“绿氢”应用，前景光明

张小琴

有利于环保、降低成本之后的“绿氢”将成为绿色燃料首选。

Hydrogen has taken off this year as the future green fuel of choice， with governments and businesses believing that the universe's most abundant element can help fight climate change.

More than 150 billion dollars' worth of green hydrogen projects have been announced globally in the past nine months. In total， more than 70 gigawatts（十亿瓦特）of such projects are in development， which could require 250 billion dollars' worth of investment by 2040， research firm Rystad Energy estimates.

China and Japan recently joined a big group of European countries setting net zero targets for carbon emissions by the middle of the century. While most developed countries along with China and India plan to boost renewable power output， the net zero emission targets are driving a push to find ways to decarbonise industries that cannot be electrified and depend on fossil fuels. The main targets are those sectors that use coal， oil and gas as raw materials， such as in steel-making， cement and fertilizers， and in shipping and aviation. To meet that expected demand， powerhouse oil and gas exporters from Saudi Arabia to Australia have issued policies to develop production and export of green hydrogen.

Hydrogen， long used as rocket fuels， is mainly used in oil refining and to produce ammonia for fertilizers. Today it is mostly produced from natural gas or coal called grey hydrogen.

The holy grail is to extract hydrogen from water using electrolysis （電解） powered by renewable energy， green hydrogen， for under $1.50 per kilogram， to make it competitive with coal， oil and gas. The key cost that has to fall to meet the sub-$1.50 target is the cost of electrolysers， which split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

It is hoped that more research into technology， including large-scale electrolysers， will be funded to help make green hydrogen costs match conventional hydrogen within a decade.

Reading check

1. Which is the universe's most abundant element according to Para. 1？

A. Nitrogen. B. Ammonia. C. Oxygen. D. Hydrogen.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about？

A. The investment of green hydrogen projects.

B. The introduction of green hydrogen projects.

C. The number of green hydrogen projects.

D. The development of green hydrogen projects.

3. Which countries will develop production and export of green hydrogen？

A. China and Japan.

B. Japan and Vietnam.

C. Saudi Arabia and Australia.

D. China and Australia.

4. What problem should be solved first to produce green hydrogen？

A. To achieve the net zero emission targets.

B. To reduce the cost of electrolysers.

C. To research electrolysers.

D. To improve electrolysers.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

Hydrogen has taken off this year as the future green fuel of choice， with governments and businesses believing that the universe's most abundant element can help fight climate change. 氢在今年大受欢迎，成为未来绿色燃料首选，各国政府和企业都认为这种宇宙中最丰富的元素可以帮助应对气候变化。

【点石成金】本句中take off是“突然大受欢迎”的意思，本句还有一个with的复合结构，在这个复合结构中，that引导的是一个宾语从句。

Text-centered phrases

take off 突然大受欢迎

more than 超过

depend on 依靠

be used as 被作为……使用

meet the demand 满足需求

split...into 分开;（使）分成