GOI sets up Hydrogen Energy Development Targets.

22 September 2020.

Introduction:

The government plans to set targets for hydrogen energy development.

Highlights

Currently the Government of India has set a target to generate 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022 .
Hydrogen has not been included in the target.
This includes, 100 Watts of solar power, 60 gigawatts of wind, 10 GW from biofuels and 5 gigawatts from hydro based projects
. According to TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), the hydrogen used in India will expand between 3 to 10 times by 2050 if the country shifts its focus towards a carbon neutral economy.
A committee of officials have been formed as a part of hydrogen mission. This committee is to focus towards creating regulations, generating volumes, support demonstrations and Research and Development.

The National Hydrogen Energy Road Map (NHERM) is a program in India initiated by the National Hydrogen Energy Board (NHEB) approved in 2006 for bridging the technological gaps in different areas of hydrogen energy, including its production, storage, transportation and delivery, applications, safety, codes and standards and capacity building for the period up to 2020.
The program is under direction of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
The project aims to reduce India’s dependence on import of petroleum products, promote the use of diverse, domestic, and sustainable new and renewable energy sources;
To provide electricity to remote, far‐flung, rural and other electricity deficient areas and promote use of hydrogen as a fuel for transport and power generation;
To reduce carbon emissions from energy production and consumption,
To increase reliability and efficiency of electricity generation;
To generate 1000 MW electricity using fuel cells by 2020 and 1 Million vehicles running on Hydrogen based IC Engines and fuel cells by 2020.

Currently hydrogen is being produced for non-energy applications. This includes petroleum refineries and fertilizer Industries predominantly.

The ministry of New and renewable energy submitted its report titled” hydrogen energy and fuel cells in India -a way forward”.

The key findings of the report are as follows:

The NTPC, a Public Sector Unit operating under Ministry of power in April 2020 e e invite a global expression of interest to provide Electric buses and electric cars.
These vehicles run on electricity produced from hydrogen fuel cells. This project was first of its kind in the country.
Hydrogen gas it is also widely used for spacecraft preparation other than internal combustion engines.
Hydrogen gas is one of the lightest elements. Therefore, it rises in the atmosphere and is rarely found in its pure form. It is a zero-emission fuel when burnt with oxygen.

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