How do Chinese scientists convert solar energy into gasoline that can be burned?
To understand this, we must first understand how oil is formed.
The formation of oil is a complex geological process, which is transformed by the remains of ancient organisms under specific geological conditions. These processes include: accumulation of organic matter, changes in environmental conditions, thermobaric transformation, migration and aggregation. Oil is a non-renewable resource, and its formation takes millions to billions of years of geological time, so human society is increasingly dependent on oil, and the exploitation and utilization of oil resources has become an important part of global energy policy and economic activities. At the same time, the exploitation and utilization of oil has also brought some environmental problems, such as climate change, air pollution, land degradation, etc. Therefore, we need to find a more sustainable energy source to replace oil to reduce the damage and pollution to the environment.
In 2020, China put forward the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the essence of which is that the form of energy utilization should be transformed from fossil resources to renewable energy utilization, and green development and sustainable development should be achieved.
At present, renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics, wind energy, and hydropower are only used in the form of power generation, but the electricity is not easy to store, and at the same time, downstream industries are required to achieve electrification. However, not all industries can achieve a high degree of electrification, such as transportation, chemicals, steelmaking, cement, building materials and other industries still need chemical energy with higher energy density and easy storage. The use of renewable energy to produce hydrogen and give full play to the advantages of hydrogen in energy storage can make up for the shortcomings of instantaneous power consumption and difficult storage, and promote the large-scale and efficient use of renewable energy. Hydrogen energy is widely used in fuel cells, chemical industry, steelmaking, oil refining and other fields, and also has a wide range of application prospects in all power fields.
If combined with carbon dioxide emission reduction, hydrogen energy is stored in methanol through carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol reaction, which is more conducive to storage and transportation, and can overcome the lack of poor storage of hydrogen energy, and methanol can replace traditional fossil energy such as coal and oil in power, transportation, chemical and other fields. The large-scale development of carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol can strengthen China's clean energy industry and enhance China's energy diversification guarantee capacity, which is an important way for China to ensure energy security.
The technology of producing hydrogen from renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy, coupling carbon dioxide hydrogenation technology to prepare liquid fuels and chemicals represented by methanol is called solar fuel, also known as liquid sunlight, which can also be called liquid hydrogen, and its essence is to use renewable energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into liquid fuels. On the one hand, liquid sunlight has achieved carbon dioxide emission reduction, and on the other hand, it has realized the storage of renewable energy, which is an important hub for storing unstable and intermittent solar energy in liquid fuel methanol, which is easy to store and transport, and is an important hub connecting the era of fossil resources and the new energy era represented by solar energy.
In January 2020, the "Liquid Sunshine" demonstration project was put into commissioning, and the liquid product was produced within 3 hours of feeding, of which the content of methanol in the organic phase reached 995%, marking the first step in the industrialization of China's use of renewable energy to prepare liquid fuels.
The project is mainly composed of three units: photovoltaic power generation, hydrogen production by electrolysis of water, and carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol, with a total area of about 300 acres and a total investment of about 1$400 million. Among them, the scale of photovoltaic is calculated according to the electricity consumed by the downstream water electrolysis hydrogen production device, and the installed power generation capacity is 104MW, with an investment of 51 million yuan, covers an area of about 268 acres.
The project is located in the first phase of the chemical industry park of Lanzhou New Area, located in the northwest of the new area, about 25 kilometers away from the core area of the new area (airport), and is under the jurisdiction of Qinchuan Park.
Green methanol market prospects:
Methanol is currently the most advantageous liquid fuel that can achieve carbon neutrality at room temperature and pressure, especially the preparation of methanol from carbon dioxide driven by green methanol and renewable energy hydrogen production is gradually maturing, so that methanol can achieve carbon neutrality in the whole life cycle as a marine fuel, and help the shipping industry achieve the strategic goal of carbon neutrality and carbon neutrality as soon as possible.
Methanol marine fuel.
The world's first methanol-powered container ship - Maersk's 2100TEU "Laura Maersk" ship.
In 2021, Maersk announced orders for methanol fuel container ships, and from February to July 2023, methanol fuel ship orders increased from 100 to 200, and the demand for marine methanol fuel in the order reached 4 million to 5 million tons, and the annual domestic green methanol production was almost 0.
Maersk announced that it has signed the first large-scale green methanol agreement in the shipping industry with China's Goldwind Technology Co., Ltd., purchasing 5,000-6,000 yuan per ton, and said that green methanol production has become an important issue in China. Maersk, a leader in shipping, is investing in green fuels to power its fleet in an effort to reach net-zero emissions by 2040, while shipping, which accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Methanol fuel for vehicles
Methanol is a potential alternative fuel for automobiles, and it can be used in automotive engines in different ways. Methanol is used as a vehicle fuel.
In March 2019, eight ministries and commissions, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Application of Methanol Vehicles in Some Regions", proposing to focus on promoting the application of methanol vehicles in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Gansu and other regions with good resource endowment conditions and experience in methanol vehicle operation.
Methanol M100 filling station.
PetroChina Bijie M100 Methanol Filling Station.
The ** of the Geely Emgrand alcohol-electric hybrid version is 12980,000 yuan.
Geely's methanol car engine has a life span of more than 1 million kilometers.
Hotspot Engine Program
The model is priced at CNY 390,000 to CNY 450,000.
Green methanol fuel has broad development prospects in the future and is expected to become an important force in changing China's energy structure. However, to achieve this goal, it is also necessary to solve many challenges including production technology, cost control, marketing and so on. Through the joint efforts of enterprises, enterprises and research institutions, the application and development of green methanol fuel is expected to make major breakthroughs in the future.