India’s green hydrogen move may worsen pollution if steps are not in place, says study

India’s green hydrogen move may worsen pollution if steps are not in place, says study

Subject: Schemes

What is Green Hydrogen?

• Hydrogen is a key industrial fuel that has a variety of applications including the production of ammonia (a key fertilizer), steel, refineries and electricity.
• However, all of the hydrogen manufactured now is the so-called ‘black or brown’ hydrogen because they are produced from coal.
• Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. But pure, or the elemental hydrogen, is very scarce. It almost always exists in compounds like with oxygen to form H2O, or water.
• But when electric current is passed through water, it splits it into elemental oxygen and hydrogen through electrolysis. And if the electricity used for this process comes from a renewable source like wind or solar then the hydrogen thus produced is referred to as green hydrogen.
• Colors attached to hydrogen indicate the source of electricity used to derive the hydrogen molecule. For instance, if coal is used, it is referred to as brown hydrogen.

What is the National Green 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.

Objective:

• Developing green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonne) per annum, alongside adding renewable energy capacity of about 125 GW (gigawatt) in India by 2030.
• It aims to entail over Rs 8 lakh crore of total investments and is expected to generate six lakh jobs.
• It will also lead to a cumulative reduction in fossil fuel imports by over Rs 1 lakh crore and an abatement of nearly 50 MT of annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

Significance: It will help entail the decarbonisation of the industrial, mobility and energy sectors; reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and feedstock; developing indigenous manufacturing capabilities; creating employment opportunities; and developing new technologies such as efficient fuel cells.

Potential:

• India has a favorable geographic location and abundance of sunlight and wind for the production of green hydrogen.
• Green hydrogen technologies are being promoted in sectors where direct electrification isn’t feasible.
• Heavy duty, long-range transport, some industrial sectors and long-term storage in the power sector are some of these sectors.
• The nascent stage of this industry allows for the creation of regional hubs that export high-value green products and engineering, procurement and construction services.

What are the Challenges?

• In Nascent Stages Globally: Green hydrogen development is still in the nascent stages globally and while India can take the lead in being a major producer, it doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure yet to execute all these intermediary steps.

• Economic Sustainability: One of the biggest challenges faced by the industry for using hydrogen commercially is the economic sustainability of extracting green hydrogen. For transportation fuel cells, hydrogen must be cost-competitive with conventional fuels and technologies on a per-mile basis.

How India’s move can cause pollution:

• The main concern is that if electrolysers were run 24×7, they would be expected to operate even at night when no solar power is available.
• Where will the electricity come from? If it comes from India’s coal­ powered grid in general, it will in fact increase carbon emissions, since about 70% of the electricity on the grid is coal­ generated more in non­ daylight hours when solar generation is nil.
• The vast majority of projects have not disclosed their source of electricity.