What happens when an economy relies heavily on imports for its energy supply? The EU tells us the answer.

What happens when a economy relies heavily on imports for its energy supply? EU tells us the answer. Since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the United States and the European Union have used their traditional skills to impose the most severe sanctions and blockade on Russia. In addition to personally taking part in the battle, they have used all kinds of methods. It seems that the financial hegemony is sharpening its sword against Russia, but in fact it is a lose-lose situation. The US dollar is very strong, but the ruble has not collapsed. , euro, have become "European" first, and have fallen to parity with the US dollar.

Under the EU's sanctions of "hurting one thousand to the enemy and eight hundred to oneself", international crude oil prices have been rising steadily, and European natural gas prices have soared and are at historically high levels. As the world's second largest crude oil exporter, Russia accounts for 35% of global exports. It is also the world's third largest natural gas exporter, supplying 40% of the EU's natural gas. The sanctions have greatly increased Russia's energy export revenue and made a lot of money.

On the contrary, European countries shot themselves in the foot. Old Europeans who were accustomed to Russia's cheap pipeline natural gas suddenly found that this winter was difficult, and the natural gas gap expanded sharply. They had to purchase liquefied natural gas at high prices around the world to meet demand. American energy suppliers can make a net profit of US$100 million by sailing an LNG ship filled with liquefied natural gas to a European port. The natural gas price difference between the United States and Europe has reached an astonishing four times.

The high cost of energy imports has made Europe taste the "bitter fruit" of sanctions. Industrial production has been restricted, and inflation has soared. In October, the inflation rate in the 19 countries in the Eurozone reached 10.7%, setting a record since 1997.

The trigger for the European energy crisis is the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which reflects the long-term structural problems of European energy supply. High dependence on imports will lead to a decrease in the stability of energy supply and an increase in vulnerability.

Compared with Europe, China has a vast territory and rich resources, but it also suffers from uneven resource distribution and limited production capacity . Today, when energy security is increasingly valued, "rich coal, short of oil, and little gas" is the current structure of our fossil energy. 70% of Crude oil is dependent on imports, and it is also the world's largest buyer of liquefied natural gas. Other renewable energy resources such as the sun, wind, water, biomass, etc. have promising future prospects, but at this stage they are only a drop in the bucket and are of little use. When it comes to solving energy security issues, we must find effective ways.

China is a big coal country, with reserves and output ranking first in the world. In the current power generation structure, thermal power accounts for about 70%. Coal consumption is large and it is one of the main sources of carbon emissions. In the context of "double carbon", energy conservation and carbon reduction and the development of clean energy are the way to go.

Compared with other energy sources, methanol is known as "clean coal, cheap oil, simple gas, mobile electricity, and liquid hydrogen", and it has convenient storage and transportation, rich sources, and wide range of uses. At the same time, China is also the world's largest producer and consumer of methanol, accounting for 65% of the world's production capacity. It can be said that developing the methanol economy is an effective way to solve energy problems. We have the initiative and at the same time explore a new way to achieve the strategic goal of carbon neutrality.

At present, my country's coal-to-methanol industry, technology, key equipment and catalysts have all reached the international leading level. Green low-carbon methanol can be prepared by using industrial by-product hydrogen or renewable energy electrolytic water to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide captured in heavy carbon emission areas. This completely opens up the technical link and reaches commercial operation standards.

In line with the "double carbon" trend, the Anyang green low-carbon methanol project jointly invested and constructed by Geely Holding Group and Shuncheng Group came into being. This is the first domestic and the world's largest one-step carbon dioxide (CO2) + hydrogen (H2) synthesis methanol project. It can produce 110,000 tons of green low-carbon methanol annually. It uses the internationally advanced carbon capture technology to truly achieve near-zero emissions in the production process.

captures industrial exhaust gas from nearby factories and synthesizes the high-purity carbon dioxide (CO2) required for methanol through purification, absorption, desorption, pressurization and other processes; plus the industrial by-product hydrogen (H2) from coke oven gas , it is synthesized using advanced technology to become green low-carbon methanol (CH3OH).

After the project is put into operation, it can directly consume 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide and indirectly reduce 550,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year. It has good economic, social and ecological benefits, and has a major demonstration effect on the green transformation of coal chemical companies. It is of great significance to my country's reduction of carbon emissions and the realization of carbon neutral .

The lessons learned from the European energy crisis tell us that national energy security must not be controlled by others. Based on its own conditions, developing methanol clean energy on the existing basis is an effective way to crack energy security. China has the ability to have a say in this field, and green methanol has a lot to do.