The Funda of Green Hydrogen!

Hydrogen has been a promised fuel of the future for many years now. However, never have we seen the momentum around Hydrogen as we are seeing now. Green Hydrogen as the name suggests is got from using renewable energy and electrolysis of water which involves breaking down water molecules into Hydrogen and Oxygen. Green Hydrogen has been touted as one of the most effective fuels to reduce pollution and emission levels that are generated from heavy industry and transportation sectors. This comes after countries have committed to reducing their carbon footprint by 2050 and President Joe Biden’s aggressive green energy goals. Hydrogen is not only abundant but also cheap and clean-burning and is expected to help bring the world to net-zero emission levels.

But this hydrogen is not available in a pure state in nature and needs to be separated from water which requires energy. Worldwide hydrogen production using heat and chemical reactions is highly polluting. Hence, the importance of using Green Hydrogen. With prices of renewable energy sources going down, it is expected that Green Hydrogen could be more viable.

It is estimated that 25 GW of green hydrogen will be produced by 2026 and the price of green hydrogen will drop 70% in the next decade in countries where renewables energy is cheap. Rajasthan in India could be a major hub for the country. Hydrogen is finding increased application in the generation of heat and electricity, in heavy industries, and as fuel in the transportation industry.

There are, however, some disadvantages to using hydrogen. Not only is it unstable, but also costly to transport and highly inflammable. Green hydrogen also costs roughly double that of conventional hydrogen but it is gradually getting cheaper.

Also, read Why Green Hydrogen has become the Next Big Thing in Clean Tech

Did you know? Other than Green there exists a rainbow of Hydrogen:

• brown hydrogen is produced using coal, releasing emissions
• grey hydrogen is produced from natural gas, releasing emissions
• blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, but emissions are captured using carbon capture and storage.