Incorporating platinum circular economy into China's hydrogen pathways toward carbon neutrality

Peng Wang; Chenyang Wang; Jiashuo Li; Klaus Hubacek; Laixiang Sun; Fan Yang; Kuishuang Feng; Wei-Qiang Chen

doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae172

Incorporating platinum circular economy into China's hydrogen pathways toward carbon neutrality

PNAS Nexus. 2024 May 14;3(5):pgae172. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae172. eCollection 2024 May.

Authors

Peng Wang^{1

2}, Chenyang Wang^{1

3}, Jiashuo Li⁴, Klaus Hubacek⁵, Laixiang Sun⁶, Fan Yang^{4

7}, Kuishuang Feng⁶, Wei-Qiang Chen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
² College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining, Smith Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
⁴ Institute of Blue and Green Development, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China.
⁵ Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society (IREES), Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, the Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
⁷ Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg 9000, Denmark.

Abstract

Hydrogen is gaining tremendous traction in China as the fuel of the future to support the country's carbon neutrality ambition. Despite that hydrogen as fuel largely hinges on the supply of platinum (Pt), the dynamic interlinkage between Pt supply challenges, hydrogen development pathways, and climate targets in China has yet to be deeply analyzed. Here, we adopt an integrated assessment model to address this important concern and corresponding strategies for China. The results indicate that the booming hydrogen development would drive China's cumulative demand for Pt metal to reach 4,200-5,000 tons. Much of this demand, met through a limited supply pattern, is vulnerable to price volatility and heightened geopolitical risks, which can be mitigated through circular economy strategies. Consequently, a coordinated approach to leverage both global sustainable Pt sourcing and a robust domestic Pt circular economy is imperative for ensuring cost-effective hydrogen production, aligned with a climate-safe future.

Keywords: carbon neutrality; circular economy; hydrogen; material flow analysis; platinum.