Overview on the Current Global Market and Sustainability of Hydrogen Supply Chain Based on China

Abstract

Low carbon energy development is a solid requirement for decarbonization and carbon neutralization of the economy. Hydrogen energy is chosen for achieving a large degree of decarbonization in the fields of industrial, transport, and domestic consumptions. This paper provides an overview on the current state of global hydrogen production and demand, summarizes the momentum of green hydrogen development, and analyzes the possible roles of countries in the global hydrogen trade and cooperation. The status and costs of hydrogen production and transportation in China were systematically examined. While China has become the world’s largest hydrogen producer and consumer, it faces a major structural contradiction that the country’s hydrogen resources are unevenly distributed, abundant in the west but scarce in the east, making long-distance transport costs a key bottleneck for its domestic hydrogen energy development. To address these challenges, three strategic scenarios, including eastward hydrogen transmission, international cooperation, and efficient utilization of wind power for hydrogen production, were proposed to reach the goal that by 2050, the share of coal consumption will drop to 30%, and the share of non-fossil energy will increase to 50%. These scenarios will provide data support and strategic references for the precise positioning of China’s hydrogen market and the construction of a sustainable supply chain.

Keywords

Energy demand / Renewable energy development / Hydrogen market / Hydrogen storage and transportation / Chinese hydrogen development strategy

Acknowledgments

The financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (22578371) and Research Start-up Foundation of Xiangtan University (21QDZ56) are fully appreciated. Support from Engineering Research Center for Low-Carbon Chemical Processes and Resource Utilizations of Hunan Province is also acknowledged. J.P. thanks the top-up scholarship from Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, C.L., R.Z., M.C. and J.Q.; Methodology, S.W., J.P. and H.H.; Software, S.W., J.P. and H.H.; Validation, C.L., M.C., J.Q., S.W. and J.P.; Formal Analysis, C.L., S.W. and J.P.; Investigation, S.W., J.P. and H.H.; Resources, C.L., R.Z., X.H., Z.W. and J.B.; Data Curation, C.L., S.W. and J.P.; Writing—Original Draft Preparation, S.W. and H.H.; Writing—Review & Editing, C.L., S.W. and J.P.; Visualization, S.W. and J.P.; Supervision, C.L., R.Z., Z.W., J.B. and X.H.; Project Administration, R.Z. and C.L.; Funding Acquisition, R.Z., C.L., Z.W. and X.H.

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

No linked data available.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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