GS- 3: Science & Technology, Biodiversity

Key Phrases: carbon neutral, zero emission mobility, green power sources, green hydrogen, consumption obligation, Production Linked Incentive

Why in News:

• Prime Minister recently announced that India would aim for net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
• India is the only major economy whose policies and actions are on track to limit global average temperature rise below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, as envisioned in the Paris Agreement.
• Hydrogen, green hydrogen, in particular is a crucial weapon in India’s arsenal to fight climate change as it improves the long-term energy storage capabilities of renewable energy.
• Hydrogen can provide the lowest-cost decarbonization solution for over a fifth of final energy demand by mid-century.

Green Hydrogen

• Hydrogen, when produced by electrolysis using renewable energy, is known as Green Hydrogen.
• Green hydrogen gas is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electrolyzer that may be powered by electricity generated from renewable energy sources.
• Green Hydrogen has no carbon footprint. Hydrogen that is in use these days is the primary source.
• Green hydrogen energy is vital for India to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)
• Organic materials such as fossil fuels and biomass are used for releasing hydrogen through chemical processes.
• Application of Green Hydrogen is in sectors such as chemicals, iron, steel, fertilizer and refining, transport, heating, and power.

Advantages of Green Hydrogen:

• Low Carbon Footprint: Green hydrogen can be generated without any harmful emissions If renewable energy (e.g. from Solar panels) is used to generate electricity for electrolysis of water.
  • It is a clean-burning molecule, which can decarbonize a range of sectors including iron and steel, chemicals, and transportation.
  • Hydrogen is a clean energy source that only emits water vapor and leaves no residue in the air, unlike coal and oil.
• Good Storage Material: To meet intermittencies (of renewable energy) in the future, Green Hydrogen acts as an energy storage option.
  • Renewable energy that cannot be stored or used by the grid can be channeled to produce hydrogen.
• Higher Energy Value: Energy density for weight, 1 kg of hydrogen has roughly thrice the energy value of 1 kg of diesel.
• Transport Efficient: Green Hydrogen can be used for long distance mobilization such as in railways, large ships, buses or trucks, etc.

Challenges:

• Highly reactive: Hydrogen is highly reactive at room temperature. So, storage and distribution require either high compression to store in special tanks, or chilling to below minus 250 degrees Celsius to liquefy.
• Require more space: It takes up a lot of space too. 1 kg of Hydrogen, occupies a volume of about 11,000 liters, versus just over a liter per kg of diesel.
• Specialized Infrastructure: It has a habit of making steel pipes and welds, brittle and prone to failure. Hence, the bulk transport of hydrogen will require dedicated pipelines, which would be costly to build, pressurizing the gas, or cooling it to a liquid.
• Expensive: Producing green hydrogen costs between $3.5/kg and $6.5/kg, depending on the cost of power. Cutting this, first to $2 and then to $1, will require new technologies and scale.
• Pressure on land: After converting electricity to hydrogen, shipping it, storing it, and then converting back to electricity, the delivered energy can be below 30 per cent of what was the initial electricity input. Hence, we need huge amounts of electricity from renewable sources which is going to put pressure on land.
• Storage and Transport Issues: While hydrogen has a very high energy content per unit of mass compared to natural gas, its energy density is low per unit of volume. Hence, we need huge containers to transport hydrogen. It’s possible to convert hydrogen to liquid form to facilitate transportation. But it cools down at -253 degrees Celsius and then reconverted which would require a lot of energy.
  • It can also be converted to hydrogen-based fuels before transportation, but this will again require additional energy. Today, about 85 per cent of the “green” hydrogen that is produced is done so “on-site” so that transportation problems are taken care of.
• Shortage of Electrolyzers: One of the challenges is the short supply of Electrolyzers. Compared to more established production processes, electrolysis is very expensive, so the market for electrolyzers has been small.
• Limitations on Use: The best suited is the industrial sector (mainly steel, ammonia and refineries). Its use in transport and power is restricted since it has to compete with batteries.
  • Hydrogen can be used in heavy duty, long-distance transportation because batteries have low energy-to-weight ratios, and they take a long time to charge compared to fuel cells. For smaller distances, battery-charged vehicles are the most viable option economically.
  • The best use of hydrogen in the power sector is for storage. Hydrogen-based storage is ideal for inter-seasonal storage.

Initiatives Taken:

• The cost of Green Hydrogen manufactured through electrolysis process is estimated to be around Rs.350 per kg. The Government plans to bring it down to Rs.160 per kg by 2029-30.
• Plans for green hydrogen consumption obligation (GHCO) in fertilizer production and petroleum refining this is similar to renewable purchase obligations (RPO).
• The Draft Electricity Rules, 2021 have allowed green hydrogen purchase to help meet RPOs.
• There are also ongoing Plans to call bids for 4 GW electrolyzer capacity.
• Extending the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme for manufacturing electrolyzers.
• NTPC Renewable Energy is setting up India’s largest solar park of 4.75 GW in Gujarat, with plans to make green hydrogen on a commercial scale.
• NTPC has also called bids for setting up a pilot project for mixing green hydrogen with natural gas for the city gas distribution network.
• Besides, Reliance Industries Ltd has recently announced plans to build large-scale, low-cost and high-efficiency electrolyzers as part of its $10 billion renewables push.
• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has notified Hydrogen as a fuel for automotive application for Bharat Stage VI vehicles. 
• In September 2020, an 18% blend of Hydrogen with CNG (HCNG) was notified as an automotive fuel.
• Further, the Department of Science and Technology has launched the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program and Advanced Hydrogen and Fuel Cell program to support research on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell. 
• Various hydrogen powered vehicles have been developed and demonstrated under projects supported by the Government of India. These include 6 Fuel Cell buses (by Tata Motors Ltd.), 50 hydrogen enriched CNG (H-CNG) buses in Delhi (by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. in collaboration with Govt. of NCT of Delhi).

Way forward

• India’s current grey hydrogen production is six million tonnes per annum, which is around 8.5% of global annual production. India should replace this with green hydrogen and reduce dependence on imported ammonia. 
• It should aim to produce 4-6 million tonnes of green hydrogen per annum by the end of the decade and export at least 2 million tonnes per annum. 
• Government funding and long-term policies that attract private investments within the standards and a progressive compliance framework are essential to boost green hydrogen.
• Hydrogen’s cross-sectoral capabilities should be exploited according to each sector’s cost and ease of adoption.
• A few key sectors with low transition costs, such as refineries, fertilizers and natural gas, should be mandated to use hydrogen to bring down costs as part of near-term goals.
• New demand from steel, cement and road mobility should be mandated as part of medium-term goals. 
• Heavy-duty vehicles should receive State and Central incentives. Shipping, aviation, energy storage and solutions towards power intermittency should be mandated to use green hydrogen in the long run.
• India has the potential of becoming a hydrogen exporter and should not lose this opportunity as it lost in the case of solar cells and batteries

Prelims Question:

Q. Which of the following statements are correct with respect to Hydrogen Energy Mission?

1. It aims to produce hydrogen in large scale through reforming methane (CH4).
2. It aims to decarbonize heavy industries like steel and cement.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

a. 1 only

b. 2 only

c. Both 1 and 2

d. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: b

Mains Question:

Q. Green Hydrogen has recently emerged as an important technology initiative which has a potential of curbing climate change, in this context discuss the advantages, challenges and recent government initiatives taken in the field of green hydrogen?