Climate Change and Renewable Energy News and Discussion

Mitsumasa Yamagata, president of the Japanese carmaker’s hydrogen arm, said China was taking a lead in infrastructure for

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

, reducing fuel costs to a third of Japan’s and rapidly building refuelling stations. China already accounts for most of the world’s hydrogen commercial vehicle sales. Hydrogen in China costs between ¥500 and ¥1,000 ($3.50 and $7) per kilogramme versus ¥2,000 in Japan, said Yamagata, although part of that advantage is due to producing the fuel as a byproduct in steelmaking.

China’s sales of hydrogen fuel-cell buses and trucks in 2024 were higher than all other regions of the world put together, at 7,069 units, according to data provider Interact Analysis. Chinese state media last month touted the launch of the country’s first cross-region hydrogen truck route spanning 1,150km between Chongqing and the southern port of Qinzhou.

Click to expand...

Wrought said:

Toyota mentioned that Chinese hydrogen costs are roughly 1/3 the cost of Japanese hydrogen.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

Wrought said:

Toyota mentioned that Chinese hydrogen costs are roughly 1/3 the cost of Japanese hydrogen.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

siegecrossbow said:

They went on in on hydrogen and lost to Chinese companies on a side quest?

Click to expand...

Xi’s first direct order to “revolutionise” China’s energy system came in mid-2014, two years into his leadership.

According to state media at the time, Xi told leaders at a key internal party economic working group that China’s energy system suffered from “technological backwardness” and that the country must boost its energy security. China’s journey to becoming an economic powerhouse had been underpinned by oil and coal. The country has accounted for more than half global oil demand growth for decades. Yet even a decade ago, China’s rate of electrification was ahead of Europe and the US. Since then, those rival economies have seen electricity as a final share of energy plateau at around 22 per cent, while electrification in China has surged to 30 per cent.

Supported by these long-term state investments in the power grid, China is on course to source 50 per cent of its power from low-carbon energy including hydro, solar, wind, nuclear and battery storage systems by 2028. About 10 years later combined solar and wind capacity are on track to reach a historic inflection point, exceeding coal-fired power generation for the first time.

Among western policymakers, there is a dawning realisation that matching China’s cleantech supply chains may be impossible. China spent decades securing access to the world’s critical resources, building out the processing and refining infrastructure, and subsidising local manufacturing and consumption. It now dominates all stages of the supply chain, from mines to factories.

Click to expand...