The Hindu Business Line : Pumping up hydrogen

THE SPIRALLING COST of crude and the finite nature of fossil fuels have brought the focus sharply back on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro. For countries such as India, renewables will undoubtedly be a real option, especially if their production can be made economically viable. The progress, though slow, has been in the right, and new, direction — hydrogen, for instance. Produced economically, it can solve the country's problem of huge dependence on oil imports, air pollution and balance of payment (BoP) concerns. With a worldwide consumption of around 105 million kg a day, hydrogen has a range of industrial applications, especially in refineries, chemical and electronic industries and as rocket fuel.

Being an energy carrier, like electricity, and not a primary source of energy, hydrogen has to be produced. In the conventional method, hydrogen gas is produced by the reforming of natural gas or other fossil fuels where it is trapped. Hydrogen can also be generated from water by `splitting' it from oxygen using electricity in a process called electrolysis. Considerable progress has been made on the technology for producing hydrogen. Ballard Power Systems has developed proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel cells to supply hydrogen. Hydrogen Systems N.V. of Belgium has designed a 350-litre hydrogen fuel tank to run automobiles. The 1994 patented generator splits water and collects hydrogen gas `on site' using inorganic membrane electrolysis technology. The US, Canada, Japan, Germany, Belgium, and even China are making hectic efforts to make hydrogen production affordable. But in the forefront are the automobile companies, under pressure to clean up the pollution from their vehicle exhausts and use eco-friendly fuels. For most auto majors, developing hydrogen as a `clean fuel' option is on top of their research priorities. Use of hydrogen as transportation fuel is well demonstrated. For example, a Danish company, Berkhof, has run buses in Belgium using hydrogen as fuel. Similarly, Plug Power, US, demonstrated in Vancouver buses that run on fuel cells powered by hydrogen. Global auto giants, including DaimlerChrysler and BMW, have on trial automobiles fuelled by hydrogen.

In this context, the decision of the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) to push the hydrogen option is welcome. India's nascent research efforts can be put on the fast track, given the scientific capabilities. A portable hydrogen-oxygen generator has been developed under a Technology, Information Forecasting and Assessment Council initiative. One option can also be to use the enormous heat generated as a waste product from nuclear power reactors to separate hydrogen from water. Experiments have demonstrated that wind power too can be used in this process and as this is a cheap, renewable source of power, production of hydrogen could become commercially attractive. The MNES decision to allocate Rs 250 crore for projects under the hydrogen energy programme and the Planning Commission's recommendation for an additional Rs 200 crore augur well for attempts to propel India as a `Hydrogen Economy', and be among the frontrunners in the use of `Hydrecity', as the power produced from hydrogen is called.

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