Sinopec aims to produce green hydrogen to assist China in becoming carbon neutral by 2060

China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec Group) has announced plans to overtake the United States as the country's top hydrogen producer, keeping China on track to meet its climate change and energy transition objectives.

According to the internal website Sinopecnews.com.cn, the company aims to become the largest, most technologically advanced and most well managed hydrogen company. To help reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector, it will focus on green hydrogen production and hydrogen refueling.

In Kuka, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the state-owned company began construction for 3 billion yuan (US$433 million), or the largest ever green hydrogen plant powered by solar power.

When the plant is finished in June next year, Sinopec will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 485,000 tons annually thanks to its 20,000-tonne annual production capacity.

Using renewable energy, electrolysis is used to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules, producing green hydrogen.