National Green Hydrogen Mission

Why in news:

• The Union Cabinet recently approved a ₹19,744 crore National Green Hydrogen mission that aims to make India a ‘global hub’ for using, producing and exporting green hydrogen.

What is Green Hydrogen?

• Hydrogen is a key industrial fuel that has a variety of applications including the production of ammonia (a key fertilizer), steel, refineries and electricity.
• However, all of the hydrogen manufactured now is the so­called ‘black or brown’ hydrogen produced from coal.
• Grey hydrogen: It is produced from natural gas.
• ‘Blue’ hydrogen: It is from fossil fuel sources where the ensuring carbon emitted is captured via carbon­capture processes.

Green hydrogen:

• It is when hydrogen is produced via electrolysis, the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen with electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as solar or wind.
• This is the most environmentally sustainable way of producing hydrogen.

About National Green Hydrogen Mission:

• The National Hydrogen Mission was launched on August 15, 2021, with a view to cutting down carbon emissions and increasing the use of renewable sources of energy.
• The main aim of the mission is to incentivise the commercial production of green hydrogen and make India a net exporter of the fuel.
• The mission has laid out a target to develop green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonne) per annum.
• The Mission will “facilitate demand creation, production, utilisation and export of Green Hydrogen,”.
• There are two umbrella sub­missions under the programme.
• The first is the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHT) which will fund the domestic manufacturing of electrolysers and produce green hydrogen.
• The second sub mission is to support pilot projects in emerging end­use sectors and production pathways.
• States and regions capable of supporting large scale production and/or utilisation of hydrogen will be identified and developed as Green Hydrogen Hubs.

Benefits that flow from the Scheme:

• It will lead to the decarbonisation of the industrial, mobility and energy sectors; reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and feedstock;
• It enhances the developing indigenous manufacturing capabilities; creating employment opportunities; and developing new technologies such as efficient fuel cells.
• Employment and investment :
• By 2030, the Centre hopes its investments will bring in investments worth ₹8 trillion and create over six lakh jobs.
• Reduce carbon emissions and helps to meet the India’s NDC target:
• Nearly about 50 MMT per annum of CO2 emissions are expected to be averted by 2030.
• As per its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, India has committed to reduce emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% by 2030, from 2005 levels.

Issues with the Green Hydrogen:

• Higher cost incurred for Manufacturing:
• Green hydrogen currently accounts for less than 1% of global hydrogen production due to it being expensive to produce.
• A kilogram of black hydrogen costs $0.9­1.5 to produce while grey hydrogen costs $1.7­2.3 and blue hydrogen can cost anywhere from $1.3­3.6.
• However, green hydrogen costs $3.5­5.5 per kg, according to a 2020 analysis by the Council for Energy, Environment and Water.
• Lack of components and human resource:
• Lack of access to a reliable stream of components, upgrading the manufacturing and skill levels of its small and medium manufacturing enterprises and developing a transmission network that can supply the hydrogen produced from supply­spots to industrial centres across the country.
• Lack of Infrastructure:
• Green hydrogen development is still in the nascent stages globally and while India can take the lead in being a major producer, it doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure yet to execute all these intermediary steps.

Way forward:

• A proper policy incentivizing to use the green hydrogen.
• Developing regular and good supply chains in the chains in the form of pipelines, tankers, intermediate storage and last leg distribution networks.
• Skill development programmes to ensure that lakhs of workers can be suitably trained to adapt to a viable green hydrogen economy.