At 20:00 on September 23, 2023, the Asian Games in Hangzhou was held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium. Many athletes and celebrities gathered in Hangzhou to participate in this major sports event.
In addition to being amazed, the torch fuel for this Asian Games has also become a hot topic of discussion. It is understood that the torch fuel for this Asian Games is zero-carbon methanol.
This is also the first time that green zero-carbon methanol regenerated from waste carbon is used as the main torch tower fuel,
achieving zero emissions in the cycle and helping to create the first carbon-neutral Asian Games.
“Zero-carbon methanol” allows carbon to carry energy and be recycled. As a substitute for petroleum, it adds a lot of luster to this Asian Games. The Asian Games also brought this “new petroleum” into the public eye.
1. Zero-carbon methanol – “new petroleum”
The zero-carbon methanol used to ignite the main torch this time was produced and prepared by Geely Holding Group and provided technical solutions.
It was produced from the Anyang green methanol factory it invested in, using (hydrogen) in coke oven gas and captured from industrial exhaust gas.
The carbon dioxide is synthesized, and Geely long-range methanol-powered heavy-duty trucks provide transportation guarantees.
This is the result of Geely’s nearly 20 years of exploration in the methanol field – using green methanol to solve energy and double-carbon problems.
Taking the Anyang Green Methanol Factory as an example, it can produce 110,000 tons of methanol every year,
directly reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 160,000 tons, and realizing the resource utilization of carbon dioxide.
With the iteration of technology, the fuel requirements for ignition devices in large-scale sports events are also constantly increasing. While focusing on safety and stability, they are also beginning to pay attention to green environmental protection.
As a main torch fuel, green zero-carbon methanol is not only environmentally friendly,
but also has the advantages of safety, reliability, visibility, and economy, such as not being easy to explode,
safe and convenient storage and transportation, sustainable combustion, non-extinguishing in extreme weather,
bright and stable flames, and low fuel and construction costs.
These are perfectly in line with the high requirements and high standards of ignition device fuel for the Asian Games.
At present, Geely participated in the construction of the world’s first and largest carbon dioxide hydrogenation to produce green and low-carbon methanol plant,
which has been put into production; at the same time, major breakthroughs have also been made in the field of methanol commercial vehicles.
Geely’s Long-range New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group is currently the only company in China to launch a series of methanol products and has deployed pure hydrogen ecological technology.
Through the integrated design of alcohol, vehicles, cargo, and stations, and build a diversified green methanol transportation ecosystem,
build a diversified green methanol transportation ecosystem.
2. “new petroleum” New Trend
My country leads the world in the fields of methanol technology production, preparation, transportation, and methanol automotive applications.
Zero-carbon methanol torch fuel has ushered in another bright moment for the methanol industry,
and the methanol technology route is expected to become an important part of China’s green energy.
Under the dual carbon goals, energy reform has become the general trend. Our country’s national conditions are rich in coal, low in gas, and poor in oil.
As of the end of 2022, our country’s dependence on foreign crude oil will still exceed 70%, and it is urgent to ensure energy security.
At present, the main raw materials of methanol in my country are composed of natural gas, coke oven gas, biomass, etc.
In 2022, my country’s new methanol production capacity will be 5.545 million tons,
and the world’s new methanol production capacity will mainly be concentrated in China.
Compared with the global total methanol production capacity of 189 million tons, China accounts for 59% of the total production capacity.
My country’s methanol industry has a history of 40 years. The Asian Games torch fuel is its highlight moment, but it is not its only application.
In 2019, eight ministries and commissions, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,
also issued special documents to promote methanol vehicles.
At present, my country is vigorously promoting the pilot work of methanol vehicles.
For example, pilot projects have been organized in cities such as Shanghai, Xi’an, Guiyang, and Lanzhou.
The policy push has led to the participation of a number of automobile manufacturing companies such as Geely Automobile, Shaanxi Heavy Duty Truck, and Yutong Bus.
Among them, with methanol fuel and methanol vehicles as the center, not only a complete industrial chain of methanol vehicles,
parts, raw material methanol, transportation, deployment,
and terminal filling have been built, but also a large-scale methanol economic ecological chain has been formed.
Taking Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province as an example, the local government has taken energy transformation as an opportunity,
based on the advantages of the methanol automobile industry,
built a national methanol economic demonstration zone as a starting point,
and used the pilot promotion and application of methanol heavy trucks as a breakthrough point to accelerate the methanol industry in Jinzhong development,
cultivated and expanded the methanol fuel-methanol automobile characteristic industrial chain,
and built a new methanol economic ecology worth hundreds of billions at full speed.
At the same time, ten departments including the Shanxi Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued
“Several Measures on Accelerating the Promotion and Application of Methanol Vehicles in the Province”
and proposed a series of measures to accelerate the promotion of methanol vehicles.
The “Measures” were officially implemented on June 18, accelerate the construction of a methanol vehicle green transportation system focusing on heavy truck freight, and help achieve the “double carbon” goal.
Shanxi Jinzhong is just a microcosm of my country’s development of the methanol economy.
Now, many provinces such as Shanxi, Hebei, and Hainan are making efforts in the field of methanol (“new petroleum”) economy and actively strive to achieve large-scale operations and promote the green transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure.