IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i2p1265-d1030237.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Innovative Approach for Energy Transition in China? Chinese National Hydrogen Policies from 2001 to 2020

Author

Listed:
  • Yiqi Yuan

    (Environmental Policy Group, Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • May Tan-Mullins

    (Deputy Vice Chancellor Office, James Cook University, 149 Sims Drive, Singapore 387380, Singapore)

Abstract

To accelerate clean energy transition, China has explored the potential of hydrogen as an energy carrier since 2001. Until 2020, 49 national hydrogen policies were enacted. This paper explores the relevance of these policies to the development of the hydrogen industry and energy transition in China. We examine the reasons, impacts, and challenges of Chinese national hydrogen policies through the conceptual framework of Thomas Dye’s policy analysis method and the European Training Foundation’s policy analysis guide. This research provides an ex-post analysis for previous policies and an ex-ante analysis for future options. We argue that the energy supply revolution and energy technology revolution highlight the importance of hydrogen development in China. Particularly, the pressure of the automobile industry transition leads to experimentation concerning the application of hydrogen in the transportation sector. This paper also reveals that hydrogen policy development coincides with an increase in resource input and has positive spill over effects. Furthermore, we note that two challenges have impeded progress: a lack of regulations for the industry threshold and holistic planning. To address these challenges, the Chinese government can design a national hydrogen roadmap and work closely with other countries through the Belt and Road Initiative.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiqi Yuan & May Tan-Mullins, 2023. "An Innovative Approach for Energy Transition in China? Chinese National Hydrogen Policies from 2001 to 2020," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-24, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1265-:d:1030237
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1265/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1265/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhixiang Liu & Kevin Kendall & Xieqiang Yan, 2018. "China Progress on Renewable Energy Vehicles: Fuel Cells, Hydrogen and Battery Hybrid Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Xu, Xinhai & Xu, Ben & Dong, Jun & Liu, Xiaotong, 2017. "Near-term analysis of a roll-out strategy to introduce fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen stations in Shenzhen China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 229-237.
    3. Parra, David & Valverde, Luis & Pino, F. Javier & Patel, Martin K., 2019. "A review on the role, cost and value of hydrogen energy systems for deep decarbonisation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 279-294.
    4. Williams, J. Oliver, 1978. "Policy Analysis: What Governments Do, Why They Do It, and What Difference It Makes. By Thomas R. Dye. (University, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 1976. Pp. 122. $6.50, cloth; $2.95, paper.)," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 635-636, June.
    5. Ren, Lei & Zhou, Sheng & Ou, Xunmin, 2020. "Life-cycle energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions of hydrogen supply chains for fuel-cell vehicles in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Yanfei & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "The economic feasibility of green hydrogen and fuel cell electric vehicles for road transport in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Le Quyen Luu & Eleonora Riva Sanseverino & Maurizio Cellura & Hoai-Nam Nguyen & Hoai-Phuong Tran & Hong Anh Nguyen, 2022. "Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Air Emissions Comparison of Alternative and Conventional Bus Fleets in Vietnam," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-15, September.
    3. Stančin, H. & Mikulčić, H. & Wang, X. & Duić, N., 2020. "A review on alternative fuels in future energy system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    4. Magazzino, Cosimo & Mele, Marco & Schneider, Nicolas, 2021. "A D2C algorithm on the natural gas consumption and economic growth: Challenges faced by Germany and Japan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    5. Lin, Rui & Zhong, Di & Lan, Shunbo & Guo, Rong & Ma, Yunyang & Cai, Xin, 2021. "Experimental validation for enhancement of PEMFC cold start performance: Based on the optimization of micro porous layer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    6. Ahmad Alzahrani & Senthil Kumar Ramu & Gunapriya Devarajan & Indragandhi Vairavasundaram & Subramaniyaswamy Vairavasundaram, 2022. "A Review on Hydrogen-Based Hybrid Microgrid System: Topologies for Hydrogen Energy Storage, Integration, and Energy Management with Solar and Wind Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-32, October.
    7. Tubagus Aryandi Gunawan & Alessandro Singlitico & Paul Blount & James Burchill & James G. Carton & Rory F. D. Monaghan, 2020. "At What Cost Can Renewable Hydrogen Offset Fossil Fuel Use in Ireland’s Gas Network?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-23, April.
    8. Victor Hugo Souza de Abreu & Victória Gonçalves Ferreira Pereira & Laís Ferreira Crispino Proença & Fabio Souza Toniolo & Andrea Souza Santos, 2023. "A Systematic Study on Techno-Economic Evaluation of Hydrogen Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-23, September.
    9. Nenming Wang & Guwen Tang, 2022. "A Review on Environmental Efficiency Evaluation of New Energy Vehicles Using Life Cycle Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-35, March.
    10. Akito Ozawa & Yuki Kudoh, 2021. "Assessing Uncertainties of Life-Cycle CO 2 Emissions Using Hydrogen Energy for Power Generation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-23, October.
    11. Zhang, Huaiwen & Yao, Yiqing & Deng, Jun & Zhang, Jian-Li & Qiu, Yaojing & Li, Guofu & Liu, Jian, 2022. "Hydrogen production via anaerobic digestion of coal modified by white-rot fungi and its application benefits analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    12. Li, Nan & Zhao, Xunwen & Shi, Xunpeng & Pei, Zhenwei & Mu, Hailin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2021. "Integrated energy systems with CCHP and hydrogen supply: A new outlet for curtailed wind power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    13. Kurnia, Jundika C. & Sasmito, Agus P. & Shamim, Tariq, 2017. "Performance evaluation of a PEM fuel cell stack with variable inlet flows under simulated driving cycle conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 751-764.
    14. Mohseni, Soheil & Brent, Alan C. & Burmester, Daniel, 2020. "A comparison of metaheuristics for the optimal capacity planning of an isolated, battery-less, hydrogen-based micro-grid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    15. Li, Jiaxuan & Zhu, Xun & Djilali, Ned & Yang, Yang & Ye, Dingding & Chen, Rong & Liao, Qiang, 2022. "Comparative well-to-pump assessment of fueling pathways for zero-carbon transportation in China: Hydrogen economy or methanol economy?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    16. Xizi Cao & Ye Tian & Yan Shen & Tongran Wu & Renfei Li & Xinyu Liu & Amanzheli Yeerken & Yangyang Cui & Yifeng Xue & Aiping Lian, 2021. "Emission Variations of Primary Air Pollutants from Highway Vehicles and Implications during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Beijing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-12, April.
    17. Ren, Lei & Zhou, Sheng & Peng, Tianduo & Ou, Xunmin, 2022. "Greenhouse gas life cycle analysis of China's fuel cell medium- and heavy-duty trucks under segmented usage scenarios and vehicle types," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    18. Zhang, Zhiqing & Dong, Rui & Tan, Dongli & Duan, Lin & Jiang, Feng & Yao, Xiaoxue & Yang, Dixin & Hu, Jingyi & Zhang, Jian & Zhong, Weihuang & Zhao, Ziheng, 2023. "Effect of structural parameters on diesel particulate filter trapping performance of heavy-duty diesel engines based on grey correlation analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    19. Teixeira, Fátima C. & Teixeira, António P.S. & Rangel, C.M., 2022. "New proton conductive membranes of indazole- and condensed pyrazolebisphosphonic acid-Nafion membranes for PEMFC," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1187-1196.
    20. Shao, Tianming & Pan, Xunzhang & Li, Xiang & Zhou, Sheng & Zhang, Shu & Chen, Wenying, 2022. "China's industrial decarbonization in the context of carbon neutrality: A sub-sectoral analysis based on integrated modelling," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1265-:d:1030237. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.