and low-carbon hydrogen production is a prerequisite for the commercialization and industrialization of organic solid waste hydrogen production routes. The daily amount of newly generated garbage in Foshan City is about 15000 tons, and we process 500 tons per day, accounting for 1/30 of it. We cooperate with Hanlan Environment Co., Ltd., who have the qualification for franchising garbage collection and transportation. They transport household waste to our production base. Our hydrogen production project from household waste has good comprehensive benefits
Chengkang Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Chengkang Materials) is also planning to implement an integrated project of sludge, kitchen and kitchen collaborative disposal for hydrogen production, carbon production and hydrogenation. The relevant person in charge told reporters, "From the perspective of chemical composition, urban household waste contains a large amount of hydrocarbons, which have characteristics similar to fossil fuels. In our eyes, urban household waste is a very valuable resource. The resource utilization rate of household waste disposal methods represented by pyrolysis gasification and anaerobic biogas hydrogen production is higher and more low-carbon and environmentally friendly. At the same time, the raw materials of household waste are widely available and can be obtained for free, coupled with the disposal fees given by the government, making the cost of producing green hydrogen from household waste have certain advantages. Therefore, hydrogen production from household waste is a very promising way to produce green hydrogen, which can be an effective supplement to renewable energy sources such as wind power and photovoltaic power generation, and has broad application prospects. The sentence is:
The key to the smooth implementation of the hydrogen production project from household waste - having economic benefits
The person in charge of Chengkang Materials told reporters, "Due to factors such as the composition of household waste, project scale, and subsidy intensity, economy remains the main problem faced by green hydrogen production projects from household waste." So, compared with mainstream hydrogen production processes, is household waste hydrogen production competitive?
In 2022, in China's hydrogen production, coal will account for 62%, natural gas will account for 19%, industrial by-product hydrogen will account for 18%, and electrolytic water will only account for 1%. Electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen is the mainstream production process for green hydrogen.
Deng Lizhong told reporters: "The cost of producing green hydrogen from Zhongpeng's future domestic waste hydrogen production technology route is close to the cost of coal natural gas to produce grey hydrogen under the current small production scale (processing 500 tons of domestic waste per day), far lower than the current cost of electrolyzing water to produce green hydrogen. It has obvious cost advantages in the field of green hydrogen production. Using domestic waste as raw material for hydrogen production, the cost of coal like raw materials obtained through carbonization process is much lower than that of coal based hydrogen production process route. When it reaches the same production scale as coal based hydrogen production projects, the cost of producing green hydrogen from domestic waste will be lower than the cost of producing grey hydrogen from mainstream coal." It is reported that after this project is put into operation, it will produce green hydrogen (electronic grade high) annually. 73 million standard cubic meters (6518 tons) of pure hydrogen and approximately 100000 tons of liquid carbon dioxide (food grade), And products such as solid sulfur and some metals, glass, sand and gravel aggregates. After the project is completed and put into operation, it can achieve an annual output value of 230 million yuan
The relevant person in charge of Chengkang Materials said: "The domestic waste hydrogen production project that our company is planning is expected to produce good comprehensive income. This project disposes 300 tons of sludge and 200 tons of food waste per day. Except for self use, the remaining 70% of the daily biogas production is used for catalytic cracking to produce carbon nano materials, with a daily output of 700 kg of green hydrogen, 1.8 tons of carbon nano powder, 5 tons of bio oil, and 150 tons of biomass fuel rods. The total investment of the project is about 430 million yuan, the annual operating income is about 548 million yuan (including disposal fee income), the net profit after tax is 75.8 million yuan, the estimated income tax is 25.2 million yuan, and the annual carbon dioxide emission reduction is 350000 tons. The whole project has a rich product line, namely green hydrogen, carbon nano, bio oil, bio fuel rods, etc., have good comprehensive income. Through product cost sharing, the terminal filling price of hydrogen is also competitive."
On site hydrogen production and on-site consumption are currently the preferred hydrogen use methods, which can solve the problem of hydrogen energy storage and transportation
For a long time, the development of China's hydrogen energy industry has faced serious supply-demand mismatch problems. The connection between upstream hydrogen production and downstream hydrogen storage has become a prominent bottleneck restricting the large-scale commercial application of hydrogen energy. At present, if hydrogen supply is ensured through remote transmission, the cost far exceeds the economic benefits brought by hydrogen energy. Therefore, utilizing household waste to produce hydrogen and consume it on-site can to some extent solve the problem.
There are significant regional differences in the development of hydrogen energy in China. According to the analysis conducted by the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance, in 2023, China will continue to increase its support for hydrogen energy development policies, with Guangdong Province leading the country in the number of related policies released. Nanhai District of Foshan City is even more daring to take the lead, laying out the hydrogen energy industry earlier. Since 2009, it has formed a good first mover advantage. In May 2023, Nanhai District of Foshan City was awarded the title of "Capital of China's Hydrogen Energy Industry", with over 150 hydrogen energy enterprises and institutions gathered, covering the entire industry chain of hydrogen energy upstream, midstream, and downstream, forming an investment scale of over 60 billion yuan. China's hydrogen energy looks to Foshan, and Foshan's hydrogen energy looks to Nanhai "is the industry's recognition of the hydrogen energy industry status in Nanhai District, Foshan City.
Deng Lizhong, who is optimistic about the South China Sea market, introduced that "the storage and transportation of hydrogen is difficult and costly, so on-site production and consumption are currently the preferred hydrogen use methods. We need to evaluate whether the production of organic solid waste and the demand for green energy such as hydrogen in various regions can be basically matched when expanding our projects. Currently, the demand in Guangdong, Shandong, Sichuan, Hubei and other places is relatively high. Specifically in Foshan, there is a great demand for hydrogen in the local area, and high-temperature industrial hydrogen such as ceramics, non-ferrous metals, and aluminum profiles is used in large quantities. Hydrogen pipelines are directly connected to our production base and do not need to be transported to other places. We produce about 20 tons of green hydrogen every day, which is far from meeting the local demand for green hydrogen in Foshan. In addition, our technology can convert waste into green products such as methanol, methane, and aviation kerosene according to demand, which are new energy products with a large market demand
Disclaimer: The article is sourced from the internet and does not represent the views of this website. The copyright of the content belongs to the original author and the website. If it has any impact on you, please contact us in a timely manner to delete it!