MAKING INDIA a Green hydrogen economy, editorial 28 November 2022

Making India a Green Hydrogen Economy

The Green hydrogen (GH2 or GH2) is hydrogen generated by renewable energy or from low-carbon power. Green hydrogen has significantly lower carbon emissions than grey hydrogen, which is produced by steam reforming of natural gas, which makes up the bulk of the hydrogen market. Green hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water is less than 0.1% of total hydrogen production.It may be used to decarbonize sectors which are hard to electrify, such as steel and cement production, and thus help to limit climate change.

It is a matter of great fortune that India is in the process of finalizing the roadmap to a “green hydrogen economy” which will require an investment of ₹30 trillion by 2030, said Vivek Kumar Dewangan, chairman and managing director, REC.

The country’s green hydrogen plans would play a major role in achieving its goal of net zero emissions and becoming a developed nation by 2047.

“India has launched green hydrogen project. Now, we are in the progress of finalizing a roadmap for becoming green hydrogen economy which would require ₹15 trillion and another ₹15 trillion is required to meet our middle-term goal by 2030. So in all, these initiatives would require an investment of ₹30 trillion by 2030,” Dewangan said.

It is worth mentioning here that The high cost of production is the main factor behind the low use of green hydrogen. Nonetheless, the hydrogen market is expected to grow, with some forecasts of the cost of hydrogen production falling from $6/kg in 2015 to around $2/kg by 2025. In 2020, major European companies announced plans to switch their truck fleets to hydrogen power.

In this era of grim climate changes, the need of the hour is we increase the pace of Including Green Hydrogen in our economy.