- Key in shaping futuristic carbon-free economy with government and Industry support
- High affordability, as cost of hydrogen production is expected to fall and become comparable with fossil-fuels
- Environment-friendly as per TERI, nearly 80% of India’s hydrogen is estimated to be green and produced by renewable electricity and electrolysis by 2050
Humanity is facing the huge challenge of carbon emission, slowly gnawing at the economy and environment. Amidst heated discussions, the government and manufacturing industry leaders are mulling over the possibilities of introducing Green Hydrogen Technologies to deliver the promise of decarbonization.
With public curiosity skyrocketing in this area, the government, and manufacturing industry players are trying to adopt the applications pertaining to Green Hydrogen that can be beneficial to sectors like steel, refining, fertilizer & methanol. It is considered to be the next-generation fuel, with the gas produced through electrolysis. Since hydrogen has always been available in abundance, it is cheap and for a long time has been considered as the fuel of the future.
Locating India in the Green Hydrogen Map
As India prepares for a stronger energy transition, climate change initiatives, aggressive renewable energy, and energy diplomacy initiatives that were previously waiting in the pipeline have gained traction too. Earlier, it had been observed that despite starting off promptly, was evidently lagging in implementing large- scale hydrogen projects. The delay is exacerbated since the first Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Roadmap was announced way back in 2006 followed by R&D funding.
Nonetheless, to pace up with the first-world countries, NITI Aayog has been working towards an economy steered by hydrogen production and is also keen on collaborating with industry leaders. Manoj Kumar Upadhyay, Senior Research Officer (Energy & International Cooperation Vertical) at NITI Aayog, Government of India, firmly asserts that “Green Hydrogen is the only solution. It is the future fuel that has a huge potential in providing options for the fuel for supply in the manufacturing sector. Therefore, the manufacturing sector will have access to unexploited avenues like electrolysis production or total hydrogen production. It will add value to the sector and reduce the carbon footprint.” He added that Green Hydrogen will be extremely cost-effective.”
Since plans by the government to launch a National Hydrogen Mission 2021 are already on the horizon, will be can hope for a clear policy direction that will propel the industries to integrate Green Hydrogen.
Furthermore, the policy guidelines will entail government initiatives, incentives, and technology boost. Sri Upadhyay further added that the government is keen on utilizing industry expertise besides encourage the fraternity to step forward with individual plans. Certainly, the government wants them as knowledge partners that will be instrumental in accentuating the need for moving forward with the clean energy drive.
With the Green Hydrogen ecosystem developing, the cost of hydrogen production is expected to come down and become comparable with fossil-fuels. No wonder various companies and sectors have been gradually embarking on Green Hydrogen projects. ACME Solar is one of the leading companies in India that has assimilated the Green Hydrogen Project in its purview.
Vinay Vyas Vice President, ACME, one of India’s pioneering renewable energy companies, opines that “Green Hydrogen plays a vital role in the sustainable energy transition, and this initiative has to be spread across sectors.” ACME being one of the first companies in Asia to have an integrated renewable energy Green Hydrogen project, ACME has already started the project in Rajasthan and aims at looking at investing in different parts of the world.
India Leading the Hydrogen Production Queue by 2050
The presence of renewable hydrogen has been strongly felt all around the world with several nations speculating about reaping its benefits even though the idea is at it its nascent stage. Such mind-boggling anticipation amongst leading economies can be attributed to hydrogen’s potential to drive the manufacturing sector towards growth and sustainability. The requirement is immense as Hydrogen is emerging as an alternative to lethal emissions.
As per the report published by The Energy and Resources Institute, or TERI, at present, the entirety of hydrogen consumed by India is churned by fossil fuels. However, by 2050, nearly 80% of India’s hydrogen is projected to be green produced by renewable electricity and electrolysis.TERI has hailed Green Hydrogen as the next ‘clean energy prize’, however, will only be attainable with coordinated action from industry and government for India to seize the benefits.
