Recently there has been a great number of investments in Green Hydrogen since the launch of the Hydrogen Mission by the Government of India. Also, this positivity regarding Green Hydrogen is not only in India itself but is all around the globe as well. Moreover, Green Hydrogen is being considered as the “Fuel of the Future”. So, let’s move forward and discuss more about the concept of Green Hydrogen, How it is developing, and how global economies are responding to the same.
What is Hydrogen as a Fuel?
- Hydrogen is a clean source of alternate fuel
- It is a zero-emission fuel burned with oxygen and can be used in fuel cells.
- At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
Why Hydrogen?
Followings are the developments that are currently ongoing in the Green Hydrogen Space:
- Around $11 Trillion infrastructure investments have been made for the opportunities in the next 30 years.
- Around $70 billion global policy support has been provided for Hydrogen.
- As of now, worth $300 billion Hydrogen projects are ongoing worldwide.
- The Estimated cost of clean hydrogen by 2050 will be $2-$3 per kg.
- It is estimated that 1 Kg of Hydrogen is equal to around 3k kg of diesel.
- Due to all the positivity and favorable factors around, the Green Hydrogen market is expected to be worth ~$1 Trillion by 2030.
What is National Hydrogen Mission?
- On 15 August 2021, the Prime Minister of India announced the launch of the National Hydrogen Mission (NHM) while commemorating the 75 years of independence to cut down carbon emissions and increase the use of renewable sources of energy.
- National Hydrogen Mission aims to align these efforts with global best practices in technology, policy, and regulation.
- The Government of India has allotted Rs 25 crore in the Union Budget 2021–22 for the research and development in hydrogen energy and intends to produce three-fourths of its hydrogen from renewable resources by 2050.
- It aims to leverage the country’s landmass and low solar and wind tariffs to produce low-cost green hydrogen and ammonia for export to Japan, South Korea, and Europe.
- India’s target for 2022 for renewable energy generation is 175 GW and this mission is expected to bolster the process. The target for 2030 is 450 GW. And the country has set to decarbonize by 2050.
- Using hydrogen will serve the twin purposes of achieving India’s emission commitments under the Paris Agreement and reducing the import dependence on fossil fuels.
- The end-users of hydrogen energy are the transportation sector, chemical industry, and steel sector as these sectors contribute to 1/3rd of all greenhouse gas emissions because of their using fossil fuels.
Green Hydrogen & Piped Natural Gas (PNG):
- The government of India has laid down plans for blending 15% of hydrogen with PNG for domestic, industrial, and commercial consumption.
- The move aligns with India's lofty goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.
- This project is part of the government's National Hydrogen Energy Mission, which aims to produce hydrogen from renewable energy sources.
- A Hydrogen Purchase Obligation (HPO) mechanism has also been planned by the government under which, the bulk buyers such as Discoms and captive users have to buy a certain proportion of hydrogen out of their total power requirement.
- HPO will cover green hydrogen using industries like fertilizer plants and oil refiners. And the demand for green hydrogen HPO is likely to come from 2023.
- The only disadvantage as laid down by the US Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is leakage risks due to hydrogen embrittlement which will weaken the metal or polyethylene pipes.
Roadmap to National Hydrogen Energy Mission
Source: India's National Hydrogen Mission and Prospects for Cooperation with GCC by Lakshmi Priya
i) Phase – 1 (2021-2024):
Source: India's National Hydrogen Mission and Prospects for Cooperation with GCC by Lakshmi Priya
- The period between 2021 to 2024 will be a pilot phase where there will be market development, improvement of infrastructure & supply chain, investment in Research & Development (R&D), development of regulations & standards, and implementation of missions.
ii) Phase-2 (2024-2030):
- Post Phase-1 i.e., 2024, there will be mass adaptation and commercialization of Green Hydrogen in different sectors.
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