Speaking on the occasion Dr VK Saraswat, Member Technical Niti Ayog, and Technical Advisor to PMO, highlighted the dire need to address the lowering of carbon footprints and stressed that Hydrogen use is one such easily achievable path. Dr. Saraswat also delved into the technical aspects of producing ‘Clean Hydrogen’. “There is nothing called Green Hydrogen in its current form globally and every form of Hydrogen results in some carbon footprint, so the concept of Green Hydrogen is a misnomer.”
He also elaborated on the need to focus on the availability of natural resources for water, and power, which will both remain a challenge to be overcome if we were to produce 5MMT of clean Hydrogen by 2030. As an achievable solution to power requirements of electricity and heat without putting extra load on the existing national grid, as India is already facing a demand-to-supply shortage to the tune of 2.7%, every producing unit should focus on SMR (Small Modular Reactors) for power and heat which are not only feasible but also easily achievable due to locally available natural resources and global sources.
While many countries have started focusing on this domain, India needs to take off at a faster pace. The same would bring down the cost of producing hydrogen and make it attractive for end users to make contract purchases.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Prof Malhotra, President Hydrogen Association of India and Adjunct Prof Energy Studies IIT Delhi stated, “We not only need to focus on producing Clean Hydrogen to the tune of 5MMT, but we should also look at an additional 3MMT approximately by 2030, considering the fast-paced industrial growth the nation is working on.” He also stressed the need to work far more actively on the industry-academia interface which remains more of a lip service excepting a few organisations.
Shri Rajesh Pathak, Secy Technology Development Board-Ministry of Science and Technology felt that the Rs 400 Crore allocated by the Ministry of Finance for research on Developing Green Hydrogen is far too low and probably needs a relook. He also mentioned Technology Development Board is already working with Level 6, and Level 7 SMEs and other manufacturers to help them achieve support components for producing Clean Hydrogen.
Prof KK Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, presented the Pyrolysis of Methane which is already a by-product of the coal sector and can easily be derived by the refineries which can produce clean Hydrogen at $1.5/Kg, even with carbon capture technology added to the system. This is not only achievable in the shortest span but is also an attractive option for purchasers.
Speaking on similar lines to Dr. Saraswat, he stated, “Green Hydrogen should not be considered as Hydrogen with Zero Carbon Footprints, rather every colour code should indicate the maximum level of Carbon Footprints it can be allowed to generate.” In the absence of any Global Standards, India should spearhead this Colour Indexing at least in our National Standards.
Prof Ramkrishna Sonde of the Chemical Engineering Department at IIT Delhi spoke on how all the methods ultimately should focus on reducing Carbon Footprints in tandem with other initiatives so the goal should be predominantly to focus on reducing Carbon Footprints. He also mentioned India could be a vast domestic resource for methane which could directly be used directly in our existing thermal power plants and for producing Clean Hydrogen with Carbon Capture Technology.
Prof Sukumar Mishra from the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi, spoke on how to harness Renewable Power for Hydrogen and the input and electromechanical systems the industry would require, to effectively use Renewable Power. He also explained the power systems and mechanisms to be put in place for effectively storing and transporting Hydrogen.
Dr. SS Bhattacharyya, Technical Advisor and Consultant to FITT-IIT Delhi and Anthronik spoke on the fact that the industry was procuring and investing huge resources in obtaining systems from vendors without evaluating their effectiveness in other nations or regions. He explained the need to conduct due diligence on the matter by the industry at the RFQ level, elaborating more that India has been a prime mover in many technologies like Space Research, Defence, PPE Kits, etc, hence, we need to become global leaders showing the path rather than copying other nations, since every nation has its internal dynamics and methodology. He also presented a concept of Solid-State Hydrogen Production which could be the real solution for producing Hydrogen at room temperature using non-hazardous inputs, and the same could be the future of Hydrogen production both for mobility and industry in India. He also pointed out that 21 nations are already working on it and some are in the advanced stages of developing industry-ready systems; India is one of the only progressive nations that have not taken note of this method.
The programme also had Dr Anil Wali, CEO, of BioCyTih-Bits Pilani, speaking about developing and encouraging entrepreneurs who would ultimately facilitate the supply of indigenous components while shifting away from foreign suppliers. Dr. Wali mentioned that resources shall not be a constraint and his organization is willing to evaluate and facilitate all such initiatives. The program was coordinated by Dr. Bhattacharyya under the Leadership of Rahul Deo and Dr. Swarnim Dixit, Directors of Anthronik.