National Energy Explores a New Height of Clean Coal Development

The concept of clean energy has been deeply rooted in people's minds at a time when environmental problems continue to heat up. At this time, the primary energy represented by coal and oil seems to be gradually replaced by new energy. However, as far as China's current energy structure and its absolute voice in the global coal market are concerned, the situation of coal as the core energy will continue for some time. In fact, clean coal can also be a clean energy source. As a reasonable way of carbon capture, coal chemical engineering project is becoming an important direction of clean coal utilization. The projects of coal-based ethylene glycol and coal-based natural gas invested by Guoneng Petroleum and Natural Gas Import and Export Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guoneng Petroleum and Natural Gas") in Baotou City are a brand-new exploration of clean utilization of coal. In addition, with the sustained global attention to clean energy, hydrogen energy is the ultimate form of clean energy. At this time, National Energy Petroleum and Natural Gas, together with the Sixth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology, jointly developed a coal-based hydrogen production project in Baotou, which will make a new attempt in the comprehensive application of hydrogen energy. In addition, business environment is becoming a very important factor for enterprises to choose their location. The nine years since Guoneng Petroleum and Natural Gas Baotou Project came to Baotou fully prove that the choice of landing Baotou is a correct decision.

Coal can also become a clean energy source. In recent years, environmental protection has become the focus of global attention. Correspondingly, there is a revolution in energy. The energy structure based on coal and oil, which was established during the industrial revolution, is changing quietly.

According to the calculation data of the International Energy Agency, global coal demand showed a downward trend for two consecutive years from 2015 to 2016. In Europe and North America, coal is being forgotten by labels that are not environmentally friendly. The International Energy Agency predicts that the contribution of coal to the global energy structure will decrease from 27% to 25% in the next five years.

It can be seen that although coal is gradually being replaced, its volume is still very large, especially in Asia. In fact, in 2000, European and North American countries accounted for more than 40% of global energy demand, while developing countries in Asia accounted for 20%. According to the International Energy Agency, this situation will be completely reversed by 2040. In today's global coal market, China has absolute voice. In 2018, China's coal output was 3.546 billion tons, accounting for 47% of the world's total coal output. In China, a country with more coal, less gas and less oil, the strategic role of coal in national energy security can not be underestimated. Statistics show that China's crude oil dependence reaches 70% in 2018 and natural gas dependence reaches 45%. According to Wang Xianzheng, president of China Coal Industry Association, coal will still play an important role in China's energy structure in the coming years. "By 2030, coal will still account for about 50% of China's primary energy consumption structure, and the status and role of the main energy sources will be difficult to change. In addition, coal consumption will continue to grow slightly in the next five years, with a total of about 4 billion tons. Wang Xianzheng said. Since the dominant position of coal is difficult to shake in a short time, cleanliness has become a consensus for the future development direction of the coal industry. "Clean energy is different from fossil energy because of its environmental friendliness. If coal can be cleaned, it can also be called clean energy. Tu Jianjun, a researcher at Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Strategy, said.

In fact, China has been exploring the road of clean coal utilization several years ago. At present, a relatively complete technical system has been formed. "China has been in the coal chemical industry for more than 20 years, and the technology reserve period is much earlier. Now a relatively complete coal chemical industry system has been formed in Inner Mongolia. A coal chemical industry insider said. National Energy Petroleum and Natural Gas is one of the practitioners of clean coal application. Inner Mongolia is an important production base of coal chemical industry in China. In 2010, the group came to Inner Mongolia. At present, Guoneng Petroleum and Natural Gas has put into operation 190,000 tons/year liquefied LNG project in Baotou. On this basis, we have planned and constructed the project of producing 600,000 tons of coal-to-ethylene glycol (completed in two phases, with a design capacity of 300,000 tons per year for the first phase) and a project of producing 720,000 tons of coal-to-natural gas (completed in two phases, with a design capacity of 400,000 tons per year for the first phase). Sun Tianyu, assistant general manager of Guoneng Petroleum and Natural Gas Import and Export Co., Ltd., said. At present, the economy of developing coal chemical engineering projects in Inner Mongolia has been improved. The coal-based ethylene glycol project planned and constructed by National Energy Petroleum and Natural Gas is in line with the direction of the overall planning of coal chemical industry in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and it is also an exploration of clean utilization of coal. More importantly, it is from the national energy reserve level. It is very rare that Guoneng Oil and Gas can take on this social responsibility. A person in charge of Baotou Municipal Government said.

Observing the structure of coal use, it is difficult to find that power generation and coal chemical industry have become the two main forces of coal application. In the aspect of clean coal utilization, how to control carbon emissions has always been one of the problems that puzzles experts and enterprises in the industry. Compared with improving the thermal efficiency of coal-fired generating units, coal chemical industry has natural advantages in carbon capture. "The concentration of carbon dioxide emitted by modern coal chemical industry is generally over 80%, and the capture cost is relatively low (about 1/3-1/4 of that captured by power plants)."