A Shanxi-made vehicle with a hydrogen engine, the first of its kind in China, was unveiled at the 2017 Shanxi Clean Energy Automobile Promotion and Application Exhibition which opened in Taiyuan on Nov 11, attracting many visitors.

Faced with a global energy crisis, many countries including China, the United States, Canada and Japan have been promoting new energy vehicles such as fuel-cell vehicles on a large scale.

The 2017 Shanxi Clean Energy Automobile Promotion and Application Exhibition opens in Taiyuan on Nov 11. The exhibition concluded on Nov 13. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Shanxi in North China, previously a major energy producer, has seen its development dogged by exhausted energy supplies and pollution caused by energy development and production.

"The hydrogen-powered vehicle with fuel made from water has zero emissions and will help relieve the energy crisis," said Gao Zhenshi, sales manager of Shanxi Yuanye Automobile Manufacturing Co, the producer of this new energy vehicle.

Gao Zhenshi, sales manager at Shanxi Yuanye Automobile Manufacturing Co, introduces the company's hydrogen vehicle at the 2017 Shanxi Clean Energy Automobile Promotion and Application Exhibition, Nov 13. The company, which has total assets of 1.3 billion yuan, has begun establishing a new energy industrial base in Shanxi Demonstration Area for Economic Transformation and Reform. [Photo/chinanews.com]

The hydrogen engine uses 60 percent less processing materials, reduces emissions by more than 90 per cent and running costs by 50 per cent, compared with traditional engines.

"The cost of running a petroleum vehicle for 100 kilometers is around 80 yuan ($12.05), an e-vehicle is around 10 yuan, while a hydrogen-powered vehicle costs only 6 yuan," added Gao.

The company's promising hydrogen vehicle project provides a new way to utilize a hydrogen engine and the related key technologies which have reached an advanced level in China, and can be applied in more areas, according to an expert group led by Ni Weidou, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Visitors consult exhibitors about new energy vehicles at the 2017 Shanxi Clean Energy Automobile Promotion and Application Exhibition, Nov 13. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Currently, the company's hydrogen fuel rotary engine technology is the subject of three national patent applications, and has been tested on various types of vehicles.

When it goes into mass production and hits the market in 2018, the hydrogen-powered vehicle is expected to help control air pollution in Shanxi, and facilitate the development of new energy vehicles and the upgrading of the auto industry.