Page 125 - CW E-Magazine (30-1-2024)

Point of View

Roadmap for boosting green hydrogen manufacturing

gets additional policy support

Global interest in hydrogen has never been higher, and for good reasons. The gas – the lightest – packs a punch, and is increasingly
seen as an effective energy carrier and critical to decarbonise industrial sectors such as cement, steel, refining and petrochemicals,
amongst others. India’s government has rightly prioritised development of a sustainable hydrogen economy as part of an integrated
strategy to increase energy self-reliance and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Last year the government announced a National Green Hydrogen policy, and a slew of measures to encourage investments in the
sector. The aim is to set up of integrated and indigenous value chains, including manufacture of membranes and electrolysers, put in
place the related infrastructure, and incentivise consumers to opt for this presently expensive version.

As a follow up, last week, the government announced additional incentives to enable competitively priced green hydrogen production
(see the news). As one of the large potential investors recently stated (again, see the news pages), fiscal and policy support is key, as
green hydrogen costs are still high (compared to its fossil fuel-based equivalent) and it will require more than good intent to bring this
down to levels end-users will find acceptable.

Hydrogen production today
Nearly all of the hydrogen produced today comes from steam reforming of fossil fuels. While natural gas is the preferred feedstock,
other liquid fuels and coal are also used. On the anvil are technologies to produce hydrogen from renewable/abundant resources such
as biomass and municipal solid waste. Using them, however, is demanding from the standpoints of capital & operating costs, as well
as plant reliability.

The hydrogen produced from fossil fuels is termed ‘grey’ hydrogen, describing its hefty carbon footprint. This can be ameliorated –
significantly, if not fully – by integrating with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), and this is now being tried out at scale. The
hydrogen so-produced is termed ‘blue’ hydrogen.

Truly ‘green’ hydrogen is produced from an abundant resource, water, and, to put it simplistically, by passing an electric current
through water to co-produce hydrogen and oxygen. The electricity needs to come from renewable sources, not carbon-containing fuels,
for the hydrogen to bear the ‘green’ tag.

While the chemistry of producing green hydrogen seems simple, it is anything but in practice, and this is reflected in the costs of
producing it. At this stage in the evolution of technology, green hydrogen costs are about three-fold higher than for grey hydrogen, but
there is agreement that costs will fall as the technologies evolve, and economies of scale kick in.

Hydrogen demand – now and in the future
Hydrogen demand globally is estimated at about 95-mt, with the refining sector accounting for about 42%. The balance is mainly spread
across a handful of industrial sectors including manufacture of ammonia (mainly for making nitrogenous fertilisers), methanol, and as a
reducing agent in the conversion of iron ore to iron (a precursor to steel). Greening of hydrogen is one way to ‘green’ all these applications.
But there are new application areas for green hydrogen that are presently negligible, but hold great promise. One way to realise them
is by leveraging existing infrastructure. Turbine manufacturers, for instance, are gearing up to tackle hydrogen-blended natural gas or even
pure hydrogen as feed in their equipment. Hydrogen can also be blended into natural gas in ratios ranging from 5-20%, and transported
through existing natural gas pipelines. Taking a cautious approach (to mitigate possible problems related to corrosion), several projects
worldwide are testing the viability of blending up 1% hydrogen in natural gas pipelines. This is also being trialled in India, and, if found
economically viable can be scaled up significantly. India is currently in the midst of widespread expansion of its natural gas pipeline network
to feed into piped natural gas (PNG) networks in many urban pockets and this application fits in very nicely with the energy security plans.

Infrastructural challenges
Currently, most hydrogen is produced adjacent to its end-use – such as a refinery or a fertiliser plant. Here the production and

Chemical Weekly January 30, 2024 125

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