• Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally announced the launch of a National Hydrogen Mission to accelerate plans to generate carbon-free fuel from renewables as he set a target of 2047 for India to achieve self-reliance in energy.

• Delivering his Independence Day address, he said India can achieve self-reliance in energy through a mix of a gas-based economy, doping sugarcane extracted ethanol in petrol and electric mobility.

• India, he said, spends over Rs 12 lakh crore on energy imports every year.

• While India is 85 per cent dependent on imports for meeting its oil needs, overseas supplies make up for roughly half of the local requirement for natural gas. 

National Hydrogen Mission

• As the world rapidly moves to decarbonise the entire energy system, hydrogen is poised to play a vital role and build on the rapid scale-up of renewable resources across the world. 

• The National Hydrogen Mission was first announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22 in February for making a hydrogen roadmap for the country.

• Hydrogen as an energy carrier has a vital role in diversification of renewable energy across key economic sectors, by increasing the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix, enabling clean transportation and decarbonising industries like fertilisers, chemicals, petrochemicals, iron and steel.

National Hydrogen Mission is to enable:

• Cost competitive green hydrogen production, storage, distribution and application technologies.

• Developing globally competitive manufacturing expertise.

• Putting in place regulations, codes, safety, performance and quality standards in consonance with technology and market development stages. 

• The Mission also envisages support for development and deployment of hydrogen energy in niche areas with an aim to commercialise the technologies in mid to long term. 

• Hydrogen is produced predominantly through Steam Methane Reforming, or SMR, which utilises fossil fuels, such as natural gas or coal, and through Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysis, which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using a current of electricity.

• Currently, all hydrogen consumed in India comes from fossil fuels. By 2050, three-fourth of all hydrogen is projected to be green — produced by renewable electricity and electrolysis.

• The ministry of petroleum & natural gas is working on a pilot project on Blue Hydrogen, Hydrogen CNG (H-CNG) and Green Hydrogen. Through technological advancements, the experts are blending hydrogen with compressed natural gas for use as transportation fuel as well as an industrial input to refineries. 50 buses in Delhi are plying on blended hydrogen in Compressed Natural Gas on a pilot basis. The government plans to scale it up in the coming months across the major cities of India.

• Hydrogen when produced by electrolysis using renewable energy is known as Green Hydrogen, which has no carbon footprint. This gives hydrogen the edge over other fuels to unlock various avenues of green usage. 

• Green hydrogen has innumerable applications. Green chemicals like ammonia and methanol can directly be utilised in existing applications like fertilizers, mobility, power, chemicals, shipping, etc. 

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