Hydrogen: Energy Of The Future
PIB FEATURE
Hydrogen - a colourless, odourless
gas is increasingly gaining attention as a future source of energy
free from environmental pollution. Its new use has been found in the
automobile and power generation sector. The biggest advantage with
hydrogen is that it has the highest energy content per unit mass among
known fuels and it burns to produce water as a by-product. It is,
therefore, not only an efficient energy carrier but also an
environmentally benign fuel as well. In fact, the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy have been supporting a broad based research,
development and demonstration (RD&D) programme on different aspects of
hydrogen energy for over two decades. Consequently, a National
Hydrogen Energy Road Map was prepared in 2005 which provides for
various pathways for development of hydrogen energy i.e. production,
storage, transport, safety, delivery and applications. However, the
current technologies for use of hydrogen are yet to be optimized and
commercialized but efforts for the same have already started.
Hydrogen Production
Hydrogen is found only in combined state on earth and therefore its
production involves the process of its isolation from its compounds, a
process which itself requires energy. Globally, about 96% of hydrogen
is produced presently using hydrocarbons. About 4% hydrogen is
produced through electrolysis of water. Refineries and fertilizer
plants are major in-situ producers and consumers of hydrogen in India.
It is also produced as a by-product in chloro-alkali industry.
Hydrogen production falls into three categories: thermal process,
electrolytic processes and photolytic processes. Some thermal
processes use energy resources while in others heat is used in
combination with closed chemical cycles to produce hydrogen from
feed-stocks such as water. These are known as “thermo-chemical”
processes. But this technology is in early stages of development.
Steam Methane Reformation, gasification of coal and gasification of
biomass are other processes of production of hydrogen. The advantage
with coal and biomass is that both are locally available resources and
biomass is a renewable resource too. Electrolytic processes use
electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and can even
reduce the emission of green house gases emission if the source of
electricity is ‘clean’.
Hydrogen Storage
Hydrogen storage for transportation is one of the most technically
challenging barriers to widespread commercialization of this
technology. The most common method of storage is in gaseous state in
pressurized cylinders, however, it being the lightest element requires
high pressures. It can be stored in liquid form in cryogenic systems
but would require high amounts of energy. It is also possible to store
it in solid state in the form of metal hydrides, liquid organic
hydrides, carbon nanostructures and in chemicals. The Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy is presently supporting R&D projects in this
field.
Applications
Apart from using it as a chemical feedstock in industry, it can also
be used as a clean fuel in automobile and also for power generation
through internal combustion engines and fuel cells. In the field of
hydrogen in internal combustion engines, R&D projects for using
hydrogen blended compressed natural gas and diesel and development of
hydrogen fuelled vehicles are being implemented in India. Hydrogen
fuelled motorcycles and three wheelers have been developed and
demonstrated in the country. Catalytic combustion cookers using
hydrogen as fuel have also been developed. The Banaras Hindu
University, BHU has modified commercially available motorcycles and
three wheelers to operate on hydrogen as fuel. With a view to provide
hydrogen blended compressed natural gas as an automotive fuel, a
dispensing station for the same has been set up at Dwarka in New Delhi
with partial financial support from the Ministry. This facility
provides CNG fuel blended with hydrogen up to 20% in volume in
demonstration and test vehicles. A development cum demonstration
project for use of H-CNG as fuel in select vehicles (buses, cars and
3-wheelers) is also under implementation. Besides, hydrogen fuelled
generator set is being developed by BHU and IIT, Delhi.Another application of hydrogen energy is the fuel cell, an
electrochemical device converting chemical energy of hydrogen directly
into electricity without combustion. It is a clean and efficient
process of electricity generation. It can be used in UPS systems,
replacing batteries and diesel generators. In view of the relevance of
fuel cells in automobiles and power generation, several organizations
globally are pursuing RD&D activities in this field. Portable
applications are also being developed. The present efforts in these
fuel cells are focused on reducing its cost and improving its
durability. The focus of the Fuel Cell programme of the Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy has been on supporting RD&D activities on
different types of fuel cells. (PIB Feature.)
PIB FEATURE
Hydrogen - a colourless, odourless
gas is increasingly gaining attention as a future source of energy
free from environmental pollution. Its new use has been found in the
automobile and power generation sector. The biggest advantage with
hydrogen is that it has the highest energy content per unit mass among
known fuels and it burns to produce water as a by-product. It is,
therefore, not only an efficient energy carrier but also an
environmentally benign fuel as well. In fact, the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy have been supporting a broad based research,
development and demonstration (RD&D) programme on different aspects of
hydrogen energy for over two decades. Consequently, a National
Hydrogen Energy Road Map was prepared in 2005 which provides for
various pathways for development of hydrogen energy i.e. production,
storage, transport, safety, delivery and applications. However, the
current technologies for use of hydrogen are yet to be optimized and
commercialized but efforts for the same have already started.
Hydrogen Production
Hydrogen is found only in combined state on earth and therefore its
production involves the process of its isolation from its compounds, a
process which itself requires energy. Globally, about 96% of hydrogen
is produced presently using hydrocarbons. About 4% hydrogen is
produced through electrolysis of water. Refineries and fertilizer
plants are major in-situ producers and consumers of hydrogen in India.
It is also produced as a by-product in chloro-alkali industry.
Hydrogen production falls into three categories: thermal process,
electrolytic processes and photolytic processes. Some thermal
processes use energy resources while in others heat is used in
combination with closed chemical cycles to produce hydrogen from
feed-stocks such as water. These are known as “thermo-chemical”
processes. But this technology is in early stages of development.
Steam Methane Reformation, gasification of coal and gasification of
biomass are other processes of production of hydrogen. The advantage
with coal and biomass is that both are locally available resources and
biomass is a renewable resource too. Electrolytic processes use
electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and can even
reduce the emission of green house gases emission if the source of
electricity is ‘clean’.
Hydrogen Storage
Hydrogen storage for transportation is one of the most technically
challenging barriers to widespread commercialization of this
technology. The most common method of storage is in gaseous state in
pressurized cylinders, however, it being the lightest element requires
high pressures. It can be stored in liquid form in cryogenic systems
but would require high amounts of energy. It is also possible to store
it in solid state in the form of metal hydrides, liquid organic
hydrides, carbon nanostructures and in chemicals. The Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy is presently supporting R&D projects in this
field.
Applications
Apart from using it as a chemical feedstock in industry, it can also
be used as a clean fuel in automobile and also for power generation
through internal combustion engines and fuel cells. In the field of
hydrogen in internal combustion engines, R&D projects for using
hydrogen blended compressed natural gas and diesel and development of
hydrogen fuelled vehicles are being implemented in India. Hydrogen
fuelled motorcycles and three wheelers have been developed and
demonstrated in the country. Catalytic combustion cookers using
hydrogen as fuel have also been developed. The Banaras Hindu
University, BHU has modified commercially available motorcycles and
three wheelers to operate on hydrogen as fuel. With a view to provide
hydrogen blended compressed natural gas as an automotive fuel, a
dispensing station for the same has been set up at Dwarka in New Delhi
with partial financial support from the Ministry. This facility
provides CNG fuel blended with hydrogen up to 20% in volume in
demonstration and test vehicles. A development cum demonstration
project for use of H-CNG as fuel in select vehicles (buses, cars and
3-wheelers) is also under implementation. Besides, hydrogen fuelled
generator set is being developed by BHU and IIT, Delhi.Another application of hydrogen energy is the fuel cell, an
electrochemical device converting chemical energy of hydrogen directly
into electricity without combustion. It is a clean and efficient
process of electricity generation. It can be used in UPS systems,
replacing batteries and diesel generators. In view of the relevance of
fuel cells in automobiles and power generation, several organizations
globally are pursuing RD&D activities in this field. Portable
applications are also being developed. The present efforts in these
fuel cells are focused on reducing its cost and improving its
durability. The focus of the Fuel Cell programme of the Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy has been on supporting RD&D activities on
different types of fuel cells. (PIB Feature.)
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