Today, in the context of carbon neutrality, hydrogen energy, a green energy with zero pollution, high energy, rich resources and wide use, is regarded as the "protagonist" of the future energy market.

So, as the "leader" of the energy market in the new era, will hydrogen really replace traditional energy such as oil?

In my opinion, the future may be, but not now.

According to the forecast of the International Hydrogen Energy Council, hydrogen will bear 18% of the global energy terminal demand by 2050, and according to the EU Hydrogen energy Strategy, "by 2024, renewable energy green manufacturing hydrogen reached 1 million tons, 2030 to reach 10 million tons" and China "is expected to 2030 and 2050, The demand will reach 35 million tons and 60 million tons, and the terminal energy will account for more than 5% and 10%, respectively. Obviously, the pace of hydrogen replacing traditional energy sources such as oil will not be too fast, but the future hydrogen energy will become the mainstream energy is beyond doubt.

The demand for hydrogen energy continues to expand

As a new kinetic energy for green development, in recent years, the use of hydrogen energy has been highly valued by power, transportation, industry, construction and other industries with high dependence on traditional energy, especially the research on hydrogen fuel cell technology, which will make hydrogen energy more widely used in the civil field.

As the above-mentioned international organizations forecast the global demand for hydrogen energy and the strategic plan of countries for hydrogen production and hydrogen energy demand, the future global demand for hydrogen energy will only continue to increase, and then superimposing the goal of global carbon neutrality, the demand for hydrogen energy in all countries and even all walks of life will continue to expand, thus increasing the possibility of hydrogen energy to replace oil and other traditional energy.

Hydrogen production technology still has limitations

Although the key core technologies of the global hydrogen energy industry chain tend to mature, compared with the production of traditional energy sources such as oil, hydrogen energy is still in the perfect stage in terms of production and storage technology, which has delayed the pace of hydrogen energy replacing traditional energy sources such as oil to a certain extent.

At present, the mainstream methods of hydrogen production include fossil energy hydrogen production, industrial by-production hydrogen and electrolytic water hydrogen production, of which fossil energy hydrogen production and industrial by-production hydrogen will produce carbon dioxide emissions in the process of hydrogen production, and do not have complete cleanliness. Hydrogen production by electrolytic water through the electrolysis of water to obtain hydrogen and oxygen, there is no carbon emissions, also known as "green hydrogen", is a more ideal way to produce hydrogen.

However, electrolytic water hydrogen production technology has not been widely used, its cost is still "high", and can not meet the strategic goals of large-scale promotion and application, which is also one of the important factors that hydrogen energy can not completely replace oil and other traditional energy.

However, with the rapid development of hydrogen energy technology, it is imperative to mature and perfect hydrogen production technology. At the 2023 China International Clean Energy Expo and China International Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Industry Exhibition, hundreds of enterprises showed various products in the whole hydrogen energy industry chain, making certain contributions to the development of hydrogen energy. It is believed that in the future, hydrogen energy will appear in the public with higher efficiency and lower cost, thus promoting the realization of global low-carbon goals.