Explainer | Reliance is betting big on green hydrogen. What is it and why is it important?

It refers to technologies that are used for the production and use of hydrogen that are not detrimental to the environment.

Currently, hydrogen is used in petroleum refining, aerospace applications, and manufacturing of chemicals, steel, and ammonia fertilisers. However, the hydrogen that is in use today is produced using fossil fuels, which is the primary source.

Organic materials such as fossil fuels and biomass are used for releasing hydrogen through chemical processes. The alternative method is to either use electrolysis or renewable energy like solar and wind to split water (H2O) into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). The latter process is what companies and governments across the world are looking to establish.

Why is it important?

One of the key reasons is the climate crisis, since demand for hydrogen for industrial use has increased in recent times. The demand has increased from less than 20 metric tonnes in 1975 to over 70 metric tonnes in 2018, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based autonomous inter-governmental organisation.

IEA data further reveals that production of hydrogen is responsible for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of around 830 million tonnes per year, equivalent to the combined CO2 emissions of the UK and Indonesia.

This makes moving to clean energy the need of the hour. According to a Tech Crunch article, one of the key characteristics of hydrogen is that it has long-duration energy- storage capabilities, which makes it a complement to weather-dependent energies like solar and wind. Storage is critical to the growth of renewable energy, and the greater use of hydrogen in renewable-energy storage can drive the cost of both down.

India, in particular, is playing a key role in this space, and has partnered with companies, globally, to take the green hydrogen agenda forward.

What is Reliance looking to do in this space?

Reliance Industries CEO Mukesh Ambani, during the annual general meeting on Thursday, said: “Green hydrogen will be a unique energy vector that can enable decarbonisation of many sectors such as transportation and power industry.”

In its new energy business, the company plans two giga factories dedicated to green hydrogen. The other two are for solar energy and storage.

“One of the methods of generating green hydrogen is electrolysis of pure water. This brings me to the third initiative of the electrolyser for the giga factory. They can be used for captive production of green hydrogen for domestic use as well as for global sale,” Ambani said.

The other is a fuel cell factory. “Fuel cells use oxygen from the air and hydrogen to generate electricity. The only emission in this process is non-polluting water vapour. In the new era, fuel cells will progressively replace internal combustion engines, which can power automobiles, trucks and buses. They can also be used for powering stationary applications powering data centres, telecom towers, emergency generators and micro grids,” Ambani added.

What are the steps the Indian government has taken in the production of green hydrogen?

During the budget speech in February 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the launch of the Hydrogen Energy Mission to produce hydrogen from renewable sources.

In the same month, state-owned Indian Oil Corporation signed an agreement with Greenstat Norway for setting up a Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen (CoE-H). The partnership includes transfer and sharing of technology, including hydrogen storage and fuel cells. It will also promote R&D projects for the production of green and blue hydrogen between Norwegian and Indian R&D institutions/universities.

More recently, India and the US have set up a task force under the aegis of the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) to mobilise finance and speed up green energy development.

What are the other Indian companies doing?

There is a lot of action happening from India Inc.

In March 2021, Chennai-based BGR Energy Systems partnered with Ireland-based Fusion Fuel Green to develop green energy projects in India. The latter will install a demonstrator facility in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, in the second half of 2021 to produce green hydrogen from solar energy.

In April, the Indian Hydrogen Alliance was formed for commercialising hydrogen technology and developing green and blue hydrogen in the country.

What is the difference between blue and green hydrogen?

Unlike the green hydrogen produced from renewable energy like solar and wind, or by electrolysis of water, blue hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels like natural gas. Methods like Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) are used to split fossil fuel in hydrogen and CO2. However, unlike the traditional process where gas is let into the atomosphere, in the production of blue hydrogen, CO2 is captured and stored, minimising the impact on the environment.

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