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Betting on green hydrogen to fulfil energy needs is‘ risky’

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Science and Technology and Environmental Conservation

 

Source: D2E

Direction: Have basic notes on ‘Green Hydrogen’ esp. those giving Mains this time

 

Context: As per the study published in the journal Nature Energy, Green hydrogen would likely supply less than 1 per cent of final energy globally by 2035.

  

What is green hydrogen?

Hydrogen when produced by electrolysis using renewable energy is known as Green Hydrogen which has no carbon footprint.

 

Challenges for green hydrogen:

      • Low investment
      • Low stage of technology for sustainable production
      • The challenges in ramping up the supply of electrolysers — a device in which green hydrogen is produced
        • Electrolysis capacity is still tiny compared to where we need to be in 2050 for Net Zero emissions scenarios

 

Recommendations:

      • Implementing strong policies could reverse the setbacks
        • Fostering green hydrogen growth will therefore require strong dedication, coordination and funding along the entire value chain,
      • Carbon pricing should always form the basis of climate policy
        • Carbon pricing is a policy tool that puts a tax on producers of greenhouse gas emissions
      • Accelerating the roll-out of crucial zero-carbon technologies like electric mobility and heat pumps.
        • These technologies make more efficient use of scarce renewable electricity

 

Significance for Green hydrogen:

India, being a tropical country, has a significant edge in green hydrogen production due to its favourable geographical conditions and abundant natural resources.

      • Producing hydrogen from renewables in India is likely to be cheaper than producing it from natural gas.

 

Efforts in this regard:

      1. National Hydrogen Mission (increase production to 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) by 2030 to meet about 40 per cent of domestic requirements)
      2. Green hydrogen and green ammonia policy that offers 25 years of free power transmission for any new renewable energy plants set up for green hydrogen production before July 2025.
      3. EU set a target of achieving 10 million tonnes of domestic renewable hydrogen production

 

Intra Links:

Green Hydrogen

Prelims Links

Hydrogen is an invisible gas. But, then how are they named green, pink and so on? Read here.

      1. About Green Hydrogen.
      2. How is it produced?
      3. Applications.
      4. Benefits.
      5. About the Hydrogen Energy Mission.

Mains Link:

Q. Discuss the benefits of Green Hydrogen.