LAUSR

Carbon neutralization symbolizes the ‘energy revolution’ in China, and has become a national strategic goal.More than 80% of carbon emissions in China come from energy utilization, especially the use of fossil energy. Therefore, the key to the ‘energy revolution’ lies in two areas: on the one hand, optimization of industrial structure and improvement of energy intensity, so as to achieve continuous reduction in total energy consumption while maintaining GDP growth; on the other hand, adjusting the consumption structure of primary energy and reducing the proportion of high-emission fossil energy, so as to reduce carbon dioxide emissions under the premise of meeting the energy needs of thewhole society.Thegoal is to achieve carbonneutralization by 2060. There are two major characteristics of energy in China [1]: first, structurally, it still relies heavily on fossil energy; second, the resource endowment is ‘poor oil, lean gas, and rich coal’. Petroleum and natural gas depend heavily on imports. In 2021, the import rates of oil and natural gas reached 72% and 45%, respectively, which imposes a great threat to energy security. Furthermore, there are 1.5 trillion tons of proven coal reserves in China, and 244 billion tons of technically mineable reserves, which can be used safely for 100 years. Therefore, based on the resource endowment of the nation, the strategy of ‘energy revolution’ should aim to achieve the clean and efficient utilization of coal, to increase the production of new energy, and to promote the optimal integration of fossil energy and new energy. To achieve clean and efficient utilization of coal. In addition to improving the efficiency of coal-fired power generation through innovative technology, an important aspect of the optimal use of coal in China is to achieve efficient and clean conversion of coal for production of oil products and chemicals, so as to ensure energy and resource security. Traditional coal conversion technology involves aprocess of coal gasificationgiving synthesis gas (so called ‘syngas’, i.e. a mixture of CO/H2) followed by catalytic synthesis, i.e. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), whichwas inventedby twoGerman scientists at thebeginningof the last century. In this technology, hydrogen required for FTS is obtained fromwater through the water-gas-shift (WGS) reaction, which not only consumes energy, but also releases a large amount of carbon dioxide. Typically, ∼10 tons of carbon dioxide are emitted for the production of 1 ton of product (such as liquid fuels andolefins).Therefore, the researchdirectionof coal conversion in the future should be focused on technologies to convert syngas to oxygen-containing compounds, thus retaining the oxygen atoms from the feedstock gas as much as possible in the final product. It is as urgent, if not more urgent, to optimize the process by shortening the process and improving the efficiency (e.g. product selectivity) [2]. But it would be most ideal to develop innovative technologies that utilize highperformance catalysts to directly ‘cut’ coal molecules into desired product molecules, in order to realize precise ‘molecular coal refining’. To improve the efficiency of new energy production. From a technical point of view, the key should be high-performance solar cells and efficient electrochemical energy storage. Through wide efforts, significant progress has been made in solar cells, owing to many generations of new materials, from polysilicon to composite materials and crystalline silicon. However, the efficiency of converting solar energy into electricity is still limited to around 25%. There is great potential for development in the future [3]. Tandem solar cells, such as those composed of perovskite films (e.g. ∼1.7 eV) and crystalline silicon (e.g. ∼1.1 eV), and infrared quantum dot films (CQDs, e.g.<1 eV), are able to effectively convert wide-spectrum solar energy [4]. Therefore, breakthroughs are expected in many aspects relating to advanced materials and novel processes. Furthermore, in order to overcome the weaknesses of renewable energy sources, such as spatial distribution, low density and lack of continuity, development of high-efficiency energy storage devices is essential. Although pumped hydro storage will still be widely used in centralized, large-scale energy storage, chemical batteries will be a good alternative energy storage method that will match decentralized power generation devices. In this regard, high-safety solid-state lithium-ion batteries, high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries and lithium-air batteries will have great prospects. In addition, sodium batteries, aluminum batteries and large-capacity flow batteries that do not rely on lithium resources will also be important and shall be developed. At the same time, the recycling of used batteries has attracted wide attention and a breakthrough is also expected in the near future. To promote the optimal integration of fossil energy and renewable energy. As an important fossil resource, coal has two main functions. One is to serve as an energy source, which reacts with oxygen to release energy, usually for heating and power generation.The other function is to be used as a reducing agent to free the metal from its oxide compounds, that is, metal smelting. Both processes produce large amounts of carbon dioxide. On the other hand, for new energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy and nuclear energy, the ultimate energy form is electricity. Therefore, direct utilization of renewable electricity for efficient heating will be an important research direction in the future. In this regard, promising tech-