Transitioning to a Hydrogen Energy-Oriented Ecosystem - India

A particular sector which is booming and evolving for centuries is now ready to witness an evolution of alternatives. Energy, how we produce it, to how we have it, the gap in between is a trillion-dollar global market. Today, the world is reeling under great stress due to an increase in greenhouse emissions over the years and has also caused a significant rise in global temperature. 

The solution to cap the carbon emissions, control the temperature, and make the world green again doesn't lie entirely on the shoulders of scientists. It's a cumulative job of policymakers and commercial energy corporations.

For instance, the energy sector in India is shifting its gear to alternate sources of energy production. For this, government-owned entities like National Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC), and a few other entities, to name a few, are doing their bit to build renewable energy plants. Besides, there is a nationwide phenomenon now raging to adopt electric mobility for personal and public transportation systems. 

Painting the manufacturing sector green!

All said and done, but what about the industries or the manufacturing sector in India, which contributes majorly to the greenhouse gas emissions? As per reports, the manufacturing industry in India has a target to contribute 25 percent to the national GDP. While individuals can reduce their carbon footprints by shifting to a green and eco-friendly alternative, industries, on the other cannot, well, at least not instantly.

Today, the manufacturing sector consumes 40% - 48% of total energy annually produced by India, according to NITI Aayog. The reports state that there are multiple ways where industries can reduce their energy consumption by updating their industrial technology, which is indeed a capital-intensive process and entails numerous resources integrated to attain the required target.

One way to address this concern is to adopt a cleaner fuel, blue or green hydrogen. Why? Well, at first, instead of pumping in capital to revamp certain sections of a sector to reduce carbon emissions, it's easier to replace the primary fuel with carbon-neutral fuel. This way, the industries can divert focus and capital on incentivizing their production efficiency and quality results. 

To tackle this, we have first to categorize the diversified segments of end energy users. Here, we can have two categories, stationary and movable end consumers. Hence, the "manufacturing industries" would fall under the stationary units, whereas "manufacturing logistics" will fall broadly under the portable end consumers.

Categorizing the two sectors is to understand the amount of capital, policy, and infrastructure required to deploy to adapt hydrogen energy. 

The manufacturing sector is considered as a significant priority concerning that the state of the whole industry is stationary. The only concern here the government has to round on is the production and transportation of hydrogen. 

If not production, then import

The other reason is the national campaign of 'Make In India.' The central focus is on providing an industrial-friendly environment for global and domestic manufacturers to produce their goods in India. Following this, the energy is majorly sourced from thermal power plants, as India has only 38 percent of renewable energy as of May 2020. 

Now the question is how we can make the manufacturing sector green and who can make it possible? The answer is the policymakers. 

According to some reports, India imported 5 million BPD (Barrel Per Day) in December 2020. Some studies have also shown that the current oil and gas pipeline can transport hydrogen with some upgrades.

Hence, India can set a minimum purchasing capacity for green and blue hydrogen from European countries to fuel the energy requirement by its manufacturing sector. 

The suggestion is made considering that India is still in its initial stages to explore hydrogen as an alternate energy source. Besides, according to TERI, Indian plans to have 80 percent of hydrogen in green hydrogen form by 2050. Hence there is no harm in importing blue/green hydrogen for the manufacturing sector and simultaneously ramping up the domestic (blue/green) hydrogen production capacity.

As India matures in hydrogen production technology, it can eventually do away with hydrogen import. So, in one way, the import solution is for temporary purposes only. 

Infrastructure 

Setting up hydrogen production plants is an expensive affair, but it's due to the current state of the ecosystem where the adoption of alternative energy remains low. Hence, today's state of hydrogen energy was no different from the state of solar energy production two decades ago. The cost of battery and PV cells has tremendously dropped, which entails setting up electrolysis plants. 

For instance, in 2015, the cost of producing hydrogen through PEM electrolyzers was Euro 2,000/kW, which has now dropped to Euro 600/kW. The price can fall further to Euro 350/kW and Euro 250/kW in 2050.

Today some of the most used processes are alkaline electrolysis and PEM electrolysis. Considering the vast adoption of PEM electrolysis, India can integrate the said process with its existing solar parks, which account for 36.9GW as of 28th February 2021. Besides, storing solar energy in batteries is not as efficient as keeping it in the form of hydrogen, which, if observed, has a higher energy density (molecules) when compared to electricity (electrons). 

Today, one can use solar parks to produce and store energy in hydrogen instead of batteries. Rather, the government can draft a policy to diversify the solar energy output and set aside a certain percentage to produce and store hydrogen. This way, a reliable buffer capacity can be put up in place and supply power to end consumers when solar parks can't have energy, i.e., during rains and nighttime. 

The same policy can be made mandatory for other power-producing plants. Besides, a specific budget is required to initiate the production of blue hydrogen with imported/domestic carbon capture technology, to at least begin with, as it will again help India minimize its carbon emission from its refineries and produce blue hydrogen.

Not for personal mobility

Compared to a conventional battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) efficiency is significantly low, 38%. But FCEV does have an advantage over a BEV, and that's long-distance travel. Hence, FCEVs are much more suited to be placed in logistics, as they can refuel in a matter of minutes compared to a typical BEV, which would take at least 30 minutes.

But also, one has to understand that FCEVs are much more complex and are tricky when it comes to maintenance, which makes them less ideal for private intercity transportation. On the other hand, FCEV is a better option for cab aggregators, considering the time-efficient fuelling options.

As mentioned above, the manufacturing sector is an amalgamation of various other industries, and logistics emerges as one of the most critical components of the whole picture. Hence the private and government entities can opt for large-scale FCEVs, like trucks. Still, hydrogen-fuelled mobility is far away from reality. India, today has to focus on a hydrogen-fuelled manufacturing hub first, to set an example before the domestic and global market. 

Credits: https://www.engadget.com/2018-05-29-hydrogen-fuel-cell-toyota-mirai-evs.html , https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/renewable/national-hydrogen-mission-leapfrogging-towards-indias-cleaner-future/80991679