China is relying on hydrogen and electric cars

Published on: September 28, 2020 / Updated on: December 4, 2023 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

China is focusing on hydrogen and electric cars – Image: @shutterstock|Alexander Kirch

California recently announced that all cars in the state must be carbon neutral This demonstrates that the trend toward electric vehicles is gaining significant momentum in the US and around the world. China, one of the world's biggest carbon polluters, also recently unveiled a plan to be completely carbon neutral by 2060, and new data shows how the country hopes more than half of its passenger vehicles will be electric within the next two decades.

According to data collected by Bloomberg, 59 percent of all vehicles in the country will be electric by 2040, in order to meet China's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060. Only 40 percent will be traditional combustion engine cars, while about 1 percent will be fuel cell technology. However, the country still has a long way to go, as 98 percent of cars in China currently run on internal combustion engines.

The data also shows how China has expanded its wind and solar energy capacity over the past decade, creating the infrastructure to continue relying on cleaner energy sources in the future. According to Bloomberg, hydrogen energy is also much cheaper to purchase in China compared to other countries, suggesting an imminent boom in clean hydrogen energy. Nevertheless, the country is a global leader in coal demand and the production of new coal-fired power plants, and it will be the most difficult for China to move away from this type of fossil fuel in the coming decades.

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Projected percentage summary of passenger cars in China for the next two decades

You can find more infographics at Statista