Zero emissions to transcend industry and national boundaries

At present, there are only two major automakers in Japan and South Korea who are fully committed to the development of hydrogen vehicles. They are often cited as a dilemma. In fact, their influence has gradually spread beyond cross-industry and even beyond national boundaries.

Australia is a typical example. The country has abundant coal reserves, accounting for approximately 8.9% of the world’s total, and therefore relies heavily on its power generation. It accounts for more than 80% of the energy production structure, resulting in the country’s carbon emissions per unit of GDP among OECD countries, ranked second, with the highest per capita emissions. Based on the dual considerations of economic development and climate responsibility, Australia has a profound understanding of the need to thoroughly think about getting rid of the structure that relies on carbon energy. Moreover, Japan, one of its major coal exporters, has clearly set a development goal of hydrogen energy that will reduce the demand for coal, making Australia no longer have an ostrich mentality. Australia, which has a weak automotive supply chain, has become a pioneer in the hydrogen energy industry. In the spring of 2021, the Australian Prime Minister announced that the national goal is to build its own hydrogen valley, with the goal of producing the world's cheapest green hydrogen energy. At the same time, ActewAGL, a multi-utility joint venture company in the country, used hydrogen energy produced by France's Neoen and started operating the first hydrogen refueling station in Australia. Immediately after the second hydrogen refueling station, the Toyota Hydrogen Center, an early test site for hydrogen technology operated by Toyota, was also opened. The cost was US$5.7 million. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency subsidized nearly half of the funds. It is the company’s largest production and storage in the world, for the distribution of hydrogen energy. Toyota uses the electric energy generated by the 87kW solar array on the roof, with a combination of a 100kW battery storage system and power from the grid, and dynamically adjusts to a 200kW electrolyzer to provide power in real time, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, which can generate 80kg hydrogen energy per day. This proves that hydrogen refueling stations, even without hydrogen tank trucks, can independently produce hydrogen and operate independently, truly achieving zero emissions and extremely low energy consumption.

Compared with the conservative attitudes of Daimler Benz and BMW, and the refusal of Volkswagen, the German government takes a positive perspective on the development of hydrogen vehicles in Germany, a major European automobile production hot spot. The National Hydrogen Strategy, announced in July 2020, will allocate 9 billion euros to develop hydrogen technology, and is supported by the German Automobile Industry Association (VDA) and another lobbying organization of the German Mechanical Engineering Department, VDMA. It is certain that the use of hydrogen fuel cells in automobiles is a very important part of the hydrogen economy. In the future, the formation of the entire hydrogen value chain in Germany and Europe will enable German companies to win the competition with Tesla in the United States.


References
 

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