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When it comes to new energy vehicles, people will naturally think of electric vehicles, but in addition to electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel and methanol fuel can also solve the emission problem.

On March 19, eight departments jointly issued the guidance on the Promotion and Application of methanol vehicles in some areas, formally putting methanol vehicles in front of the automobile industry and consumer market.

In the newly issued guidance on the application of methanol vehicles in some areas, the eight departments pointed out that in accordance with the principles of adapting measures to local conditions and being safe and controllable, focus on accelerating the application of M100 methanol vehicles in areas with good resource endowment conditions and experience in methanol vehicle operation, such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou and Gansu.

The opinion points out that in accordance with the principles of adjusting measures to local conditions and being safe and controllable, we should focus on areas with good resource endowment conditions and experience in methanol operation, such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou, and Gansu, to speed up the application of M100 methanol vehicles. In addition, encourage the use of methanol vehicles in official business, rental, short-distance passenger transport and other fields. At the same time, it will give preferential policies for the purchase and operation of methanol vehicles that meet the requirements of the sixth national emission and methanol vehicle emission limits.

Long before the release of the "guidance", on February 6, 2013, the General Office of the State Council issued the "opinions of the General Office of the State Council on strengthening Energy Saving and Emission reduction in Internal Combustion engine Industry". Among them, it is mentioned to carry out the application pilot work of gasoline / methanol dual-fuel spark ignition internal combustion engine and diesel / methanol dual-fuel compression ignition internal combustion engine, and has gone through several rounds of pilot projects in many regions in recent years. Methanol cars seem to be finally ushering in the "spring".

It is worth noting that during the two sessions on March 5, Li Shufu, chairman of Geely, put forward suggestions on promoting the popularization of methanol fuel and methanol vehicles to achieve sustainable energy development. At that time, Li Shufu pointed out that at present, the large-scale application and promotion of methanol fuel and methanol vehicles in China has not yet been carried out, mainly with doubts about methanol fuel and insufficient policy support, especially the understanding of the nature of methanol fuel is not scientific and objective. It is suggested that the relevant departments should strengthen scientific cognition, overall planning and coordination to form a joint force.

Methanol is commonly known as "wood alcohol" or "wood essence". Like ethanol, methanol has a low calorific value, but has a high octane number and contains oxygen, so special engines are needed to burn methanol. In the 1970s, methanol cars were widely promoted in the United States because of the oil crisis, but then the crisis was over, and the two giants GM and Ford stopped producing methanol cars. Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, the fuel methanol used in methanol vehicles is toxic, and it is difficult to maintain and transport, and the high cost makes no company in the United States willing to develop methanol fuel.

Using methanol instead of petroleum fuel has been used abroad for many years, and the technology of methanol vehicle control system has been very mature. in recent years, methanol gasoline containing 15% methanol has been demonstrated in some areas of our country. this kind of methanol gasoline contains co-solvents that are miscible with gasoline and corrosion inhibitors that inhibit metal corrosion. Gasoline engines can use this fuel without any modification.

Among the many car enterprises, Geely is an enterprise that developed methanol cars relatively early. It is understood that Geely started the research on methanol vehicles in 2005. At present, 16 complete vehicles have passed the industry test certification, obtained the special product announcement of the methanol pilot operation project of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and has nearly 100 patents. However, except Geely, Great Wall Motor and BYD have not been involved in the research, so methanol cars still have a long way to go before they really enter the homes of ordinary people.

In recent years, the country has spent a lot of energy and financial resources to promote new energy, but the power battery technology has not made a big breakthrough. The battery life of electric vehicles, the energy conversion rate, the charging time and so on are all problems in front of us. Electric vehicles are not the only options for new energy vehicles, such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles or methanol vehicles.

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