India's Plan To Develop Green Hydrogen (UPSC Current Affairs)

Relevance: GS2 - Government policies and interventions for the development of various sectors, GS3 - Energy, Conservation

(Source: The Hindu, Indian Express, 01/06/2023)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen mission with the aim of making India a global hub for using, producing, and exporting green hydrogen.
• India is the world’s third-largest single emitter of carbon dioxide despite a low per capita emission (1.8 tonnes of Co2e per person).

What is Green Hydrogen?

• Hydrogen is a key industrial fuel used in the manufacture of ammonia, steel, electricity, and refined goods.
• However, all the hydrogen produced in India now is derived from coal and is called ‘black’ or ‘brown’ hydrogen.
• Coal derived from natural gas is called grey hydrogen while blue hydrogen is produced from fossil fuel sources where the emitted carbon is captured by the carbon-capturing process.
• Green hydrogen is produced by the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis powered by electricity from renewable sources like solar energy.
• The production of green hydrogen is the most ecologically friendly and sustainable method of hydrogen production available.

Why is this method not as popular as others?

• Production of green hydrogen is extremely expensive and accounts for around 1% of global hydrogen production.
• According to the Council for Energy, Environment and Water, it costs $3.5 -5.5 to produce 1 Kg of green hydrogen as compared to $0.9-1.5 for black hydrogen, $1.7-2.3 for grey hydrogen, and $1.3-3.6 for blue hydrogen.

What is the National Green Hydrogen Mission?

• The National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to incentivize the production of green hydrogen in the country and make India a net exporter of the fuel.
• It has set a target of developing at least 5MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) of production capacity per annum.
• Along with the target of an additional 125 GW of renewable energy, it will help decarbonize the Indian industrial, mobility, and energy sectors.
• It will help reduce the dependence on fuel imports and help develop local production capacities and new technologies like fuel-efficient cells.
• This will further contribute to employment generation and immunization of the economy from supply chain challenges.
• The Central Government has targeted that the scheme will create $8 trillion of investment and 6 lakh jobs by 2030.
• As a result of decarbonization, by 2030 India expects savings of around 50 MMT of carbon dioxide emissions yearly.
• This is in line with India’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, of reducing the emission intensity of its GDP by 45% from 2005 levels in 2030.

How will the mission support the production of Green Hydrogen?

• There are two umbrella missions under the programme:
  • The Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHTS) will fund the domestic manufacture of electrolysers and the development of green hydrogen.
  • Support pilot projects in emerging end-use and production pathways.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable energy has planned to identify states and regions capable of the production or utilization of hydrogen on a large scale and develop them as Hydrogen hubs.
• The Ministry has budgeted ₹17,490 Crore for the SIGHTS programme, ₹1466 Crore for pilot projects and hydrogen hubs, ₹400 Crore for research and development, and ₹388 Crore for other parts of the mission.

What are the challenges faced by the Green Hydrogen Mission?

• India faces the challenge of accessing a reliable supply of components for all sectors of the green hydrogen supply chain. Industrial houses have supported the project subject to the satisfaction of this criteria.
• The skills and techniques of the small and medium manufacturing industries need to be upgraded to keep pace with new developments in the sector.
• Effective skill development programmes need to be formulated to create an efficient workforce among the lakhs of unemployed youth.
• There is a need to develop an efficient transmission network to supply energy from the production hubs to industrial areas.
• Supply chain infrastructure in the form of pipelines, tankers, storage and distribution systems needs to be developed in rural and urban areas.
• Other advanced nations have also announced similar schemes which could result in them overtaking India due to the lack of infrastructure in India.
• According to a report by the McKinsey group, effective decarbonization down to 1.9GT of CO2e by 2070 from the present 2.9GT would cost $7.2 trillion.
• India lacks the intermediary infrastructure needed for the process and has to incentivize users of industrial hydrogen to shit to green hydrogen.

What are the advantages of adopting green hydrogen?

• Green hydrogen is a clean, cheap, reliable, and easy-to-access fuel source that is available regardless of the season, unlike wind and solar.
• Even though it is not yet ready for implementation, it is expected to be more cost-effective and less dangerous than nuclear energy.
• A substantial portion of the Mission’s outlay is in research and development to ensure that India can profit from future demand like China did with photovoltaic cells.
• Achieving net-zero emissions ahead of schedule would create energy security and encourage the growth of futuristic industries.
• Adoption of green hydrogen as a strategy going forward would mean that all future infrastructure developed in India would be decarbonized reducing the costs of achieving emission targets.

Way Forward

• The Indian government should declare 5-year, 10-year, and 25-year goals for decarbonization and implement policies and provide investment to ensure they are met.
• A National land use plan should be defined that maximizes the use of barren land and increases the generation of energy and agro-productivity.
• Encourage private firms to invest in sectors like recycling, hydrogen, biomass, electrolyzers, and batteries which may take time to turn profitable but have huge impacts on the environment.

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FAQs

MCQ

Question: Consider the following statements.

1. Grey hydrogen is produced from petroleum.
2. Blue hydrogen is produced by the electrolysis of water.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither

Question: Consider the following statements.

1. Reusing barren land to generate renewable power and increase agricultural productivity is a part of the National land use plan.
2. India would need an additional 18 million hectares of land to act as carbon sinks to meet its decarbonization goals.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 2

(d) None of the above