Examination of potential demand centers of hydrogen in India. The split shall be region wise, end use industry wise , transportation use wise, supportive infra and new industrial hubs wise.
Across Indian industry, there are considerable efforts to establish a hydrogen economy in India, not least , the work being taken forward by oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil
Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier which has the potential to address several energy sector related challenges and technically from the application point of view can substitute the conventional fuels. Hydrogen can provide linkages between energy supply and demand in both a centralized or decentralized manner, thereby enhancing the overall energy system flexibility. The low carbon energy can be connected to sectors like transport and buildings or even hard to abate sector like steel and cement industry.
Presently, demand of hydrogen in India is 6 mt/year and is mainly driven from the industrial sectors such as chemical and petrochemical units.
Further, it is also extensively used in India mainly as an industrial feedstock in the creation of ammonia-based fertilizers. These sectors will continue to make up a large part of the demand with volumes, expected to surge with new demand coming from the steel industry as it seeks to decarbonize. Hydrogen is also likely to play significant role in the transport sector, particularly in heavy duty and long-distance segments.
By 2050, India intends to produce three-fourths of the hydrogen from renewable resources. R&D projects in India are focusing on improving the efficiency of water –splitting reaction and finding newer materials, catalysts and electrodes and electrodes to accelerate the reaction.
Clear recognition of hydrogen’s cross-economy role in India, outlines for scaling up use in transport, industrial applications and power
For India to guarantee its role as a technology leader in the next phase of the energy transition, it will need to greatly increase activity across the public and private sectors to develop a hydrogen economy - Hydrogen Mission Statement, India
Presently, more than 100 research groups are focusing on fuel cell technology. There are a number of international and domestic companies in India that are involved in hydrogen production, storage and its distribution- including Praxair (USA), Linde (global member of hydrogen council ), Inox (Indo-US joint venture), Air Liquide (France), SAGIM (France), Air Products (USA), Fuel cell energy (USA), H2Scan (USA), ITM Power (UK), Heliocentris (Germany), Aditya Birla Group, Bhoruka Gases Limited, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited, Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited, Air Science Technologies and Sukan Engineering Private Limited.
Hydrogen is already playing a vital role in the transport sector across the globe, India too is anticipating major transformation
ROLE OF HYDROGEN IN TRANSPORTATION
Hydrogen has already played a transformative role in many global economies. For instance, the US transport sector has witnessed a significant role of hydrogen in the material handling of goods at distribution centers in all continental states and Canadian provinces. The next sectors of interest include light-, medium- and heavy-duty road transport, heavy and urban light rail, and ships. Altogether, the transport sector accounts for 35 percent of US carbon emissions and is a key contributor to local air pollution, making a transition to zero emissions options a priority. The two primary options for zero emission transportation are electric drive trains powered by hydrogen fuel cells in FCEVs and batteries in BEVs.
Both are used for light-, medium-, and heavy- duty vehicles, but FCEVs store energy as hydrogen (15 kWh per kg) and convert it to electricity – as needed – via a fuel cell, while a BEV stores energy as electricity in a battery. In India also, a lot of development work has been initiated by the government for usage of hydrogen in the transport sector. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, India has already notified hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in automotive industry standard (AIS) 157. Also, in September 2020, its has been notified that 18% of the hydrogen to be blended with CNG to make HCNG as an automotive fuel. Various hydrogen powered vehicles have been developed and demonstrated under projects supported by the Indian government. These include 6 fuel cell buses (by Tata Motors Ltd.), 50 hydrogen enriched CNG (H-CNG) buses in Delhi (by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. in collaboration with government of NCT of Delhi), 2 hydrogen fuelled internal combustion engine buses (by IIT Delhi in collaboration with Mahindra & Mahindra).
On - Point
