National Green Hydrogen Mission

Why in news?

• The Union Government has approved Rs 19, 744 crore National Green Hydrogen mission that aims to make India a ‘global hub’ for using, producing and exporting green hydrogen.

About Green Hydrogen:

• Hydrogen is the most abundant element – it’s estimated that 90% of all atoms are hydrogen atoms, comprising around three quarters of the total mass in the universe.
• There are no natural hydrogen deposits on earth, it has to be extracted from other compounds by a chemical process.
• The vast majority of industrial hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas. This process is known as steam methane reforming
• Producing hydrogen in this way is sometimes referred to as brown or grey or blue hydrogen
• Hydrogen can also be produced by the electrolysis of water.
• This is by using an electric current to break water, H2O, into its component elements of hydrogen and oxygen.
• If this electric current is produced by a renewable source (e.g. Solar PV or a wind turbine), the clean hydrogen produced is known as green hydrogen.

About National Green Hydrogen Mission:

• The Mission is under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
• It is a program to incentivise the commercial production of green hydrogen and make India a net exporter of the fuel.
• The Mission will facilitate demand creation, production, utilization and export of Green Hydrogen.

Sub Schemes of the Mission:

• Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHT):
  • It will fund the domestic manufacturing of electrolysers and produce green hydrogen.
• Green Hydrogen Hubs:
  • States and regions capable of supporting large scale production and/or utilization of hydrogen will be identified and developed as Green Hydrogen Hubs.

Objectives:

• Developing green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonne) per annum, alongside adding renewable energy capacity of about 125 GW (gigawatt) in India by 2030.
• It aims to entail over Rs 8 lakh crore of total investments and is expected to generate six lakh jobs.
• It will also lead to a cumulative reduction in fossil fuel imports by over Rs 1 lakh crore and an abatement of nearly 50 MT of annual greenhouse gas emissions.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Which of the following statements are correct regarding Green Hydrogen?

1. It is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen

2. It can be transformed into electricity or synthetic gas

3. It can be mixed with  natural gas to burn thermal power plant

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer