Automotive revolution and carbon neutrality

Abstract

The automotive industry is in the midst of a groundbreaking revolution, driven by the imperative to achieve intelligent driving and carbon neutrality. A crucial aspect of this transformation is the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), which necessitates widespread changes throughout the entire automotive ecosystem. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities of this transition, including automotive electrification, intelligence-connected transportation system, and the potential for new technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells. Meanwhile, it discusses the key technologies and progress of the hydrogen energy industry chain in the upstream hydrogen production, midstream hydrogen storage and transportation, downstream hydrogen station construction and hydrogen fuel cells in turn. Finally, it proposes the directions for future layout, providing guidance for future development.

Key words： automotive revolution; electric vehicles (EVs); hydrogen energy; fuel cell

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Fund (2022A1515110410) and the Project of Hetao Shenzhen–Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone (HZQB-KCZYB-2020083).

Competing interests

C. C. CHAN is a memer of Editorial Board of Frontiers in Energy, who was escluded from the peer review process and all editorial decisions related to the acceptance and publication of this article peer review was handled independently by the other editors to minimise bias.

References

1 Tang Z, Yang Y, Blaabjerg F. Power electronics: The enabling technology for renewable energy integration. CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems, 2022, 8(1): 39–52

2 Liu G, Liu J, Zhao J. . Real-time corporate carbon footprint estimation methodology based on appliance identification. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 2023, 19(2): 1401–1412

3 Deng Y, Jiang W, Wu Z. . Assessing and characterizing carbon storage in wetlands of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, China, during 1995–2020. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2022, 15(1): 6110–6120

4 InternationalEnergy Agency. Global CO₂ emissions from transport by subsector, 2000–2030. 2021, available at the IEA website

5 Liu C, Chau K, Wu D. . Opportunities and challenges of vehicle-to-home, vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-grid technologies. Proceedings of the IEEE, 2013, 101(11): 2409–2427

6 Liu J, Wang Z, Zhang L. Integrated vehicle-following control for four-wheel-independent-drive electric vehicles against non-ideal V2X communication. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 2022, 71(4): 3648–3659

7 Pereirinha P G, González M, Carrilero I. . Main trends and challenges in road transportation electrification. Transportation Research Procedia, 2018, 33(1): 235–242

8 Zhu F, Lv Y, Chen Y. . Parallel transportation systems: Toward IoT-enabled smart urban traffic control and management. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2020, 21(10): 4063–4071

9 Zhang Y, Ding J, Yan H. . A study of the influence of collaboration networks and knowledge networks on the citations of papers in sports industry in China. Complexity, 2022, 21(1): 9236743

10 Ning B, Tang T, Gao Z. . Intelligent railway systems in China. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 2006, 21(5): 80–83

11 Cao Z, Zhou X, Hu H. . Toward a systematic survey for carbon neutral data centers. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 2022, 24(2): 895–936

12 Mengi-Diner H, Ediger V, Yesevi G. Evaluating the international renewable energy agency through the lens of social constructivism. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2021, 6(7): 15–24

13 Crabtree G. The coming electric vehicle transformation. Science, 2019, 366(6464): 422–424

14 Qiao Q, Zhao F, Liu Z. . Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of electric vehicles in China: Combining the vehicle cycle and fuel cycle. Energy, 2019, 177(1): 222–233

15 Rietmann N, Hügler B, Lieven T. Forecasting the trajectory of electric vehicle sales and the consequences for worldwide CO₂ emission. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2020, 261(1): 121038–121047

16 Weiss M, Dekker P, Moro A. . On the electrification of road transportation—A review of the environmental, economic, and social performance of electric two-wheelers. Transportation Research Part D, Transport and Environment, 2015, 41(1): 348–366

17 Li J, Yang B. Analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from electric vehicle considering electric energy structure, climate and power economy of EV: A China case. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 2020, 11(6): 1–11

18 Yuan Q, Ye Y, Tang Y. . Low carbon electric vehicle charging coordination in coupled transportation and power networks. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 2023, 59(2): 2162–2172

19 Chan C C. Guiding the new era of electrified transportation with 4-networks 4-flows integration theory and practice. Journal of Global Tourism Research, 2021, 6(2): 87–90

20 Thiel C, Nijs W, Simoes S. . The impact of the EU car CO₂ regulation on the energy system and the role of electro-mobility to achieve transport decarbonisation. Energy Policy, 2016, 96(6): 153–166

21 Kovač A, Paranos M, Marciuš D. Hydrogen in energy transition: A review. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2021, 46(16): 10016–10035

22 Rudolf T, Schürmann T, Schwab S. . Toward holistic energy management strategies for fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles in heavy-duty applications. Proceedings of the IEEE, 2021, 109(6): 1094–1114

23 Pei W, Zhang X, Deng W. . Review of operational control strategy for DC microgrids with electric-hydrogen hybrid storage systems. CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems, 2022, 8(2): 329–346

24 Sezgin B, Devrim Y, Ozturk T. Hydrogen energy systems for underwater applications. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2022, 45(4): 47–58

25 Li Z. Review on key technologies of hydrogen generation, storage and transportation based on multi-energy complementary renewable energy. Transactions of China Electrotechnical Society, 2021, 36(03): 446–462

26 Sun H, Zheng L. Current status and development trend of hydrogen production technology by wind power. Transactions of China Electrotechnical Society, 2019, 34(19): 4071–4083

27 Abomazid A M, El-Taweel N A, Farag H E Z. Optimal energy management of hydrogen energy facility using integrated battery energy storage and solar photovoltaic systems. IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, 2022, 13(3): 1457–1468

28 Teng Y, Wang Z, Li Y. . Multi-energy storage system model based on electricity heat and hydrogen coordinated optimization for power grid flexibility. CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems, 2019, 5(2): 266–274

29 Arthur T, Millar G J, Sauret E. . Renewable hydrogen production using non-potable water: Thermal integration of membrane distillation and water electrolysis stack. Applied Energy, 2023, 333: 120581

30 Li Y, Gao W, Ruan Y. Potential and sensitivity analysis of long-term hydrogen production in resolving surplus RES generation—A case study in Japan. Energy, 2019, 171(15): 1164–1172

31 Wang P, Gao Z, Bertling L. Operational adequacy studies of power systems with wind farms and energy storages. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2012, 27(4): 2377–2384

32 Zhao Q, Wang Z, Deng S. Hydrogen combustion technology and progress. Science Technology and Engineering, 2022, 22(36): 15870–15880 (in Chinese)

33 Li J, Li G, Liang D. Review and prospect of hydrogen production technology from renewable energy under targets of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Distributed Energy, 2021, 6(5): 1–9

34 Garrigós A, Lizan J L, Blanes J M. . Combined maximum power point tracking and output current control for a photovoltaic-electrolyser DC/DC converter. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2014, 39(36): 20907–20919

35 Şahin M E, Okumus H I, Aydemir M T. Implementation of an electrolysis system with DC/DC synchronous buck converter. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2014, 39(13): 6802–6812

36 Fang R M, Liang Y. Control strategy of electrolyzer in a wind-hydrogen system considering the constraints of switching times. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2019, 44(46): 25104–25111

37 Meng X, Jiang L, He M. . A novel multi-scale frequency regulation method of hybrid rectifier and its specific application in electrolytic hydrogen production. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2023, 38(1): 123–129

38 Mi W, Rong J. Progress and application prospects of PEM water electrolysis technology for hydrogen production. Petroleum Processing and Petrochemicals, 2019, 52(10): 79–87

39 Liu M, Zheng Q, Wang X. . Characterization of distribution of residual stress in shot-peened layer of nickel-based single crystal superalloy DD6 by nanoindentation technique. Mechanics of Materials, 2022, 164: 104143

40 Cho M K, Park H Y, Lee H J. . Alkaline anion exchange membrane water electrolysis: Effects of electrolyte feed method and electrode binder content. Journal of Power Sources, 2018, 382(6): 22–29

41 BiswasS PAnower M SHaqS, . A new level shifted carrier based PWM technique for a cascaded multilevel inverter based induction motor drive. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 2023, online, https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2023.3279359

42 Elmouazen H, Zhang X, Gibreel M. . Heat transfer enhancement of hydrogen rocket engine chamber wall by using V-shape rib. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2022, 47(16): 9775–9790

43 Yang W, Wang M, Aziz S. . Magnitude-reshaping strategy for harmonic suppression of VSG-based inverter under weak grid. IEEE Access: Practical Innovations, Open Solutions, 2020, 8: 184399–184413

44 Wang S, Bo R. Joint planning of electricity transmission and hydrogen transportation networks. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 2022, 58(2): 2887–2897

45 Zou C, Li J, Xi Z. . Industrial status, technological progress, challenges and prospects of hydrogen energy. Natural Gas Industry, 2021, 42(4): 1–20

46 Seflat G, Ozel M A. Experimental and numerical study of energy and thermal management system for a hydrogen fuel cell-battery hybrid electric vehicle. Energy, 2022, 238(2): 1–15

47 Wang G, Chao Y, Chen Z. Promoting developments of hydrogen powered vehicle and solar PV hydrogen production in China: A study based on evolutionary game theory method. Energy, 2021, 237(1): 121649–121660

48 Shi T, Huang H, Chen Q. . Performance investigation and feasibility study of novel gas foil thrust bearing for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. International Journal of Energy Research, 2022, 46(9): 12642–12659

49 QiuYZhouS GuW. Application prospect analysis of hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas technologies under the target of carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality. Transactions of CSEE, 2022, 42(4): 1301–1320 (in Chinese)

50 Alfonso-Herrera L A, Torres-Martinez L M, Mora-Hernandez J M. Novel strategies to tailor the photocatalytic activity of metal–organic frameworks for hydrogen generation: A mini-review. Frontiers in Energy, 2022, 16(5): 734–746