Hydrogen economy
Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A hydrogen economy is an energy system in which hydrogen plays a major role in place of fossil fuels. It would serve as:
- a fuel for transport,
- an industrial input for steel, fertiliser and refining,
- an energy store that holds surplus renewable power for later use.
Hydrogen is a clean option only if it is produced cleanly, for example as green hydrogen.
Example
India's National Green Hydrogen Mission (January 2023) targets production of 5 MMT (million metric tonnes) of green hydrogen a year by 2030. Its SIGHT programme gives incentives for making electrolysers, the machines that split water into hydrogen, and for producing green hydrogen.
Don't confuse with
- Green hydrogen: this is one type of hydrogen, made using renewable power. The hydrogen economy is the whole system built around using hydrogen widely.
Related concepts
- Energy transition
- Energy trilemma
- Energy intensity
- Coal phase-down
- Grey hydrogen
- Blue hydrogen
- Green hydrogen
- Green ammonia
- Green premium
- Carbon capture, utilisation and storage