National Hydrogen Mission – INSIGHTSIAS

GS Paper 3

Topics Covered: Conservation related issues. 

 

National Hydrogen Mission: 

Context: 

The launch of the National Hydrogen Mission was announced by PM Modi. The aim is to make India a global hub for the production and export of green hydrogen. 

 

Background: 

The proposal for the National Hydrogen Mission was made in the Budget 2021 to launch NHM that would enable the generation of hydrogen “from green power sources”. 

 

What is Hydrogen fuel?

Hydrogen is the lightest and first element on the periodic table. Since the weight of hydrogen is less than air, it rises in the atmosphere and is therefore rarely found in its pure form, H2.

• At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
• Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel burned with oxygen. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. It is also used as a fuel for spacecraft propulsion.

 

Occurrence of Hydrogen:

• It is the most abundant element in the universe. The sun and other stars are composed largely of hydrogen.
• Astronomers estimate that 90% of the atoms in the universe are hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen is a component of more compounds than any other element.
• Water is the most abundant compound of hydrogen found on earth.
• Molecular hydrogen is not available on Earth in convenient natural reservoirs. Most hydrogen on Earth is bonded to oxygen in water and to carbon in live or dead and/or fossilized biomass. It can be created by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.

 

Storage:

Hydrogen can be stored physically as either a gas or a liquid.

• Storage of hydrogen as a gas typically requires high-pressure tanks.
• Storage of hydrogen as a liquid requires cryogenic temperatures because the boiling point of hydrogen at one atmosphere pressure is −252.8°C.
• Hydrogen can also be stored on the surfaces of solids (by adsorption) or within solids (by absorption).

 

Potential of clean hydrogen industry in reducing greenhouse gas emissions:

1. The only by-product or emission that results from the usage of hydrogen fuel is water — making the fuel 100 per cent clean.
2. Hydrogen is considered an alternative fuel. It is due to its ability to power fuel cells in zero-emission electric vehicles, its potential for domestic production, and the fuel cell’s potential for high efficiency.
3. In fact, a fuel cell coupled with an electric motor is two to three times more efficient than an internal combustion engine running on gasoline.
4. Hydrogen can also serve as fuel for internal combustion engines.
5. The energy in 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of hydrogen gas contains about the same as the energy in 1 gallon (6.2 pounds, 2.8 kilograms) of gasoline.

 

Policy Challenges: 

1. One of the biggest challenges faced by the industry for using hydrogen commercially is the economic sustainability of extracting green or blue hydrogen.
2. The technology used in production and use of hydrogen like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)and hydrogen fuel cell technology are at nascent stage and are expensive which in turn increases the cost of production of hydrogen.
3. Maintenance costs for fuel cells post-completion of a plant can be costly.
4. The commercial usage of hydrogen as a fuel and in industries requires mammoth investment in R&D of such technology and infrastructure for production, storage, transportation and demand creation for hydrogen.

 

Insta Curious: 

There are several ways of extracting hydrogen and, depending on the method, the hydrogen produced is classified as ‘grey’, ‘blue’, or ‘green’ hydrogen. Reference

 

InstaLinks: 

Prelims Link: 

1. About Green Hydrogen. 
2. How is it produced? 
3. Applications. 
4. Benefits. 
5. About the Hydrogen Energy Mission. 

Mains Link: 

Discuss the benefits of Green Hydrogen.

Sources: the Hindu.