China News Service, Beijing, April 3 (Reporter Liu Liang) 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany.
Looking back on history, the pragmatic cooperation between China and Germany in various fields such as economy, trade and investment has increasingly become an important ballast for the steady and long-term development of China-EU relations.
In order to further take advantage of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany, promote further win-win cooperation between China, Germany and Europe, and join hands to lead the global low-carbon development process, organized by China News Network and co-organized by the German Federal Economic Development and Foreign Trade Federation Q·China-Germany Climate Dialogue” was held recently, and experts from China and Germany offered their opinions and suggestions on climate change issues.
Against the background of global climate change and carbon emission reduction, both China and Germany have proposed their own carbon emission reduction targets.
Friedrich, the former deputy speaker of the German Bundestag and chairman of the German "China Bridge" Association, pointed out that in order to achieve the emission reduction target, China and Germany should cooperate closely to promote the energy transition process and the realization of carbon emission reduction targets.
Friedrich believes that in tackling climate change and promoting the transformation of renewable energy, Germany and China should pay attention to the important role of hydrogen energy, because hydrogen energy is not only a clean energy, but also has easy availability and easy storage. and transport characteristics.
At present, not only Germany is vigorously promoting the development and utilization of hydrogen, but many countries are also laying out hydrogen energy development strategies.
In his view, the development of hydrogen energy is an effective means to deal with climate change, but to further improve the efficiency of hydrogen energy use, countries need to strengthen cooperation to make hydrogen production more economical and more conducive to storage, transportation and utilization.
"Germany is at the forefront of hydrogen research and has many patents registered every year, while China has huge market space and potential to promote cooperation in hydrogen energy, which is beneficial to the economic development of both countries." Friedrich said .
China and Germany share a lot of common language on addressing climate change.
Du Xiangwan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, former vice president, and consultant of the National Climate Change Expert Committee, said that in addition to hydrogen energy, China and Germany also have room for further cooperation in the fields of renewable energy such as solar energy and wind energy.
Du Xiangwan pointed out that currently both China and Germany attach great importance to the development of solar energy and wind energy, but solar energy and wind energy are intermittent. How to maintain a stable energy supply required by the social and industrial economy is inseparable from energy storage.
He emphasized that the installed capacity of non-water renewable energy in Germany now accounts for one-half of Germany's electricity installed capacity, but the power generation is only a quarter of the electricity required by Germany. The root cause is the instability and intermittent nature of wind and solar energy. .
How to solve this problem?
Du Xiangwan believes that it is necessary to develop a new power system with new energy as the main body to combine the intermittent nature of renewable energy with energy storage.
For example, the combination of hydrogen energy storage technology and non-water renewable energy enables it not only to install power generation, but also to generate high-quality power to maintain the stable power required by society and life.
Du Xiangwan also pointed out that although this method has certain theoretical feasibility, in order to realize the combination of the two, researchers from China and Germany need to further explore, communicate and cooperate in the process of practice, and overcome the possibility of encountering problems in the process of practice. Difficulties.
Hans-Peter Friedrich, Member of the German Bundestag, former Deputy Speaker, President of the German "Bridge to China" Association (top left) and Michael Schumann, President of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (BWA) ( lower left).
Video screenshot
Both Germany and China are powerful economies in the world, and it is of global significance for the two countries to discuss climate change and energy supply issues, but Michael Schumann, chairman of the German Federal Economic Development and Foreign Trade Association (BWA), believes that in In the process of exploration, the relationship between supply security, energy efficiency and environmental finance cannot be ignored, and a balance point needs to be found among the three.
Michael Schuman said that the preconditions for promoting energy transformation are different between different countries and economies, and they need to be considered in combination with the specific national conditions of the country.
Taking Germany as an example, although Germany has put forward ambitious carbon emission reduction goals and the importance of renewable energy in Germany's energy transition structure has become increasingly prominent, the role of natural gas cannot be ignored.
In Michael Schuman's view, natural gas, as a transitional energy technology, still plays a lot of roles on the road to new energy and renewable energy, because this carrier of fossil energy can guarantee the national energy Supply security, but also able to meet the challenges of diversification of energy supply.
Energy prices in Europe are at an all-time high right now, and have yet to reach their peak.
Michael Schuman believes that actively promoting the diversification of energy supply in Europe can increase the acceptance of energy transition by the general public on the one hand, and balance the relationship between renewable energy and natural gas on the other hand.
Michael Schumann said that China is an important partner of Germany in addressing climate change and creating sustainable working conditions, and Germany-China cooperation can set a model for China-EU cooperation in this regard.
He reminded that the search for climate solutions cannot be overly ambitious and ignore the reality that natural gas will still play a central role in energy supply and security or in energy infrastructure in Europe for decades to come.
Du Xiangwan (top right), academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, former vice president, advisor to the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change (top right), and Wang Yi (bottom right), member of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress and vice president of the Institute of Science and Technology Strategic Consulting, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Photo by Chinanews reporter Zhai Lu
The environmental and climate cooperation between China and Germany has deep roots.
Wang Yi, member of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress and vice president of the Academy of Science and Technology Strategy Consulting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that the environmental cooperation between the two countries can be traced back to the 1990s.
After 2008, that is, before and after the Copenhagen Conference, Sino-German climate cooperation has also expanded rapidly.
He emphasized that the current epidemic and geopolitical environment are becoming increasingly complex, and the two countries need to further strengthen exchanges, actions and cooperation.
The first is not only to strengthen exchanges between high-level experts and political figures, but also to strengthen exchanges between scientific research institutions, NGOs and social groups of the two countries.
The second is to play down the conflict of values around climate change and promote more pragmatic cooperation and actions.
Wang Yi also pointed out that the two countries should choose more priority areas such as hydrogen energy for cooperation.
He said that at present, China's hydrogen energy is developing rapidly, and its application scenarios are becoming more and more abundant. How to overcome high costs and improve the efficiency of hydrogen energy use requires cooperation between China and Germany.
Germany has very good experience in energy transformation, and China also has a lot of good experience in renewable energy equipment manufacturing and large-scale application to reduce costs. The two can better complement each other.
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