Sinopec Capital Predicts an End to "the Burning Era" and a Greener Future Dominated by Electric Vehicles

BEIJING, Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec Group) today announced that Huang Wensheng, Chairman of Sinopec's Investment arm, delivered a keynote speech on January 13th at the China EV100 Forum 2019.

Supporting emergent technologies to go 'beyond the era of burning'

During the keynote address, entitled "The Future is Here," Huang tackled some of the pressing issues facing the energy industry and called for a "revolution in energy production and consumption" to halt the effects of global warming and its threat to life. Huang urged the human race to "go beyond the 'burning era', to give-up fossil fuels, embrace electrification and work towards a greener future where electric vehicles dominate cities' roads."

To tackle climate change, the Paris Agreement aims to keep the increase in global average temperature below 2 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels and to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees centigrade. To meet such a target, Wang argued, people need to shift to a new form of energy consumption that is clean, green, safe, efficient and sustainable.

The death of the combustion engine and a new energy future is on the horizon

"My proposal, 'Crossing the Burning Era', is based on the profound impact each revolution in the production and consumption of energy has had economic activity and social life. Electrification, thanks to advances in power storage that have boosted the efficiency of electricity utilization, has the potential to be the next energy revolution. Because of this, we predict that the adoption and application of electrification will accelerate," said Huang.

Emphasizing the disruptive nature of new technologies, Huang predicted that electric vehicles - now accounting for less than 1 percent of outstanding vehicles - will replace gas-powered automobiles between 2035 and 2045. The forecast is based on Sinopec Capital's in-house analysis, Huang said, citing that it only took combustible engines 30 years to sweep away horse carriages in the last energy revolution.

Technolgy + Capital escorting us into a greener future

Seeking to maintain leadership in a rapidly changing business environment, Sinopec, the world's largest refiner, is making strategic bets in emerging industries through Sinopec Capital, its newly-established investment vehicle. The newly established investment vehicle is committed to building long-term investments in areas such as new energy, green products, advanced materials and intelligent manufacturing and seeking out new opportunities beyond the energy sector to promote the cross-industry development of non-core business to improve quality and efficiency through mixed ownership reform.

Sinopec Capital Co Ltd., is an investment platform established in July 2018 and based Xiongan Economic zone, Hebei. With registered capital of 10 billion yuan, Sinopec Capital's mission is to build new engines of growth for its parent Sinopec, by making long-term investments in emerging industries such as new energy and green products. Leveraging Sinopec's strength across the entire business value chain, Sinopec Capital will seek to identify and foster emerging technologies in China's energy system to transform the industry into a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable sector. For more information, please refer to http://www.sinopecgroup.com/group/en