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Graphical abstract, Highlights • Methanol synthesis via carbon dioxide hydrogenation is reviewed. • Up to date review on high yield catalysts for methanol synthesis are discussed. • Catalytic performance parameters (temperature, Pressure, Support) are reviewed. • Policy framework towards renewable energy for China is extensively reviewed. • The catalytic mechanism and the role of promoters, bi-metallic catalyst is also discussed., A unified treatment of the renewable portfolio standards is given concerning direct methanol fuel. The current mechanism of electrocatalysis of methanol oxidation on platinum and non-platinum-containing alloys is summarized for the systematic improvement of the rate of electro-oxidation of methanol are discussed. Policy realignment under the five-year plan is discussed in length to demonstrate how policy, markets, and engineering designs contribute towards the development of model direct methanol fuel cells operational enhancement, and factors that affect critical performance parameters for commercial exploitation are summarized for catalytic formulations and cell design within the context of why this investment in technology, education, and finances is required within the global context of sustainable energy and energy independence as exposed by thirteenth the five-year plan. The prolog focuses on the way, whereas the section on methanol fuel cells on the how and the post log on what is expected post-COVID-19 era in science and technology as China pivots to a post-fossil fuel economy. China's industrial growth has been through internal market reforms and supplies side economics from the Chinese markets for fossil fuels except for petroleum. The latest renewable portfolio standards adopted have common elements as adopted from North American and the United Kingdom in terms of adaptation of obligation in terms of renewable portfolio standards as well as a realization that the necessity for renewables standards for the thirteen five year plan (from 2016 to 2020) need to less rigorously implemented due to performance targets that were met during the eleventh (06–10) and twelfth five-year plans (11–15) in terms of utilization of small coal-ire power plants, development of newer standards, led to an improvement of energy efficiency of 15 %, reduction of SOx/NOx by an average of 90 % and PM2.5 by 96 % over the last two five-year plans. The current phase of the plan has a focus on energy generation from coal and a slowing down of renewables or Renewable energy curtailment of approximately 400 T Wh renewables including 300 T Wh of non-hydro power, principally from Guangdong, and Jiangsu for transfer of hydropower and Zhejiang, Tianjin, Henan for non-hydro power transfer with Beijing and Shanghai playing important roles in renewables energy curtailment and realignment using an integrated approach to optimize each provinces energy portfolio. The realignment of the renewable energy portfolio indicates that the newly installed capacity in Sichuan, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, and Zhejiang will account for less than 20 % of the current renewable energy portfolio but with the NOx SOx and PM2.5 savings already accrued. The catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol (70 / 110 million metric tons from all sources in 2019 for China/world) is one technological approach to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and suggests that catalytic methanol synthesis by CO2 hydrogenation may be a plausible approach, even if it is more expensive economically than methanol synthesis by the syngas approach. This is because the CO2 emissions of the synthesis are lower than other synthesis methodologies. The Chinese government has placed a premium on cleaner air and water and may view such an approach as solving the dual issues of fuel substitution and reduction of CO2. Thus, the coupling of hydrogen generation from sustainable energies sources (Solar 175 / 509 GW) or wind (211/591.5 GW in 2019) may be an attractive approach, as this requires slightly less water than coal gasification. Due to the thermodynamic requirement of lower operating pressure and higher operating pressure, currently, there is no single operational approach, although some practice approaches (220 °C at 48 atm using copper) and zinc oxide/alumina are suggested for optimal performance.

IWT is more energy efficient that modes like road or rail. The bigger capacity of IWT units means that the sector is able to ship more tons per kilometer per unit of fuel than what is possible with other modes. This benefits the climate and makes the sector relatively cost-efficient. Even so, few countries fully exploit the potential benefits of IWT and in many countries the share of road transport is increasing at the cost of IWT. There are various possible reasons for this trend. Among the main reasons given by shippers to avoid IWT are advantages of road transport such as speed of delivery and flexibility, limitations imposed by IWT infrastructure (water levels, bridge clearances, port access) and underdeveloped intermodal facilities (transshipment from IWT to truck for pre- and end-haulage). For shippers these arguments are more important than the potential reduction of transport costs and CO2 emissions. Chapter two compares the global energy-efficiency of IWT with that of other transport modes. It also discusses the reasons for differences between modes and the implications of each for CO2 emissions. Chapter three deal with the varying energy-performance of IWT vessels in various regions in the world. Chapter four explores several energy efficiency benchmarking methods. The conclusions of part A are presented in chapter five.

Vietnam's transport sector plays an important role in its socioeconomic development. Passenger transport helps meets daily needs and contributes significantly to tourist service development while freight transport helps meet the country's demand for delivery of raw materials and of semi-finished products to production facilities and for transport of finished products to consumers. With the overall growth in transport in the country, each of the main forms of transport (road, railway, aviation, inland waterways and maritime) are currently increasing the total fuel use for transport and as a result overall greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the mix of transport modes used, the major factors affecting the impact of this growth on current and future greenhouse gases from each mode of transport are the quality and quantity of the vehicles and supporting infrastructure and the type of fuels used and their efficiency. The following sections evaluate the infrastructure and fuel use of each of the modes of transport (sections 1.1-1.5), the current and projected greenhouse gas emissions from the sector and the reasons for this (section 2), and typologies of interventions that can reduce the emissions from the sector (section 3).