Undoubtedly, energy is an integral part of our life. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that actually energy is our life. Imagine what a world without energy would be like. Devoid of energy, the entire world will come to a standstill. Everything from agriculture, industry, science and technology to transportation depends on energy that has, in other words, become a necessity of our life. The importance of energy could be gauged from the fact that it is the consumption of energy per person that determines how much a country has developed.
However, the world is now debating the sources of energy being used in the new century due obviously to the problem of global warming. The planet earth is facing the crisis resulting from global warming due mainly to the use of traditional energy sources at an extensive scale. With this in view, the entire world is focusing on non-conventional energy sources to deal with the problem of global warming. The focus is on such non-conventional energy sources which cause minimum or negligible pollution. As part of this endeavour, the world is exploring the option of green energy. What is of significance is that India’s activeness in this direction augurs well for the future. There is no doubt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rightly identified and spotted the global opportunity in terms of production of green energy. What bears testimony to this is PM Modi’s unequivocal announcement at the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September that India is moving towards a 450 GW renewable energy target. While addressing at the 76th session of UNGA in New York, PM Modi also said that India will become the world’s biggest Green Hydrogen hub.
Earlier, on the occasion of Independence Day this year, PM Modi committed to the National Hydrogen Mission to invigorate India’s efforts in climate change mitigation. In fact, PM Modi wants India to become a major global hub for green hydrogen production and export. The PM wants country to be energy independent by 2047. The idea of National Hydrogen Mission (NHM) was first mooted in the Budget 2021 putting an effort to tap green energy sources for manufacturing hydrogen.
After the announcement of NHM, several private companies, and government firms such as Indian Oil and NTPC decided to make big investments in this mission. Significantly, Government of India has planned to spend around Rs 800 crore on Hydrogen research by 2024. Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, said: “We intend to achieve 40% of non-fossil usage by 2030, making a significant stride towards improving the current state of the country and establishing a green hydrogen ecosystem to smoothen the path to responsible living.” Definitely, green hydrogen is the best option for this. Green Hydrogen is a ray of hope not only for India but for the whole world facing problems such as global warming and pollution. The minister said that our energy generation from fossil is 150 GW as of now, which is 39 per cent of total production. India has set a target of achieving 175 GW renewable energy by 2022, while by 2030 the ambitious target has been set for achieving 450 GW renewable energy. The biggest part of it will be that of Hydrogen energy. As Ashwini Choubey said, “We want India to be the leader of the world in the area of Hydrogen production. This will be good not only for India from an economic point of view, but also for the world in the green energy areas.”
Experts from across the world are of the firm belief that the coming era will be that of Green Hydrogen which will be cheaper than the existing conventional sources such as petrol and diesel. Revolutionary changes on a war-footing in the field of technology are being seen worldwide. Given the efforts being put in, the days are not far off when apart from cars, large vehicles will be running on green hydrogen. Technological research is underway to see how green fuel can be used in planes and trains. With this kind of change around, the country which develops itself into a green energy hub at the right time will be better placed to gain advantage.
There is no denying that green hydrogen is in debate around the world at present. Experts are in unison over green hydrogen being the fuel of the future. After PM Modi’s announcement about NHM, several government and non-government firms have started preparation for producing and using green hydrogen. As of now, Indian Oil and NTPC are the government companies to have come forward, while the Reliance, Tata and Adani group are the private companies which have started taking solid steps in this direction.
Around 50 DTC buses in Delhi are being operated on CNG mixed with Hydrogen on an experimental basis. Now, what is mandatory at this point of time is to know as to how the hydrogen gas is being produced in the country and how it will be used.
At present, two methods are being used to produce it. In the first method, hydrogen gas is generated through electrolysis of water in which hydrogen is separated from water. In the second method, hydrogen and carbon are separated from natural gas, then hydrogen gas is extracted separately and remaining carbon is used in auto, electronic and aerospace sectors. If the country moves in the right direction in the field of hydrogen production, then the target of making India self-reliant in terms of energy in 100th year of Independence can be easily achieved.
It is quite easy to use this fuel. Fuel cells need to be fixed in the vehicles for using this. The fuel cells have electrodes namely cathode and anode. Chemical reactions take place with the help of these electrodes as a result of which energy is generated. In fact, fuel cells will consume hydrogen gas and produce energy consequently. What is left after the use of gas is water. What is of significance is that it does not give out smoke. Atomic energy, biomass, solar and wind energy will be used to produce hydrogen gas. Apart from vehicles and cars, this energy will be used in domestic power supply.
The world is aware of the massive opportunities that the sector of hydrogen production is going to create. India has taken initiatives in this field quite timely. But there are also challenges in this way. Countries such as Japan, Germany and some EU nations have announced Hydrogen policy in view of massive possibilities in this field. India will have to deal with all the challenges if it wants to establish itself as a leader in this field of energy production. For example, the cost of its production is the biggest challenge. The cost is six to eight US dollars per kg of hydrogen production at present, which is higher than the other energy sources. Second challenge is the transportation system for hydrogen. The cost of its transportation and storage is higher than that of the other fuels. India needs to set up renewable energy capacity of 30-40 GW every year to achieve the final target of 450 GW by 2030. For this to be a reality, the government will have to adopt measures of far-reaching significance. The infrastructure building needs to be started immediately.
Writer is a political analyst and former Chairman, Andhra Pradesh Electronics Development Corporation. Views expressed are writer’s personal.
There is no denying that green hydrogen is in debate around the world at present. Experts are in unison over green hydrogen being the fuel of the future. After PM Modi’s announcement about NHM, several government and non-government firms have started preparation for producing and using green hydrogen.