Context

• The government has formally approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission with a stated aim of making India a global hub for the production of green hydrogen.

About the Mission

• India’s Mission was first announced by the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech in 2021.
• With implicit subsidy support and a government-backed R&D push, the plan is to target lower costs of renewable power generation and to bring down the costs of electrolysers to make the production of green hydrogen cost-competitive.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is in the process of formulating guidelines for the scheme that seeks to promote the development of green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.
• The draft Mission document is likely to propose support for production and deployment of green hydrogen, alongside a major push for hydrogen in the auto sector — R&D for fuel cell development and pilot projects for fuel cell vehicles.

Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHT),

• A major part of this is a proposed Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHT), under which two financial incentive mechanisms 

1.  Targeting domestic manufacturing of electrolysers 
2.  The production of green hydrogen  will be promoted to achieve a reduction in fossil fuel imports and abatement of annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Objective

• The ultimate aim is to fuel key sectors of the economy using hydrogen that is made by splitting water through an electrical process called electrolysis, using a device called electrolyser that is powered entirely by renewable energy

Advantages of Green Hydrogen

• It is a clean burning molecule that can decarbonise a range of sectors including iron and steel, chemicals, and transportation.
• Renewable energy that cannot be stored or used by the grid can be channelled to produce hydrogen.

Commercial viability

• Green hydrogen is not commercially viable at present. The current cost in India is around Rs 350-400 per kg; 
• It is likely to become viable only at a production cost of under Rs 100/ kg. This is what the Hydrogen Energy Mission aims for.

Significance of the Mission

• Green hydrogen could eventually potentially replace fossil fuels and fossil fuel-based feedstocks in fertiliser production, petroleum refining, steel production, and transport applications.
• It is expected to create 6 lakhs jobs in the sector
• The GreenHouse Gas emission is likely to reduce by 50 Million Metric Tonne per year
• The import bill of fossil fuel could reduce by 1 lakh crore

Related information

Hydrogen Fuel

• Hydrogen is the most common element in nature.
• It exists only in combination with other elements, and has to be extracted from naturally occurring compounds like water.
• Hydrogen is a clean molecule, but the process of extracting it is energy intensive.

Categories of Hydrogen fuel

• The sources and processes by which hydrogen is derived are categorised by colour tabs. 

• Grey Hydrogen 

• Hydrogen produced from fossil fuels is called grey hydrogen, which constitutes the bulk of the hydrogen generated today. 

• Blue Hydrogen

• Hydrogen generated from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage options is called blue hydrogen

• Green Hydrogen

• Hydrogen generated using electrolysers powered by renewable power sources is called green hydrogen.

• Brown Hydrogen

• Hydrogen produced by coal gasification as fuel is called brown hydrogen

• Pink Hydrogen

• Hydrogen generated from nuclear energy is called pink hydrogen.

What is Hydrogen fuel cell

• Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not a source of energy. Hydrogen fuel must be transformed into electricity by a device called a fuel cell stack before it can be used to power a car or truck.
• A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy using oxidising agents through an oxidation-reduction reaction. 
• Fuel cell-based vehicles most commonly combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity to power the electric motor on board.
• Since fuel cell vehicles use electricity to run, they are considered electric vehicles (EVs).

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/indias-green-hydrogen-push-national-green-hydrogen-mission-8361850/