India will soon be hosting a two-day summit on Green Hydrogen initiatives involving the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). This event is offering a platform to all the nations to share their respective green hydrogen initiatives. They shall also share their views on how to take it to the next level in their own nations, thereby benefiting the entire world.
India had already announced a hydrogen mission in the budget of 2021. ₹ 25 crores have already been allotted to the Renewable Energy Ministry for R&D on hydrogen. In fact, green hydrogen has no carbon footprint and is considered to play a significant role in decarbonizing energy systems across the world. However, there are several challenges that still remain in unlocking the usage of green hydrogen on the ground.
While hydrogen has been used in industries for a long period, green hydrogen is a fairly new concept. India has about 6 million MT of hydrogen production every year but this hydrogen is typically produced using steam reforming of methane. This process uses carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas and because of that, this called brown hydrogen. On the other hand, green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy like solar or wind is. Thus, there is no carbon dioxide production during the production of hydrogen and typically it is produced using the electrolysis of water. So in the generation of hydrogen, there is no greenhouse gas emission and that is why it is called greenhouse green hydrogen.
India is now looking at a green hydrogen economy where hydrogen will be used primarily in three areas: transportation, power generation, and industries. With India having achieved a lower solar tariff at ₹2, the production of green hydrogen has also become economical. India is attempting to produce green hydrogen through solar or wind power. The maximum cost of hydrogen is basically covered by electricity.
Hydrogen will play an important role in the overall energy policy framework of the BRIC nations. Hydrogen provides a potential break for the economies to minimize reliance on imports of oil and focus on alternate sources of energy as well. India has already proposed a bill with respect to it as well.
There are a couple of government organizations in India that are working on the ground to bring green hydrogen into use. They are creating infrastructure for the generation, storage, and handling of hydrogen to meet the demands of different sectors.
It is being said that the demand for hydrogen in India will increase fivefold by 2050. Right now India imports almost 85% of crude oil and 24% of coal.
Green hydrogen is very vital to decarbonizing the entire energy ecosystem. Nonetheless, there are several challenges as well in terms of technology, efficiency, financial viability, and obviously demand and supply aspect.
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