Introduction  With the advancement of the "carbon peak and neutrality" process, it is imperative to reduce carbon and emissions in the coal chemical industry. The coal chemical process uses a large amount of hydrogen, which mainly converted from fossil fuels, resulting in residual carbon emissions. If green electricity and green hydrogen are coupled with coal chemical construction, it will not only promote energy conservation and emission reduction in the coal chemical industry, but also facilitate the large-scale application of green electricity and green hydrogen.

  Method  In this paper, taking the typical coal chemical process of coal to ethylene glycol as an example, the system construction scheme for coupling green electricity and green hydrogen to produce ethylene glycol from coal was elaborated in detail.

  Result   Analysis shows that the introduction of green hydrogen has improved the carbon utilization rate of coal to ethylene glycol, from 21.1% in the conventional process to 40.5% in coupled system, while the carbon emission intensity per ton of finished ethylene glycol has decreased from 2.58 t CO₂ to 0.93 t CO₂. At the same time, integrated construction can reduce the cost of secondary system construction and operation and maintenance.

  Conclusion   The coupling construction of green electricity, green hydrogen, and coal chemical industry is technically feasible with large development potential, but there are still many challenges to overcome.