Breaking the hard-to-abate bottleneck in China's path to carbon neutrality with clean hydrogen

Clean hydrogen could play a pivotal role in decarbonization but the paths for different sectors remain to be understood. Yang et al. present detailed scenarios to 2060 to explore options for using clean hydrogen in China's economy for the sectors of industry and transport that are hard to abate. Countries such as China are facing a bottleneck in their paths to carbon neutrality: abating emissions in heavy industries and heavy-duty transport. There are few in-depth studies of the prospective role for clean hydrogen in these 'hard-to-abate' (HTA) sectors. Here we carry out an integrated dynamic least-cost modelling analysis. Results show that, first, clean hydrogen can be both a major energy carrier and feedstock that can significantly reduce carbon emissions of heavy industry. It can also fuel up to 50% of China's heavy-duty truck and bus fleets by 2060 and significant shares of shipping. Second, a realistic clean hydrogen scenario that reaches 65.7 Mt of production in 2060 could avoid US$1.72 trillion of new investment compared with a no-hydrogen scenario. This study provides evidence of the value of clean hydrogen in HTA sectors for China and countries facing similar challenges in reducing emissions to achieve net-zero goals.

Automated summary

Clean hydrogen has significant value in hard-to-abate sectors, serving as an energy carrier and feedstock for heavy industry, as well as fuel for the transportation sector. A realistic scenario with a production volume of 65.7 Mt by 2060 could lead to substantial cost savings compared to a no-hydrogen scenario.