The Hindu Business Line : Climate change compulsions

Hydrogen or methanol as alternative energy source to mitigate climate change concerns has not made the impact expected and with the rising energy demand, it is vital to find cost-effective options.

Vijayalakshmi Viswanathan

The “Bali Road Map” for the future fight against climate change in the period after 2012, when the first commitment period of the Kyoto protocol ends, has an agenda for the developing countries also to adapt to the impact of climate change. As has been rightly emphasised by environmentalist Mr R.K. Pachauri, who heads the Nobel Prize-winning Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, India has to gear itself for a path of development that is sustainable and ge t ready for a low-carbon society. Developing countries, seeing the writing on the wall, have agreed to take action to mitigate climate change, though they have not been mandated to do so under the UN Framework convention on climate change.

India, which has played a major role through an amendment for the road-map, has the added responsibility to ensure that it emerges a winner in a scenario of low-carbon society through innovative strategy for energy alternatives.

Accepted goal

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is an accepted goal with a definite commitment from industrialised countries to cut the emissions by 5 per cent below 1990 levels. Attempts are afoot to replace the fossil fuels in the transport sector, which is considered to be a major culprit in this regard.

Hydrogen as an energy source has found favour with many countries, ostensibly for the advantages it offers.

It is environmentally clean, particularly in transport applications, as it does not release greenhouse gases at the end-use. Transition to hydrogen economy is much easier, as production is possible through a variety of processes such as thermal, photolysis, biochemical routes to name only a few. It can be stored in all the three states of matter, namely gas, liquid and solid. Its distribution is also easily possible.

Developing countries are normally taken in by the euphoria generated by the industrialised West and try to imitate the technology adopted by them unmindful of the differing conditions and environment. There is also a tendency to accept their conclusions without subjecting them to rigorous proof. There is a belief that hydrogen being the most abundant element in the nature should be exploited and transition to hydrogen-based fuel cell as the west, could be a solution for sustainable energy economy even for countries such as India.

The proponents overlook the fact that even after three decades of research (the hydrogen movement started in 1974), the hydrogen option has not made the kind of impact that was expected to. For a secured energy future we have to look for a new energy source.

It is also important to note that production, packaging, storage, transfer and delivery of hydrogen are energy guzzlers. Is there an alternative to hydrogen economy?

Methanol alternative

Recent developments in this regard point to the emergence of a methanol economy. Prof George A Olah, a Nobel laureate, proposed this concept as an alternative in 2005.

The supporters of methanol economy claim that methanol can be directly used as a fuel and can be produced in a greenhouse-neutral process.

Methanol which has higher hydrogen content per litre than liquid hydrogen can be blended with gasoline.

Yet another positive aspect is that methanol can be distributed through the existing gasoline infrastructure.

In a country such as India where even switchover to LNG for vehicles is beset with numerous distribution problems, the cost of infrastructure required for hydrogen distribution will be prohibitively high and cannot be ignored.

Methanol too has its limitations. Synthesis of methanol is not a clean process and requires carbon monoxide and hydrogen which are presently produced from fossil fuels. Methanol’s corrosive action on some metals can have adverse effects. It can even cause contamination to the groundwater.

A road map for energy conversion no doubt has to take into account energy efficiency and environmental impact, more so because of the global awareness on the impact of climate change.

But any changeover should not only be easy to implement, but also capable of being sustained over a period by the economy.

We are in a market economy driven by profit motive and expensive energy options are likely to be discarded in favour of better ones.

As the demand for fuel from the expanding transport sector, is likely to shoot up with the projected 9-10 per cent growth of the economy, there is an imperative need to look for better alternatives which can be smoothly implemented.

A roadmap for the introduction of the most appropriate alternative based on a critical and careful analysis is a must and thus a priority research area for the country.

(The author is a former Financial Commissioner, Railway Board.)

More Stories on : Climate & Weather | Environment

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Perils of summit diplomacy

Climate change compulsions

GAAP vs non-GAAP, media vs managers

Going Round and Round

A fair demand for bonus shares

Cost management in the most complex organisation: the government

Infrastructure, the backbone

US rate cuts and their impact

Recovery of bank dues

Gujarat verdict