Scenarios envision major role for production of “green hydrogen” as energy source
INDIA, the second most populous country on the planet, is also the world’s third largest national carbon dioxide emitter. It is investing billions in renewable power, and announced a 2070 net-zero emissions target at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. New research published in iScience maps a pathway for making this pledge possible.
Researchers, including those from the Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy and Environment, envision a major role for the use of “green hydrogen” in decarbonization, produced by electrolysis of water powered by renewables. Green hydrogen’s benefits are wide ranging: it offers an efficient means to decarbonize many hard-to-abate sectors; it accommodates for the variability of wind and solar power as a storage medium; it can be used as a feedstock for the production of ammonia and other chemicals; and it can be an energy source for fuel cell vehicles, which has significant applications for India’s future long distance road transport.
“This paper, for the first time, focuses on decarbonizing all of India’s fossil energy consumption,” says co-author Haiyang Lin, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy and Environment in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “Our research explored electricity demand over the year, through various seasonal situations, and found that green hydrogen can play a significant role in decarbonizing India’s economy, at an expense that is lower than fossil fuel dominated alternatives.”
The study employed four model scenarios for the year 2050, ranging from an energy supply controlled by fossil fuels to 100% power production from renewable sources. They found that using wind and solar power, particularly during the monsoon season, could lead to an excess of energy that could potentially be wasted. Integrating hydrogen technologies would allow for much of the curtailed electricity to be used for electrolysis of water, rather than lost.
The researchers also discovered that a significant quantity of green hydrogen could be made available in India at costs competitive with current production from natural gas. However, a 100% renewable power sector without the application of long-term storage is the most expensive of all the sensitivity scenarios, indicating the importance of pairing wind and solar power with practical hydrogen applications to reduce electricity costs and associated emissions.
“An energy-hydrogen model could play a crucial role in helping India attain a carbon free future,” explains Professor Michael B. McElroy, Chair of the Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy and Environment and the Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “Ultimately, incorporating hydrogen into India’s renewable energy landscape could reduce energy system costs by ~10% by 2050, meaning it is a cost effective path towards decarbonization.”
Research Cited: . 2022. “Deep decarbonization of the Indian economy: 2050 prospects for wind, solar, and green hydrogen.” iScience, 25, 6, Pp. 104399. Publisher's Version and Abstract