Prospects for Hydrogen Energy and its Production in India

This chapter examines potential Indian hydrogen energy development on three timescales: near-present, 2050, and 2070. The Net-Zero policy target date for much of the world is 2050, but for India it is 2070. The chapter presents hydrogen in India today. The chapter considers hydrogen manufacture, its uses, and the role of industrial clusters. Prospects for emerging hydrogen demand are assessed on each time horizon. Current and future hydrogen production approaches are described and linked to considerations of distribution. It gives much emphasis to the role of innovation, both globally and specifically within India, emphasizing the importance, and promise, of active Indian research into low carbon hydrogen production. The chapter observes that quite properly the development of a hydrogen economy in India could have a different set of working assumptions and industrial synergies than will be seen in the richest countries of the world. The extended time line and the economic and social realities of India bring particular trade-off considerations and these realities should permit a wider range of industrial approaches including, through the transition, fossil fuel related options. If the world is to decarbonize then India must decarbonize. A hydrogen economy is attractive to India and hence India can be expected to play a world-leading role in developing important technologies of wider utility.