On India’s 75th Independence Day, the Prime Minister announced the National Hydrogen Mission to make the country a production and export hub of green hydrogen.
Hydrogen
- It is one of the most abundant elements on earth for a cleaner alternative fuel option.
- Type of hydrogen depend up on the process of its formation:
- Green hydrogen:
- It is produced by electrolysis of water using renewable energy (like Solar, Wind) and has a lower carbon footprint.
- Electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
- By Products : Water, Water Vapour.
Advantages of hydrogen as a fuel:
- Green hydrogen can be stored for long periods of time:The stored hydrogen can be used to produce electricity using fuel cells.
- It can be used for industrial and medical applications or for enriching the environment.
- Green hydrogen can drive India’s transition to clean energy, combat climate change.
- Under the Paris Climate Agreement:India pledged to reduce the emission intensity of its economy by 33-35% from 2005 levels by 2030.
- It will reduce import dependency on fossil fuels.
- Development of green hydrogen projects can create a new green technologies market in India worth $18-20 billion and thousands of jobs.
National Hydrogen Mission:
- It is a program to incentivise the commercial production of green hydrogen and make India a net exporter of the fuel.
- The Mission will facilitate demand creation, production, utilization and export of Green Hydrogen.
Sub Schemes:
- Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHT): It will fund the domestic manufacturing of electrolysers and produce green hydrogen.
- Green Hydrogen Hubs: States and regions capable of supporting large scale production and/or utilization of hydrogen will be identified and developed as Green Hydrogen Hubs.
- Aim: Production of 5 MMT (million metric tonne) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW (giga watt) by 2030.
Challenges to produce and use green hydrogen:
It can be classified into 4Es:
- Electrolyser
- Energy source
- End use
- Endogenous resources.
Advantages of Green Hydrogen as a fuel
- Green hydrogen can be stored for long periods of time:The stored hydrogen can be used to produce electricity using fuel cells.
- It can be used for industrial and medical applications or for enriching the environment.
- Green hydrogen can drive India’s transition to clean energy, combat climate change.
- Under the Paris Climate Agreement: India pledged to reduce the emission intensity of its economy by 33-35% from 2005 levels by 2030.
- It will reduce import dependency on fossil fuels.
- Development of green hydrogen projects can create a new green technologies market in India worth $18-20 billion and thousands of jobs.
- Stored for a long period: The intermittent nature of renewable energy, especially wind, leads to grid instability. Green hydrogen can be stored for long periods of time. The stored hydrogen can be used to produce electricity using fuel cells.
- Grid stability: In a fuel cell, a device that converts the energy of a chemical into electricity, hydrogen gas reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water vapour. Hydrogen, thus, can act as an energy storage device and contribute to grid stability.
- Monetary benefits: Experts say the oxygen, produced as a by-product, can also be monetise by using it for industrial and medical applications or for enriching the environment.
- Flexible carrier: Hydrogen is a flexible energy carrier and can be used for many energy applications like the integration of renewables and transportation.
- Fewer emissions: It is produced using RE and electrolysis to split water and is distinct from grey hydrogen, which is produced from methane and releases greenhouse gases.
- The byproduct is also environmentally friendly: Energy can be extract from hydrogen through combustion or through fuel cells, which emit only water as a by-product.
Disadvantages
- Increased leakage risks: According to a study by the US Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 2013, “How it (hydrogen) affects the pipelines it travels in and appliances that use it.
- On the pipeline front, hydrogen embrittlement can weaken metal or polyethylene pipes and increase leakage risks, particularly in high-pressure pipes”.
- Brittle: Hydrogen embrittlement is a situation when the metal (pipeline) becomes brittle due to the diffusion of hydrogen into the material. The extent of embrittlement depends on the amount of hydrogen and the material’s microstructure.
What can India do to build a global-scale green hydrogen industry?
- India should announce ambitious national targets for green hydrogen and electrolyser capacity by 2030.
- Launch an incentive programme for the production of electrolysers.
- Implementing complementary solutions that create virtuous cycles for ex., building the hydrogen infrastructure for refueling, heating and generating electricity at airports.
- Optimising distribution networks to decarbonise the gas grid.
