Fuel at $1.

Rising fuel prices have been a concern for India for quite a long time, and the pandemic added more fuel to the fire. Oil prices touched an all-time high and are still nagging despite Covid-19 being well under control. As India relies heavily on Russia and the Middle East for crude oil, the macroeconomic factors influence the prices every time there is a conflict. Also, as energy exporters, these countries generate hefty revenue every year, and as importers, Indian companies need to pay the demanded market price, which triggers the top-down effect. So now India has decided to work towards producing ‘Hydrogen Fuel’ in the form of ‘green hydrogen.’

Now let's understand what exactly hydrogen fuel refers to and how it can be the perfect replacement for petroleum. Hydrogen is a chemical element and the lightest element in science. Hydrogen is a fuel line composed of diatomic molecules with the formulation H2. There are broadly three types of hydrogen:

1. Grey Hydrogen is processed by Steam Methane Reforming using coal and methane as production sources.

2. Blue Hydrogen – It is processed by the same SMR process using coal and methane, but in this production, 95% of the carbon by-product is captured, stored, and reused for industrial purposes.

3. Green Hydrogen – It is produced by a process called ‘Electrolysis’, and renewable energy sources are used for its production.

Amongst these, ‘Green Hydrogen’ is the purest form of the element, which is used to produce hydrogen fuel as a substitute for energy. The electrolysis process is used to extract green energy from the emissions. This energy is then converted to hydrogen cells which canpower automobiles, and the energy form can power commercial factories and manufacturing units. Union Minister of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Mr. Nitin Gadkari, arrived at the parliament in a hydrogen-powered car in 2020, making a solid statement and later declaring government plans on how India will transform from fossil fuel energy to green hydrogen energy in the coming years. Later that year, Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans to launch National Hydrogen Energy Mission to reduce carbon emissions by 5 million by 2030. India not only plans to produce but also aims to become the biggest exporter of GreenHydrogen Energy in the coming years, providing huge benefits like less reliance on fossil fuel and crude oil import, an increase in export revenue, employment, and overall economic and national development.

As a nation, we are witnessing a massive switch from petroleum cars to EVs. However, very few people know that a hydrogen-powered vehicle gives all the same benefits as an electric car which is why hydrogen fuel is superior to EV. Let’s understand how? There are three significant advantages for hydrogen energy to be hailed as the future fuel:

1. Range and Volume Occupancy – An EV with an advanced lithium-ion battery can give you a range of 400-500 km but would take up to 400-600 litres of space in the car. Meanwhile, a hydrogen-powered vehicle would give you the same range by consuming only 100 litres of space in a vehicle.

2. Charging Time– A Tesla Model 3 has the fastest charging time of just half an hour. While in India, an AC charger would take at least 4hrs and ranges around 400 km, whereas even a massive 34 tons hydrogen-powered truck can recharge in just 8 mins and give the same 400 km range.[BSG1]?[DD2]?.

3. Energy-to-Weight Ratio – If we wish to increase the range of an EV, we will have to put in a bigger battery which would increase the vehicle's weight. At the same time, in a hydrogen-powered car,we need to put in more hydrogen cells to increase the range without impacting the vehicle's weight.

With these advantages, hydrogen fuel can revolutionize the transportation industry forever. It is scalable to all commercial and public vehicles, from two-wheeler to trains. Every single vehicle can be hydrogen-powered with the technological advancement of the future. Moving on to the commercial sector,India is one of the world's second-largest steel producers and exporters, and companies use grey hydrogen to produce steel, leading to heavy emissions of grey hydrogen. As global warming is leading to extensive climate changes, the EU is planning to impose a ‘Carbon Border Tax’ on countries whose carbon emission is beyond a certain level by 2026, as announced at COP27. This will lead to higher prices for Indian products in the foreign market and decrease profits and revenue for both companies and the government. This could be a massive threat for India as steel export is one the most significant economic strength and revenue generators. But as prominent as this opportunity looks, one of the biggest challenges involved in this process is the storage and transportation of hydrogen energy. There is a significant cost tangled in building the appropriate infrastructure as the fuel is highly flammable, even more than petroleum refined from crude oil. Also, hydrogen's liquid and gas forms require huge storage volumes. So to execute this plan, the government will have to come up with a well-drafted plan to develop the required infrastructure for the same.

India cannot afford to lose this race because if it does, we will lose a great opportunity in the global business market. This indirectly means companies and countriescan instil a sense of innovation in the renewable resource sector among their workforce and population.

Written By: Deval Desai

Class of 2022-2024