Hydrogen mission, solar energy, clean air among focus areas (Thrust Areas)

 Budget 2021: Hydrogen mission; solar energy, clean air among focus areas

Centre’s clean air programme got a shot in the arm with Sitharaman announcing a fund of ₹2,217 crore for air pollution control in 42 cities
 
The Centre will launch a Hydrogen Energy Mission in 2021-22 for generating hydrogen from green power sources. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement of a hydrogen mission could go a long way in reducing India’s carbon footprint, experts said.

According to a report titled “The Potential Role of Hydrogen in India – Harnessing the Hype” by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) released in December last year, demand for hydrogen could increase by at least 5-fold by 2050, continuing to grow in the second half of the century in India.

Demand for hydrogen is at around 6 metric tonne (MT) per annum, mainly from industry sectors, such as fertilizers and refineries. This can increase to around 28 MT by 2050 mainly due to cost reductions in key technologies and a push to reduce carbon footprint. Demand will mainly grow in steel and road transport, shipping and aviation sectors. The report also projected that India would require 40 MT of green hydrogen to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060. “I am glad this is happening now,” said TERI director general Ajay Mathur.

Hydrogen from renewables can be produced through various methods, one of them is to use renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen in an electrolyser, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Hydrogen from renewable sources can play a critical role in heavy-duty, long-distance transport. While battery operated electric vehicles (BEV) will become competitive for heavy-duty transport, hydrogen production will be needed. It will also play a critical role in production of ammonia which is currently being produced from fossil-fuel based hydrogen.

“The Hydrogen Energy Mission will be critical because hydrogen may be the only way to have zero carbon emissions from heavy industries like cement and steel -- provided that hydrogen is produced by electrolysis from renewable electricity,” said Ulka Kelkar, director, Climate Program, World Resources Institute, India.

The Budget also gave a boost to solar energy by proposing to provide a capital infusion of ₹1,000 crore to the Solar Energy Corporation of India and ₹1,500 crore to the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency. “To build up domestic capacity, we will notify a phased manufacturing plan for solar cells and solar panels. At present, to encourage domestic production, we are raising duty on solar inverters from 5% to 20%, and on solar lanterns from 5% to 15%,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.

Centre’s clean air programme also got a shot in the arm with Sitharaman announcing a fund of ₹2,217 crore for air pollution control in 42 cities with a million plus population. The Centre had approved the release of ₹2,200 crore last year based on recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission. The grant is meant to be utilised for air quality improvement measures under the National Clean Air Programme including capacity building of the local urban bodies as well as state pollution control boards to improve monitoring of air pollution levels in these cities. Delhi, however, is not among cities to receive funds under this grant.