Decarbonizing with Hydrogen in China

Policy timelines and case studies in the cement and steel sectors

Hydrogen can be used to generate electricity in fuel cells, heat in boilers, or reacted to produce e-fuels. Industries that are hard-to-electrify are considered immediate applications for hydrogen technology. Many of these sectors are traditional industries, like chemicals, petrochemicals, cement, and steel. According to the Wood-MacKenzie Hydrogen Investment Horizon Outlook, released in 2022, interest in strongest for large-scale investments in the use of hydrogen for steel, for which commercial pilot projects are expected by 2025; methanol, which is already a widely-traded commodity, and therefore price-sensitive; and power, especially the decarbonization of gas turbines.

The China government has designated hydrogen as a “key component of the new energy economy.” Hydrogen was mentioned as early as May of 2007, in the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan for High-Tech Industry Development.” This emphasis on actively developing hydrogen energy continued through the second decade with the inclusion of hydrogen in the "Twelfth Five-Year National Science and Technology Development Plan,” released in July of 2011, and in the  "Thirteenth Five-Year National Science and Technology Innovation Plan,” released in August of 2016.