On the edge of the Saudi Arabian desert beside the Red Sea, a city called Neom is due to be built. The city-complete with flying taxis and robotic domestic help—is planned to become home to one million people. And what energy product will be used to power this city? Not oil. Instead, Saudi Arabia is banking on a different fuel—green hydrogen.
A large US gas company, Air Products & Chemicals, announced that as part of Neom it has been building a green hydrogen plant in Saudi Arabia for the past four years. The plant claims to be the world's largest green hydrogen project.
Experts say that green hydrogen could be an ideal power source for many industries.
In Japan, a new green hydrogen plant opened near Fukushima—an intentionally symbolic location given the plant's proximity to the site of the 2011 nuclear disaster. It will be used to power fuel cells.
Europe is also investing in green hydrogen. The European Union drafted a strategy for large-scale green hydrogen expansion. "Large-scale deployment (部署) of clean hydrogen at a fast pace is key for the EU to achieve its high climate ambitions", the European Commission wrote.
Green hydrogen is a promising zero-emission technology for aircraft. But Airbus recently released a statement saying that significant problems need to be overcome, including safely storing hydrogen on aircraft, the lack of a hydrogen facility at airports, and cost.
And on the ground, green hydrogen has been identified as an alternative to some road vehicles. In the UK, hydrogen trains, trucks and buses are welcomed.
There are even plans for smaller-scale hydrogen systems that can power individual homes. In Australia, the University of New South Wales has created a home-based system that uses solar energy to create and store green hydrogen, which is changed into electricity as needed.
【小题1】What do we know about the city Neom?| A．It is located off the coast of the Red Sea. |
| B．It will be crowded with robotic taxis. |
| C．It will be powered by a unique power source. |
| D．It has the world's largest gas company. |
| A．Nearness. | B．Significance. |
| C．Remoteness. | D．Similarity. |
| A．Some experts state that it could be applied to almost any field. |
| B．The European Union took great interest in its fast- paced expansion. |
| C．It can be employed in all road vehicles as a zero-emission technology. |
| D．Storing it safely on aircraft was impossible to handle. |
| A．Advertisement. | B．Travel guide. |
| C．Science report. | D．Newspaper. |
