INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY (IRENA)

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• According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), hydrogen will make up 12% of the energy mix by 2050.
• The agency also suggested that about 66% of this hydrogen used must come from water instead of natural gas.
• Recently, IRENA has released the ‘World Energy Transitions Outlook’ Report.

Hydrogen

• Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements on earth for a cleaner alternative fuel option.
• Type of hydrogen depend up on the process of its formation:
• Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using renewable energy (like Solar, Wind) and has a lower carbon footprint.
• Electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
• By Products : Water, Water Vapor.
• Brown hydrogen is produced using coal where the emissions are released to the air.
• Grey hydrogen is produced from natural gas where the associated emissions are released to the air.
• Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, where the emissions are captured using carbon capture and storage.

Important points:

• Less than 1% of hydrogen produced is green hydrogen.
• Manufacturing and deployment of electrolysers will have to increase at an unprecedented rate by 2050 from the current capacity of 0.3 gigawatts to almost 5,000 gigawatts.
• Consumption of Hydrogen: India consumes about six million tonnes of hydrogen every year for the production of ammonia and methanol in industrial sectors, including fertilisers and refineries.
• This could increase to 28 million tonnes by 2050, principally due to the rising demand from the industry, but also due to the expansion of transport and power sectors.
• Cost of Green Hydrogen: By 2030, the cost of green hydrogen is expected to compete with that of hydrocarbon fuels(coal, Crude Oil, natural gas).
• The price will decrease further as production and sales increase. It is also projected that India’s hydrogen demand will increase five-fold by 2050, with 80% of it being green.
• Exporter of Green Hydrogen: India will become a net exporter of green hydrogen by 2030 due to its cheap renewable energy tariffs.

Challenges:

• Economic Sustainability: One of the biggest challenges faced by the industry for using hydrogen commercially is the economic sustainability of extracting green hydrogen.
• For transportation fuel cells, hydrogen must be cost-competitive with conventional fuels and technologies on a per-mile basis.
• Fuel cells which convert hydrogen fuel to usable energy for cars, are still expensive.
• The hydrogen station infrastructure needed to refuel hydrogen fuel cell cars is still widely underdeveloped.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT