India to be the leader of green hydrogen (UPSC Current Affairs)

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Why in the News?

• Hardeep Singh Puri, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, stated on May 23, that India will emerge as the global leader in green hydrogen.
  • Puri made the statements while in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, where he is part of an Indian team led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
• He said "India is accelerating its transformation to a green economy faster than any other country. We are accelerating this transformation by taking advantage of the present energy crisis"

What is Hydrogen?

• The simplest element is hydrogen. Each hydrogen atom contains just one proton.
• Hydrogen is also the universe's most abundant element.
  • The sun, for example, is primarily made up of hydrogen. The sun is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium gases.
• Only in compound form with other elements in liquids, gases, or solids can hydrogen occur naturally on Earth.
  • Water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O).
  • Hydrogen and carbon combine to generate hydrocarbons, which are present in natural gas, coal, and petroleum.

Hydrogen as a Carrier of Energy

• Hydrogen is an energy transporter, not an energy source, and it has the ability to transmit or store massive amounts of energy.
• Hydrogen may be utilized to create energy, power, and heat in fuel cells.
• The most prevalent applications for hydrogen today are petroleum refining and fertilizer manufacture, with transportation and utilities as new areas.

Hydrogen as a Source of Energy

• Hydrogen is a clean-burning fuel that creates heat and electricity with just water vapour as a by-product when mixed with oxygen in a fuel cell.
• Hydrogen is characterised as an energy carrier since it does not exist naturally and must be produced from other sources of energy.

• Hydrogen can be produced directly from fossil fuels or biomass.
• It can also be produced by sending electricity through water, which breaks the water down into its hydrogen and oxygen constituents.
• The majority of hydrogen is now produced by steam reforming natural gas.
  • However, natural gas is already a good fuel that is getting increasingly limited and expensive.
  • Because it's a fossil fuel, the carbon dioxide generated during the reformation process contributes to global warming.
• Because hydrogen has a high energy density per unit of weight but a low energy density per unit of volume, new technology is required to store and transport it.
• Furthermore, fuel cell technology is still in its early stages of development, requiring efficiency and durability improvements.

Application

• Hydrogen is a pure fuel that generates just water, energy, and heat when used in a fuel cell.
• Hydrogen and fuel cells have the potential to play a significant role in our national energy policy, with applications in nearly every sector—transportation, commercial, industrial, residential, and portable.
• Hydrogen and fuel cells have the potential to minimise greenhouse gas emissions in a variety of applications due to their high efficiency and near-zero emissions operation.
• Hydrogen and fuel cells have the potential to reduce emissions in the following ways:
  • Light-duty highway vehicles: emissions reductions of more than 50% to 90% compared to today's gasoline cars.
  • Specialty vehicles will emit 35% less pollution than existing diesel and battery-powered lift trucks.
  • Transit buses were shown to be 1.5 times more fuel efficient than diesel ICE buses and 2 times more efficient than natural gas ICE buses.
  • Auxiliary power units (APUs) reduce pollutants by more than 60% when compared to idle truck engines.
  • Combined heat and power (CHP) systems reduce emissions by 35 to 50 percent compared to traditional heat and power sources.

Way Forward

• The most difficult hurdle for hydrogen generation, particularly from renewable sources, is lowering the cost of hydrogen.
  • On a per-mile basis, hydrogen must be cost-competitive with conventional fuels and technology for transportation fuel cells.
• Research is focusing on enhancing the efficiency and longevity of hydrogen production systems, as well as lowering the cost of capital equipment, operations, and maintenance to minimise overall hydrogen costs.

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