Green hydrogen an alternative to fossil fuels

Noble Varghese

The World Hydrogen Energy Summit that was held in New Delhi on October 16^th and 17th, brought together leaders in new and traditional energy industries to discuss the potential for reducing climate impact through the use of ‘green’ hydrogen, as a replacement for traditional fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, petrol and diesel. Senior government officials, industry leaders, scientists and clean energy experts from across the globe convened and discussed the way forward for using this technology.

Green Hydrogen is expected to emerge as a $12 to $15 trillion global industry by 2050. It also has the potential to become a key component of the energy mix in the next few decades and has captured significant investor interest across various industries in the world. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the demand for hydrogen could reach 115 million metric tons (MMT)/year by 2030, and would need to hit 200 MMT/year by 2030 to be on track for net zero emissions by 2050----in line with the existing climate pledges put forward by governments around the world. Heavy industry, heavy duty road transport and shipping offer the largest opportunities to deliver fossil fuel and emissions savings.

The World Hydrogen Energy Summit is the Energy and Environment Foundation’s annual global event, offering a unique platform for hydrogen leaders to explore new energy futures. The theme of this year’s summit was “Green Hydrogen: Cleaner and Zero Emission Fuel for a Sustainable Green Economy”.

This event provided an opportunity to explore cleaner and zero emission fuel issues, network with peers and learn from high-level speakers including policymakers, industry leaders and experts. Various experts from the sector spoke at length about the benefits of switching to green hydrogen, as well as the financials that would be involved if this were to happen.

Dr John W. Sheffield, Professor of Engineering Technology at Purdue University, USA, and the Senior Associate Editor of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, presented an overview of the current hydrogen production methods in the West and industries where green hydrogen could be most suited. He spoke about the green hydrogen life cycle and the potential benefits in greenhouse gas reductions through the use of hydrogen in various industries, especially the hard-to-abate industries such as cement, steel and refineries.

Although hydrogen has been in use globally since the 50s, the process through which it has traditionally been produced is highly polluting. The industries where hydrogen is currently being used are fertilizer, steel, cement and oil refineries. There is huge potential for transforming these highly polluting industries if ‘green’ hydrogen is incorporated into their energy needs. These sectors are perfectly placed for the use of green hydrogen as electricity is not yet a proven scalable technology for their specific needs.

Explainer: Green hydrogen is any hydrogen that is produced using electricity sourced from renewable energy. Although this is a highly energy-intensive process, the whole life cycle – from generation of the electricity to production of the hydrogen to the final burning of this hydrogen for energy purposes, is completely free of GHG pollutants and the only emission is water vapour. Dr Sheffield was very hopeful about the potential of this technology and shared that this is something governments and industries across the world need to invest in quickly.

Other experts and industry leaders who were present included Dr M Shaneeth, Head of Fuel Cells Development at VSSC-ISRO, Mayank Gupta, Executive Director - Cleantech Coverage at Standard Chartered Bank, Surbhi Goyal, Senior Energy Specialist at The World Bank, Dr N. B. Mazumdar, Chairman of International Academy of Environmental Sanitation and Public Health and Bipin Gupta, Principal Scientist at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory.

The summit also advocated for a more inclusive working environment for women professionals whilst honouring and recognizing both women and men who are making an impact in in the hydrogen industry.

It witnessed the Global Hydrogen Awards as well – this is an international award for outstanding scientific research and technological development in hydrogen. Since 2010, EEF has been recognizing exemplary leaders from across the globe in multiple energy and water sectors.

The EEF Global Hydrogen Awards recognized the exceptional achievements from companies and individuals who drive the hydrogen industry forward through scientific management of hydrogen, industrial hydrogen units, devices, instrument manufacturing companies, hydrogen infrastructure, hydrogen storage, hydrogen mobility, hydrogen heavy transport, hydrogen railways, hydrogen aviation, shipping and hydrogen safety, across the globe in competing areas like innovation technology, conservation and sustainable finance that has made an outstanding impact.

The Global Awards also cover areas such as hydrogen fuel cell / electrolytes / compressor manufacturing companies / research / safety management / R&D / academic institutes.

Delegates deliberate at one of the sessions

Global Excellence Awards conferred: (Left to right) Dr N B Mazumdar (Chairman - International Academy of Environmental Sanitation and Public Health), Dr VK Garg (Former Chairman - Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission), Anil Razdan (Former Secretary - Power, GoI), Dr Christopher Hebling (Director of Hydrogen Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems, Germany) and Dr Anil Garg (President - World Hydrogen Summit) give away the award to Dr Christopher Hebling for his work in the hydrogen energy sector