Against the backdrop of the current global energy transition, the trend of traditional fossil resources “reducing oil and increasing chemicals” and shifting from fuel to materials is becoming increasingly obvious. At the same time, the rapid development of new energy industries such as wind power and photovoltaics has also brought new development opportunities to the new materials market.
Taking ethylene, the core product of the petrochemical industry, as an example, it can be used as a raw material to produce new energy and new material products such as polycarbonate, lithium battery diaphragm, photovoltaic EVA, α-olefin, and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. According to statistics, 18 ethylene downstream products are related to new energy, new materials and other hot industries. Due to the rapid development of new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, semiconductors and other industries, the market demand for new materials continues to expand.
The “2023 Domestic and Foreign Oil and Gas Industry Development Report” released by the China National Petroleum Corporation Economic and Technological Research Institute at the beginning of this year pointed out that driven by the rapid development of the new energy industry, the demand for ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and POE has grown rapidly. “my country is the world’s largest exporter of photovoltaic modules, which account for more than 80% of the global market. The consumption of photovoltaic films has also increased significantly. The demand for the main raw materials EVA and POE has grown rapidly for many years. In 2023, the consumption will reach 3.3 million tons and 920,000 tons, respectively, up 20% and 31% year-on-year, respectively. It is one of the fastest growing synthetic resin products.”
Related calculation data show that by 2030, my country’s demand for lightweight materials for electric vehicles will reach more than 7.5 million tons, and may even exceed 10 million tons; the demand for new chemical materials in the battery industry will reach 7.1 million tons, and negative electrode materials, diaphragms, electrolytes, and adhesives will have a large growth space. Against the background of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the new energy industry is developing rapidly, and the growth rate of demand for new chemical materials in the photovoltaic and wind energy fields will reach 200%, which has huge potential.