Green Hydrogen Mission, an initiative by the Government of India, aims to create export opportunities, decarbonize energy production, reduce carbon footprint & also develop local manufacturing abilities.
On January 4, 2023, the Union Cabinet approved the Mission with the aim to bring down the production cost of Green Hydrogen from Rs.300-400/kg to Rs.100/kg.
With a broad vision, it becomes important to understand the relevance on both, Environmental and Economic perspectives.
H2 as fuel!
Hydrogen is a green fuel for transportation, power generation & other industrial purposes. This hydrogen is derived from 3 sources and thus the nomenclature:
GREEN HYDROGEN | The Electrolyzer system breaks the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen by the electric energy derived from renewable energy sources. |
BLUE HYDROGEN | Natural gas based hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage options. |
GREY HYDROGEN | Hydrogen produced using fossil fuels like Natural gas. This accounts for about 95% of the hydrogen produced today. |
After a hike in oil prices in 1970s, Japan’s Honda, Toyota & South Korea’s Hyundai commercialized the technology to obtain green hydrogen on a small scale.
UTILITIES OF GREEN HYDROGEN!
- If the Green Hydrogen in produced on a large scale, it has the ability to decarbonize sectors like Iron, Steel, Chemical and Transportation etc.,
- The renewable energy that is produced and cannot be stored can be redirected for Green Hydrogen production.
- In electric vehicles, the fuel cell stack uses H2 to power electric motor.
- This has 60% electric energy conversion whereas traditional fuels like petrol and diesel converts just 20% of the energy stored in the fuel.
Globally, the proportion of Green Hydrogen as final energy output would be <1% by 2035!
For European Union, 1% of the final energy output would be Green Hydrogen in the year 2030!
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?
From the current rate, global Electrolyzer capacity has to grow 6000 to 8000 times. At the present pace, It would be difficult to contribute a huge margin.
The Electrolyzer is made up of expensive metals like Platinum which means Higher cost of production.
INDIAN GOVERNMENT’S INITIATIVES:
The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy stated that the Green Hydrogen production capacity is set to reach atleast 5 million metric tonnes/annum, with the renewable energy capacity addition of 125GW by 2030.
In April 2022, Oil India Limited commissioned India’s 1st 99.99% pure Green Hydrogen plant at Jorhat, Assam.
An US based, Ohmium International has established India’s 1st Green Hydrogen factory at Karnataka, as a part of Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition programme.
Promotion of domestic manufacturing of Electrolyzer.
With this, Green Hydrogen can help reduce fossil fuel imports and emissions by 2030, setting the step in right direction to net-zero by 2070!
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“If you can’t explain something simple, you don’t understand it well enough” – Albert Einstein.
Howdy readers!!! With strong belief in the power of words, I look forward to help you choose the correct lens to perceive world issues and embrace positivity about the future!