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India’s initiatives on green hydrogen could help global decarbonization
India has announced its long-term low-emission development strategy, that focuses on climate justice, sustainable lifestyles, and equity, at the ongoing UN climate summit in Egypt, joining a select group of fewer than 60 nations to do so.
Hailed by the Egypt presidency, the strategy once again reiterated the country’s intention to develop a green hydrogen ecosystem to lower emissions in hard-to-abate sectors like steel, fertiliser, and refining, among other long-held climate goals.
The nation’s green hydrogen mission, announced in 2021, will see a rapid expansion in production, making India a green hydrogen hub, the long-term strategy said. The South Asian nation plans a massive expansion of green hydrogen production to curb dependence on crude oil imports and wean its rapidly expanding economy from planet-warming fossil fuels.
The central government has set a target of an annual production capacity of 25 million tonnes by 2047. The number could be revised upwards as the technology evolves and the demand outlook improves.
Green hydrogen is expected to play a prominent role in decarbonising heavy industries, including oil refineries, steel mills and fertiliser plants. India’s current output of green hydrogen is low and comes from just a handful of pilot projects.
Green hydrogen is produced by breaking down water in an electrolyser using only renewable energy, resulting in no carbon emissions. The hydrogen can then be combined with nitrogen to make green ammonia, avoiding hydrocarbons in the process. Green ammonia is used to store energy and make fertilisers. Green hydrogen could become an alternative to coal in steel mills and fossil fuels in long-haul transport like shipping and trucking.
Currently, the bulk of hydrogen produced in the world uses natural gas, which is known as black hydrogen. There is also grey hydrogen made from low-carbon technologies, but its share in the global market is negligible.
India has set a target of five million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. Over the next decade, the country plans to add 175 GW of green hydrogen-based energy.
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