Japan has the world's leading technology in hydrogen. And Vietnam has sources of sun and wind - "raw materials" to produce the green hydrogen energy source that Japan is pursuing. That is the premise for promising cooperation between the two countries.
President Vo Van Thuong visits a number of scientific and educational facilities in Fukuoka province, Japan - Photo: VNA
On November 30, President Vo Van Thuong and his wife left Fukuoka, successfully ending their first official visit to Japan in their new position. Before saying goodbye to Japan, he visited the International Research Center for Hydrogen Energy at Kyushu University, where a Vietnamese person is working, Dr. Pham Hung Cuong.
Japan is a leader in green hydrogen
Sharing with Tuoi Tre, congressman Soramoto Seiki, also a doctorate in energy, said hydrogen energy includes many types, of which green hydrogen has renewable energy as raw material. The Japanese government has set a goal that by 2050, hydrogen will account for 10% of the energy structure and is investing heavily to realize this number.
Dr. Pham Hung Cuong, who was also present at the reception for the President, said Japan was the first country in the world to adopt a hydrogen strategy in 2017. This is to meet the net zero emissions target. of Japan.
Second, according to Mr. Cuong, Japan also wants to escape the deadlock in their energy security policy, especially after the nuclear power plant incident in Fukushima in 2011, and reduce dependence on oil. gas.
Mr. Cuong said that Kyushu University has built a miniature "hydrogen society" model at the Ito campus. This is the first model in Japan with many modern machines and equipment. In particular, researchers have produced green hydrogen using partly renewable energy such as wind power and solar power.
The green hydrogen produced will be used for buses, cars and under ideal conditions, if excess will be used for fuel cell systems to produce electricity and heat water.
Vietnam is a potential supply source
Japan's demand for green hydrogen is huge, estimated at 3 million tons in 2030, 12 million tons in 2040. Japan will invest about 100 billion USD in the hydrogen supply chain within 15 years from 2023.
"However, the process of producing green hydrogen requires a huge amount of electricity, making mass production on Japan's limited land area difficult. Therefore, in the future Japan will be forced to import hydrogen liquefied green," Mr. Soramoto Seiki said.
Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Cuong said that Japan's terrain and geology are complex and not as favorable as other countries when implementing renewable energy projects such as wind power and solar power. Therefore, if Japan produces hydrogen using domestic renewable energy, the economic effect will not be as expected.
"Therefore, they will aim for another way, which is to bring technology and equipment to a country with good sun and wind potential to produce green hydrogen, and then bring it back to Japan. This way, the cost will be reduced. hydrogen will decrease significantly," Mr. Cuong said.
The fact that Japan will be the first country in the world to have a ship carrying liquefied hydrogen by 2022 is concrete evidence of this direction.
Vietnam has great potential in wind and solar power, meeting Japan's requirements, and is also pursuing the goal of zero net emissions, "greening" the economy.
According to Mr. Cuong, by cooperating with Japan on green hydrogen, Vietnam will learn a lot of experience. At the same time, green hydrogen will be a potential energy source, greatly contributing to the green transition process in Vietnam.
Potential for green energy cooperation
With 11 years of experience researching new generation fuel cell technology, Dr. Pham Hung Cuong, who is also vice president of the newly launched Vietnam-Japan Expert Society (VJS), expressed to Tuoi Tre his desire to eliminate This battery may be popular in both countries in the future.
Also in an exchange with Tuoi Tre, Congressman Soramoto Seiki proposed using a large-scale electricity storage system to expand the use of renewable energy in Vietnam.
He affirmed that with his affection for Vietnam, he will promote cooperation between the two countries in the field of green growth and digital transformation through VJS chaired by Prof. Dr. Tran Dang Xuan.
