The hydrogen opportunity

Will the National Hydrogen Mission make India adopt hydrogen as a fuel?

- ANAND TANDON

In the Independence Day speech of 2021, Prime Minister Modi announced the setting up of the National Hydrogen Mission to make India self-reliant in energy and become a global hub for green hydrogen. In February 2022, the government announced the policy for green hydrogen to help set up the hydrogen ecosystem. This policy allows (a) manufacturers to set up renewable-energy capacity for green hydrogen anywhere in India; (b) time-bound open access approval for 25 years, without central surcharge and zero inter-state transmission charge for projects commissioned before H1CY2025; (c) 'bankable' storage of generated power for 30 days (d) for storage of green H, for exports at facilities near ports. The policy also provides for statutory clearances to be provided within 30 days of application.

India is not the first country to announce steps to generate energy from hydrogen. White House archives reveal: “President Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, announced on January 28, 2003, envisions the transformation of the nation's transportation fleet from a near-total reliance on petroleum to steadily increasing use of clean-burning hydrogen” (https:// bit.ly/3v6muph). Fast forward to 2014. The Government of Japan announced a “strategic roadmap for hydrogen and fuel cells". The stated objective was to convert the economy to hydrogen.

Why is it that after almost two decades, we are still to see widespread adoption of hydrogen as a fuel?

How 'green' is current hydrogen