The first graph is for largest maximum temperature for the months of March to May. The second graph is for the lowest minimum temperature for the months of December to February. The third graph is the difference between the two temperatures denoted for four major climate zones that are Bhubaneswar (blue line), Mumbai (green line), and Delhi (red line) during 1951-2015 and Chennai (black line) during 1980-2015. The calculations and graphical analysis have been done using Mann Kendall rank test with a 90% significance level. From the Figure 1, it can be observed that there is high variability in the minimum and maximum temperature in the later years (1981-2015). 12 These observations are in compliance with the theoretical data that has been published in climate assessment reports (Table 1). Below mentioned is tabular data for temperature increase for different months/seasons during a year. 13 Table 1: Temperature Trends for different Months/Seasons during the Years 1986 - 2015.
| C/ Decade) | ||
|
|
| |
Annual | 0.15±0.09 | 0.13±0.10 | 0.15±0.10 |
Winter (December - February) | 0.05±0.16 | 0.07±0.18 | 0.03±0.20 |
Pre-Monsoon (March - May) | 0.26±0.17 | 0.20±0.16 | 0.29±0.20 |
Monsoon (June - September) | 0.11±0.12 | 0.11±0.08 | 0.10±0.17 |
Post- Monsoon (October - November) | 0.17±0.17 | 0.19±0.20 | 0.14±0.22 |
Rainfall As the temperature increases, its effect can be easily seen on the rainfall of the region. This is because warm air holds greater moisture in comparison to cold air and warm water evaporates at a faster pace. A cumulative effect of these is seen in the rain. These are causing more frequent heavy downpours which are not usually common. During the period of 1950 to 2015, there has been a threefold increase in heavy precipitation in the central Indian region. 14 While extreme precipitation has considerably risen over the subcontinent, however, an extremely contrasting observation has also been made. According to the assessment report, there has been an overall plummeting rainfall trend in the annual all-India and mean summer monsoon precipitation in the period of 1951 to 2015. This has been observed largely in the Western Ghats and Indo-Gangetic Plains. The cause for this trend is a notably increased concentration of anthropogenic (human-caused) aerosols over the northern hemisphere. Urbanization, improper land use, and increased anthropogenic aerosols are considered the main factor behind the increased localized rainfall and overall mean rainfall decrease. The time scale analysis of rainfall for the current year during the monsoon season from June to September depicts intense monsoon variability with frequent maximum peaks (Figure 2). As expected from theoretical research, the monsoon is becoming severe. India receives most of its rainfall from the monsoon. This exotic wind pattern has been responsible for a significant amount of rainfall over the Indian subcontinent. Hence, a major impact of climate change has been seen on this pattern. It has been projected that the monsoonal precipitation is going to become more severe in the future due to an increase in mixture content as a consequence of increased temperatures.
The first graph is for the monsoon season from June to September. The second graph is a comparison of the cumulative rainfall for the monsoon season for the current year (2021) and from 1961-2010. The third graph is the depreciation in monsoon rainfall for the current year. 15 Drought During the period of 1951 to 2015, the number and geographical extent of droughts have risen over the subcontinent. Drought severity is mainly observed in parts of central India and parts of Indo-Gangetic Plains. These observations are in-line with a decrease in mean summer season monsoon precipitation. However, at the same time rise in the occurrence of localized rainfall has increased the probabilities of fatal floods. Climate models have projected a rise in the extent, occurrence, and severity of droughts over pan India while flood propensity is predicted to be higher in Himalayan River basins. Continuous drought in the years 1999 and 2000 led to a steep decrease in the groundwater tables of the northwest region and the 2000-2002 droughts caused extreme crop failure which led to the worst massive starvation and affected 11 million people in Orissa. 16 Himalayan Region According to the “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region report 2020” of India,9 substantial warming in the Himalayan region has been observed in the twentieth century. The warming is quite prominent in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) regions that is having the most area with non-temporal ice cover after the south, and north poles. The annual mean temperature in the HKH region has been incessantly increasing by 0.1 °C per decade during 1901-2014, which further increased at about 0.2 °C per decade during 1951-2014. At elevated regions (>4000m), the warming is quite strong, as high as 0.5 °C per decade. It has been further projected that the HKH region will keep on warming in the range of 2.6-4.6 °C by the end of the 21st century. Economy and Climate Change Positively, the Indian democracy has resulted in equity moderately greater than the global average and the dependency ratio is also relatively greater. Nonetheless, the poor living standards of people involved in agriculture and people born into socially and economically backward castes and regions limit the robustness of the wholesome economy. It is possible and predicted that climate change will rip off the existing economic standards of these people so much so that it will result in severe taxes on the economic and industrial assets of the state and central government. It has been projected that climate change can deplete India’s GDP by circa 2.6% by 2100 even while capping the global temperature rise below 2 °C. In a scenario where global temperature also keeps increasing (4 °C), this depletion is projected at 13.4%. These figures are an outcome of the changes in precipitation and temperature levels, and the impact of climate change on labor productivity. Labor productivity may as well get affected by endemic vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, etc. The probability of the outbreak of such diseases increases due to climate change. 17 Nevertheless, gauging the exact financial and economic costs of climate change is a herculean task and also appears complicated due to uncertainties at every step. The absolute cost of flooding, heatwaves, cyclones, water scarcity, sea-level rise, and other climate-related hazards can be determined by the level and direction of economic development, the solutions opted in infrastructure development, spatial planning in the future, and the intermingling of hazards and how they will multiply each other. On top of everything, global warming will have a major role to play in determining the economic costs. Agriculture Even after 74 years of independence, India is still mostly an agrarian economy. About 50% of the Indian population is still directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for meeting essential needs. If the harvest is good enough, the economy also benefits. So, Indian economic development can be seen on a proportional line with agriculture. However, agriculture is itself dependent on natural forces like the monsoon, rainfall and temperature. Agriculture contributes about 50% to the Indian economy. Although this has been decreasing recently, yet even today, slight upheavals in agriculture directly impact the economy. When we discuss the impact of climate change, its impact on agriculture can’t be ignored. Even in its raw and backward form, agriculture has been supporting the backbone of the Indian Economy. In many parts of the country, farmers are dependent on the monsoon for irrigation and good harvest. There is a huge demand for another green revolution as the benefits of the first green revolution was limited to only a few parts of the country, mainly Punjab and Haryana. Admittedly, the effects of climate change will be felt chiefly on the agricultural sector and the corresponding water requirements and availability. Agriculture production in the North region depends on spring snowmelt to replenish water supplies. It has been predicted that earlier snowmelt on account of climate change can substantially reduce the water table during the growing season impacting production. The southwest monsoon is critical for agriculture as it provides for about 80% of rainfall to the country. This also acts as an important tool to determine optimal dates for plantings. Many models have projected that India will suffer from intense and longer summer monsoon and weak and short winter monsoon. At the same time, pronounced warming will contract overall rainfall. 18 Monsoon-dependent agriculture will see profound transitions. Without proper or no irrigation, landless agriculture laborers, and small farmers will face loss of livelihood and extreme food shortages. Most of these will go to cities in search of work and economic prospects. 19 Numerous people will be affected by decreased food productivity leading to malnutrition, hunger, diseases, etc. This will also increase the burden of providing assistance to these small landholders on the state and center. There will be increased demand for infrastructure following a major internal migration will occur, owing to decreased agriculture output and income, to urban areas. The need to replace the existing infrastructure (e.g., in the transportation and energy sectors, irrigation systems) due to climate change will cause greater economic costs. Livestock India has the most livestock population globally. This is primarily because of the large-scale milk production, nutrient recycling (manure), household capital, draft animals, etc. These animals are used as household capital in landless households. Many low-income rural families even use animals as means of transportation and consider livestock as a potential economic asset. However, the reproduction and production of livestock are affected by increasing temperatures. Heat stressors reduce feed and fodder intake and increase vulnerability to diseases. Feeding is affected as fodder gets expensive due to increasing agricultural - produce costs. One example of a heat stressor was the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in cattle. 52% (Andhra Pradesh) and 84% (Maharashtra) were found to be affected, owing to high temperature, rainfall, and humidity conditions. A disease called mastitis occurs in dairy animals during hot and humid weather. 20 Infrastructure A good and sound infrastructure contributes a great deal to the economy of a nation. Without proper infrastructure many economic prospects and projects are desolate. However, the increased extremes of natural calamity as an outcome of climate change have deeply affected the infrastructure. Palpably, in India, 14% of the annual maintenance and repair budget is spent on maintaining the Konkan Railway. Consequently, tracks, cuttings, and bridges are damaged each year due to uneventful weather conditions. Landslides remain a constant source of worry. During heavy rains, the developmental projects have to be stalled for more than seven days leading to extended costs. Massive destruction of on-site material also takes place. 21 In the last few decades, as flood-like situations have prominently risen, a major portion of the budget goes to disaster relief. India spent $3 billion of economic damage caused by floods in the last decade which is 10% of the global economic loss. 22 In 2020, cyclone Amphan distressed around 13 million people and caused more than $13 billion in damage in the region. 23 In such a disaster, the direct impact can be seen on low-income households which are displaced and find it difficult to accumulate assets to enhance their security. Low Salaried/Income Household Low-income households are more susceptible to economic losses due to climate change. This is because they settle in densely populated regions that lack basic infrastructure and services like paved roads, safe and piped water, decent housings, drainage, etc. it has also been found that many people live in low-lying coastal areas, steep slopes, and flood-prone regions as the cost of land is cheaper. 24 Furthermore, these people will also be directly affected by a combination of increased cereal prices, a slower economic growth rate due to climate change, and declining wages in the agricultural sector. It is feared that if the situation persists, it might increase the national poverty rate by 3.5% in 2040 contrastingly greater than what is expected in a zero-emission-warming scenario. 25,26 Energy Economy and Climate Change Energy is required to sustain not only people but everyone all around. It lights homes, runs factories and vehicles, draws water, and much more. In a way, energy needs and production are also a measure of economic progress. Hence, it won’t be wrong to conclude that energy dynamics and climate change are inseparable. Climate change has a direct consequence on the energy demands and production of a country and vice-versa. The extremism of climate change is becoming a major cause of concern for the energy sector of developing and under-developed countries. Owing to a stressed economy, lack of technological innovation, and infrastructure to sustain new technologies, these countries are forced to stick to the conventional sources of energy. These sources of energy largely depend on fossil fuel burning and hence contribute significantly to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. The per capita demand for energy is about 1/10th of the OECD average with a constantly increasing demand - 3.2 percent per year (2000-2005). It is speculated that the energy needs of India will double by 2030 (considering the growth rate of 6.3% GDP annually). 27 In India major energy usage is for producing electricity and transportation fuels. Most of these energy needs are met by domestic coal and petroleum reserves along with imported oil. Fossil fuels contribute about 82.7%, hydropower 14.5%, and nuclear only 3.4%. The transportation sector is supported by imported fuels as the domestic production is extremely less, about 785,000 bbl/day opposed to a demand of 2.45 million bbl/day. The IEA has described this situation as a system fueled “largely by coal and combined renewables and waste, with much smaller but growing shares of gas, oil, hydro, and nuclear". 28 At the same time, the growing inequality in energy demand and supply cannot be ignored. As development paces, the demand for energy increases. However, the current production is not sufficient. Circa 401 million people live without electricity, use of fuel wood and dung is prevalent leading to greater than 400,000 premature deaths yearly, mostly of children and women. Energy poverty can be seen in India as the economy booms and the economic conditions have benefited the “haves” but not the “have-nots”. 26 Income inequalities are largely responsible for this economic disparity. Evidently, electrical vehicles are being made available for Indians, however, their soaring prices make them unappeasable for the majority of the population. To bridge this gap, India must heavily invest in providing energy to all its people. However, this can’t happen without involving fossil fuels in the picture in the short run. In such a scenario, for India the battle becomes more difficult as it can’t severe itself from the conventional means of energy generation and employment. The discontinuation of coal will affect employment of numerous and at the same time putting millions of people into darkness and shut hundreds of productions units. This will again add to the woes of economy. Results and Discussions By now we have seen the existing climatic variations and the challenges presented to the pillars of economy. We now have an idea as to how climate change has affected us in every possible way. Perhaps something unavoidable. Yet, development measures themselves possess great risk when it comes to climate change. Rainfall As evident from the above discussion, the temperatures are rising consequently of climate change. This will result in escalated evaporation of water and accumulate abundant water for precipitation, thereby leading to flood-like situations. Similarly, increase in the evaporation rate of water and tremendous change in wind pattern will lead to decreased rainfall leading to drought like situations. Hence, there will be an overall increase in storms and strong rainfall. So, areas in their direct contact will experience excessive precipitation. While areas away from them will experience water scarcity. Temperature Temperature is itself regulated by the water cycle and the atmospheric gasses. With an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases, the temperature of earth will rise as more and more heat will get trapped in the atmosphere. All this is powered via climate change. Agriculture Both temperature and rainfall directly impact the agriculture. The reason being certain crops need certain physical condition for proper growth. Hence, climate change can make the growth of a particular crop difficult. For example, crops that need lower temperature will suffer from lower yields due to global warming (heating of the earth atmosphere). At the same time, crops needing less amount of water will get destroyed due to increased precipitation. Impact of Development on Climate Change The impact of development on climate change is very subjective and highly improbable. The reason being, the impact of development varies according to the different techniques used. However, as a summation it can be concluded that conventional mode of development like dependence on fossil fuels have degraded the climate and contributed to maximum climate change. As the time changed, and policies started adopting greener methods of development, there have been positive impact on the climate change. But the impact of development before the 20 th century had impacted the climate in the most non-ignorable ways. It may be noted that the countries contributing to global pollution levels, global warming, and climate change are developed economies which experienced development through the 19 th and 20 th century. While countries who are either developing or underdeveloped contribute less to climate change parameters. Economy and Environment Go Hand In Hand India is blessed with enormous alternatives to meet its developmental needs. Stronger carbon emission targets can be met without compromising on developmental aspirations. The gradual decrease in public support for coal and improvement in electricity distribution can help to free fiscal space when public debt is increasing. This can also help in the generation of economic diversifications in the regions heavily dependent on coal for revenues and employment. Promoting clean and green electricity generation can help in diverting the burden from fossil fuels and reducing air pollution while generating more employment opportunities. Developing new mass transit systems and extending the present ones can reduce vehicular emissions while blooming employment. It will also stimulate economic growth through agglomeration economies in the future. Conservation and enhancement of wetlands and forests will support agricultural productivity, sequester CO 2 emissions, and enhance resilience power to environmental shocks. New metro systems are being developed and ambitious plans for vehicles and full electrification of railways are imperative. India has also started considering climate change in its policies for agriculture and water. Many times, the low-carbon options are more affordable than their counterparts and they also help in addressing socio-political needs urgently like the cleansing of air and access to quality jobs and services. The low-carbon alternatives will help in raising the standards of living and reduce GHG emissions simultaneously. 29,30,31,32 The Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) report of India aims at 40% of energy generation from clean energy and a 33–35% reduction in emission intensity of GDP by 2030. India today is spending on energy-efficient lighting and renewable electricity more than ever. 33,34 India has committed to reduce its carbon emission by 1 billion by 2030 and reduce the dependence of the economy on carbon by 45% by the end of the decade at the COP26 Glasgow summit. It also aspires a net-zero carbon emission by 2070. 35 The below mentioned can be considered as a pivot point while forming climate policies.
India has been recently investing a lot in solar energy. This will help to eventually shift from fossil-fuel-based electricity generation. At the same time, it will create more employment opportunities in the short and long term. It can also help in reducing the gender gap in the economy. The people already involved in fossil fuel-based jobs can be trained for this switch, thereby protecting their employment prospects. The development of solar villages will not only help in raising the standards of all people but also cap GHG emissions.
Mismanagement of waste is also leading to widespread water pollution and disturbs the ecological balance. In many areas, people are exposed to untreated waste leading to poor health and reduced life expectancy. Currently, India does not have any clear policy mandate on waste management. In recent years a lot of efforts have been given to solid waste management, but they remain lacking. The development of waste-selective management plants like waste gasification will tackle this problem. Building the infrastructure of these plants and future maintenance will open new employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled laborers.
Gasification is also another field of interest when it comes to reducing climate change. At present many alternatives for petrol and diesel are present. Organic fuels like methanol and biofuels can essentially help motivate people to go green without any compromise on quality. In many countries, gasification is already used as an alternative to fossil fuels in countries like Japan. India should also join them. It will help in achieving the short-term goals of climate change. 36
Electrical vehicles are the future of this world. In many countries, a lot of stress is already being given to EVs. However, these come at greater costs and are not affordable without compromise on quality. So, they should be developed as long-term goals. Special highways and express easy should be built to initiate the process.
Forests are known for regulation rainfall and temperature. Restoration of the lost forest cover is essential. This will help in meeting needs and maintaining the ecological balance. A great amount of CO? will also get absorbed leading to maintained CO? levels. At the same time, precipitation and temperature will also be checked. This will improve/ maintain agricultural productivity.
India should invest a great deal into its Research and development sector. Explorations and innovations for alternatives to existing pollution-causing substances will help in meeting the desired targets as soon as possible. Conclusion We have seen how climate change is affecting the pillars of Indian Economy (Agriculture, livestock, etc.) and why adopting harsh climate policies often meet reluctance (energy economy). Although India is the only G20 nation with a 2 °C compatible emissions, there is no harm for it to adopt an even more stringent approach in reducing climate change. The adoption of more carbon-efficient and resilient policies like National Clean Energy Fund and International Solar Alliance will enable it to climate-proof its future developmental endeavors. This will require the collective efforts of the government and the people. This is possible when people abide by the rules and regulations formed by the government towards reduction of climate change. At the same time, the government also boosts the motivation of the people via rewards. Recently, the Indian government at the COP26 summit committed to a net zero carbon economy in the near future. The words ‘climate’ and ‘economic-development’ are therefore inevitably and closely linked in India for decades to come. Funding Source No funds, grants or other support was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript. Conflicts of Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. Acknowledgement We gratefully acknowledge Ramjas College, University of Delhi and Central University of Jammu for providing the financial support and assistance to the authors. References
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Economic Evaluation of Yeldur Nala Sub - Watershed Project in Kolar District of Karnataka
Influence of Organic Waste on Nutrient Composition of Compost and the Impact of Sawdust on Composting Process.
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Introduction, section snippets, references (80), cited by (32).
Review article a systematic and critical review of green hydrogen economy in india.
Methodology, green hydrogen production, green hydrogen applications in india, impact of green hydrogen on the indian society, policy recommendations to accelerate green hydrogen use, declaration of competing interest, key strategies of hydrogen energy systems for sustainability, int j hydrogen energy, bibliometric analysis of the research on hydrogen economy: an analysis of current findings and roadmap ahead, hydrogen production from renewable and sustainable energy resources: promising green energy carrier for clean development, renew sustain energy rev, an efficient process for sustainable and scalable hydrogen production from green ammonia, sustainable hydrogen society – vision, findings and development of a hydrogen economy using the example of austria, water splitting by mnfe2o4/na2co3 reversible redox reactions, global transportation of green hydrogen via liquid carriers: economic and environmental sustainability analysis, policy implications, and future directions, measuring reliability of hybrid photovoltaic-wind energy systems: a new indicator, renew energy, an empirical study on motivation to adopt hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in india: policy implications for stakeholders, j clean prod, an empirical study on intention to use hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in india, insights into low-carbon hydrogen production methods: green, blue and aqua hydrogen, a strategic roadmap for large-scale green hydrogen demonstration and commercialisation in china: a review and survey analysis, evaluation of strategic directions for supply and demand of green hydrogen in south korea, green hydrogen production: analysis for different single or combined large-scale photovoltaic and wind renewable systems, sizing a pv-wind based hybrid system using deterministic approach, energy convers manag, potential of green ammonia production in india, opportunities for green hydrogen production in petroleum refining and ammonia synthesis industries in india, a green hydrogen credit framework for international green hydrogen trading towards a carbon neutral future, green hydrogen: water use implications and opportunities, fuel cell bull, industrial decarbonization via hydrogen: a critical and systematic review of developments, socio-technical systems and policy options, energy res social sci, flexible production of green hydrogen and ammonia from variable solar and wind energy: case study of chile and argentina, hydrogen-enriched natural gas in a decarbonization perspective, green hydrogen production potential for developing a hydrogen economy in pakistan, reviewing the potential of bio-hydrogen production by fermentation, sustainable hydrogen and syngas production from waste valorization of biodiesel synthesis by-product: green chemistry approach, an experimental investigation of hydrogen production from biomass gasification, a green hydrogen energy system: optimal control strategies for integrated hydrogen storage and power generation with wind energy, hydrogen storage and delivery: review of the state of the art technologies and risk and reliability analysis, towards underground hydrogen storage: a review of barriers, bulk storage of hydrogen, green hydrogen as an alternative fuel for the shipping industry, curr opin chem eng, large-scale overseas transportation of hydrogen: comparative techno-economic and environmental investigation, a green hydrogen economy for a renewable energy society, green-hydrogen research: what have we achieved, and where are we going bibliometrics analysis, energy transition research : a bibliometric mapping of current findings and direction for future research, clean prod lett, can hydrogen be the sustainable fuel for mobility in india in the global context, an empirical study on consumer motives and attitude towards adoption of electric vehicles in india: policy implications for stakeholders, opportunities and challenges for decarbonizing steel production by creating markets for ‘green steel’products, ammonia as a green fuel and hydrogen source for vehicular applications, fuel process technol, a comprehensive assessment of biofuel policies in the brics nations: implementation, blending target and gaps, identifying social aspects related to the hydrogen economy: review, synthesis, and research perspectives, model development for biogas generation, purification and hydrogen production via steam methane reforming, unlocking brazil's green hydrogen potential: overcoming barriers and formulating strategies to this promising sector, multi-scenario analysis on hydrogen production development using pestel and fcm models, actual quality changes in natural resource and gas grid use in prospective hydrogen technology roll-out in the world and russia, taxation and customs strategies in jordanian supply chain management: shaping sustainable design and driving environmental responsibility.
Suggested citation: Biswas, Tirtha, Deepak Yadav, and Ashish Guhan. 2020. A Green Hydrogen Economy for India: Policy and Technology Imperatives to Lower Production Cost. New Delhi: Council on Energy, Environment and Water.
This paper estimates the hydrogen production costs for India through a spatio-temporal analysis of the production modes and cost of production of hydrogen from solar and wind energy till 2040. In the spatial analysis, it factors in 19 centres (including six metros) and the sectors of the economy (fertiliser, refineries, and iron and steel) that are likely to drive future demand for hydrogen. Further, the study considers baseline and optimistic scenarios in future projections. It determines the cost of hydrogen production in 2020, 2030 and 2040 in these two scenarios.
India can decarbonise its energy-intensive sectors such as industry, transport , and power by using green hydrogen. The likely surge in energy demand from these sectors during the post-pandemic economic recovery can be met by the production of hydrogen from renewable power sources, as renewable power is getting increasingly cheaper. Developed economies such as the European Union, Australia, and Japan have already drawn a hydrogen roadmap to achieve green economic growth. A hydrogen economy also improves air quality, mitigates carbon emissions, and fulfills the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.
This paper proposes a hydrogen roadmap for India through a spatio-temporal analysis of the production modes and cost of production of hydrogen from solar and wind energy till 2040. In the spatial analysis, we factored in 19 centres (including six metros) and the sectors of the economy (fertiliser, refineries, and iron and steel) that are likely to drive future demand for hydrogen. We consider baseline and optimistic scenarios in future projections and determine the cost of hydrogen production in 2020 and that in 2030 and 2040 in these two scenarios. The cost of producing green hydrogen ranges from 3.6 to 5.8 USD/kg at present depending on the renewable energy mix. Our estimates show that by 2030, blue hydrogen production (for natural gas delivered at 6.3 USD/MMBtu) becomes competitive at locations with favourable wind and solar power. We also foresee, in an optimistic scenario, with all locations becoming competitive with blue hydrogen by 2030 and with grey hydrogen in 2040 provided electrolyser costs are drastically lowered (400 USD/kW by 2030 and 200 USD/kW by 2040) and storage costs also come down (<100 USD/kg by 2040).
In the short to medium-term, evacuation of the excess of electricity from renewable hydrogen plants can reduce the costs by up to 20 per cent. Drawing excess of electricity from renewable sources during peak renewable hours requires flexibility in the grid. The economic viability of laying large-scale pipelines to transport the hydrogen from renewable-rich production site to the far-off demand centre has to be clearly worked out. In the long term, we forecast the production cost difference between renewable-rich locations and demand centres to drop to 0.2–0.4 USD/ kg because of lower capital investment required for installing electrolyser and storage systems, allowing for the oversizing of equipment to offset renewable intermittency. Finally, achieving a low hydrogen production cost in the future crucially hinges on scaling up of global annual manufacturing capacities, which would drastically bring down equipment costs.
India has committed to reducing the emission intensity of economic activity by 33–35 per cent by 2030 (below the 2005 levels) under the Paris Agreement on climate change . To achieve this goal, the Government of India has drafted policies to reduce emissions from the power, industry, and transport sectors, which contribute a lion’s share of emissions to the economy. The targeted measures include an ambitious 450 GW of electric power generation through renewable energy sources by 2030, Perform, Achieve, and Trade (PAT) scheme for enhancing industrial energy efficiency , and increasing the share of electric vehicles (EVs) in both public and private transport. However, GHG emissions from the sector are still coupled with economic growth as fossil fuels cater to the majority of the energy demand. The World Energy Outlook 2018 estimated that India’s industrial and transport emissions, as a share of its total energy emissions, will rise from 37 per cent in 2017 to 50 per cent in 2040 (International Energy Agency [IEA] 2018).
Globally, green hydrogen, a source of clean energy and industrial feedstock, is now becoming the key focus of international climate agenda as the cumulative of all the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) fall way short of the required reductions in global GHG emissions needed to limit global warming below 2°C by the end of the century. The European Union (EU), Australia, and Japan have already announced their hydrogen roadmap and many countries are expected to draw up a hydrogen programme in the future. India is likely to witness a huge surge in energy demand in a post-pandemic world to realise rapid economic growth. To cater to the present energy demand, India imports petroleum and industrialgrade coal. The dependence on fuel import and vagaries of commodity markets could stifle growth. India is endowed with abundant renewable energy resources, but tariffs for power generated from these sources are falling. The hydrogen production technologies are fast evolving and expected to get cheaper due to a surge in global demand. For India’s energy transition to clean fuels, adoption of green hydrogen to generate energy would bring in significant benefits. The transition to a hydrogen economy will not only reduce India’s import dependency on hydrocarbon fuels but also provide clean air to its citizens and reduce GHG emissions in absolute terms.
We are of the view that India’s ambitious renewable capacity deployment targets accompanied by falling tariffs and the ever-increasing energy demand from the industry and transport sectors are ideal for making a switch to hydrogen economy. We evaluate the hydrogen production costs in different regions in India, primarily based on market forecasts and projections for various future scenarios. We identify the key conditions and technology targets that are required to support largescale and competitive production of hydrogen in the country. We finally recommend key policy measures that the government should implement for achieving competitive production costs in the future.
We model the production of green hydrogen as a linear optimisation problem in Python. We have used the model developed by Mallapragada et al. (2020) and adapted it to our specific process. The model includes all steps from the production of electricity in a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and wind turbines till the supply of hydrogen to the consumer.
The operation of an electrolyser to produce hydrogen is based on the availability of renewable energy, which makes it necessary to include a hydrogen storage due to intermittence in the renewable energy production. The system is bound by two main constraints of law of conservation of energy and mass. The law of conservation of energy is used to constrain the AC power line and the law of conservation of mass is used to constrain the hydrogen line. The wind and solar power plants are connected to the AC power line, which is also connected to the AC/DC converter, compressor, and the electricity grid. Equation 1 shows the AC power line’s inflow and outflow of electricity:
The AC/DC converter supplies power to the electrolyser as DC power by converting the AC power from the AC line. The excess of power generated from the renewable sources is supplied to the grid if there is a capacity in the grid to absorb it, else it is curtailed.
Hydrogen production from the electrolyser occurs at a pressure of 30 bar and is connected to the hydrogen line, which is further connected to a hydrogen storage system. Hydrogen is stored at a pressure of 100 bar in the storage tank and is compressed using a compressor that consumes power from the AC power line.
The model’s input is a time series data of wind power and solar power availability in time steps of hours. The model is designed to produce a constant hydrogen supply throughout the time frame and the availability of system to supply hydrogen can be varied. The objective of the model is to minimise the total cost of the system that will be used to compute the least levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH). Equation 2 defines the LCOH:
The output of the model is the sizing of the system components, its operation, and costs
Fig 1: Components and interaction of the optimisation model in our study
*Note: The output from a solar plant is in AC because of an inbuilt inverter Source: Authors’ analysis
To determine the future demand nodes for hydrogen, we performed a spatial analysis. In our view, metro cities would be prominent demand centres for hydrogen mobility in the future. So, we chose six metro cities (New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata) in India for our analysis. In the industrial segment, we expect the fertiliser industry, refineries, and iron and steel plants to be the bulk consumers of green hydrogen in the future. The future industrial and transport demand nodes, along with the six metros, are identified in figure 2.
The load factor, which represents the annual availability of renewable power at the supply point, of solar and wind plants at the demand nodes are also shown in the Figure. We obtained the annual power generation profile for various locations from Renewables ninja (Pfenninger and Staffell, Renewable Ninja 2020), a website that allows the user to run simulations to determine hourly power output from solar and wind power plants anywhere in the world and is based on data published in the literature (Pfenninger and Staffell 2016) (Staffen and Pfenninger 2016). In Figure 2, we also identify renewable-rich areas near the demand nodes with good availability of wind resources. These solar and wind-resource rich areas near the demand nodes would become a possible supply point of large-scale cost-effective green hydrogen in the future. We presume that land and water are available at these locations and installing green hydrogen plants is not constrained by the lack of these resources.
Fig 2: Majority of the (future) demand centers have only access to solar resources
Note: Figures in percentages represent PLFs of renewable resources Source: Authors’ analysis
Table 1 lists the cost, performance, and service life parameters of various components that we considered in our analysis. In our calculations, we consider costs and performance-related parameters at three time points: 2020, 2030, and 2040. We develop two scenarios (base case and an optimistic case) for future projections (2030 and 2040). In the base case, we assume an average value of the electrolyser cost and efficiency for the future scenarios. In the optimistic case, we assume that the electrolyser and storage costs are significantly lower and electrolyser efficiency to be higher. The corresponding parameters for the optimistic case are mentioned in parenthesis alongside the base case. In the optimistic case, we also consider the financing risks for hydrogen projects to be lower and developers can avail soft loans, which is reflected in the lower discount rate of 8 per cent in our calculations. The remaining parameters, especially those related to the costs of solar and wind systems, do not change on moving from the base case to the optimistic scenario.
Table 1: List of assumptions for the techno-economic analysis
Note: USD = US dollar. The entire system life has been considered as 20 years. Additional costs of periodic replacement of components such as electrolyser stacks have been considered in the operating expenditure Source: Author’s compilation from above mentioned references
Figure 3 shows the projections of the unit cost of the electrolysers and renewable systems for 2030 and 2040. The average price of alkaline (AE) and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysers is taken from available data in the literature (IEA 2019). The cumulative installed capacities and learning rates of AE and PEM electrolysers are obtained from the report published by World Hydrogen Council (Hydrogen Council 2019). We then use the historical learning rates of electrolysers to estimate the cumulative installed capacity in the future that corresponds to the average prices in the 2040 base case. We also indicate the average and optimistic costs of electrolysers in 2030. For the 2040 optimistic cost target of 200 USD/kW (USD = US dollar), we rely on the bottom-up cost studies that relate the electrolyser cost with the annual production volumes (Mayyas, Mann and Garland 2018).
For renewable power systems, we break down the capital costs into module and turbine costs, the balance of plant costs, and miscellaneous charges such as land lease. We rely on the historical learning rates available in the literature ( International Renewable Energy Agency [IRENA] 2020) (Breyer, et al. 2017) and the current (REN21 2020) and modelled installed capacities in the future (IEA 2014) (IRENA 2019) to project the costs of solar modules and wind turbines in 2030 and 2040. We use India-specific learning rates to estimate the future prices of the balance of plant components in the solar and wind power systems (M.Elshurafa, et al. 2018). We also use India-specific data (Chawla, Aggarwal and Dutt 2019) for miscellaneous components such as land lease and other charges of solar and wind power plants. It may be noted that solar and wind prices are indicative only of the module and turbine costs. The total cost, inclusive of the balance of plant and miscellaneous components, is indicated in Table 1.
There exist studies that project the mid and long-term costs of solar and wind systems. IRENA expects the lower range for 2030 costs of solar and wind plants at 340 USD/kW (IRENA 2019) and 800 USD/kW (IRENA 2019), respectively. Our cost assumptions are lower than IRENA, possibly because we do not consider grid connection costs (transformer, sub-station and power evacuation costs). This is a valid assumption because the renewable hydrogen plant will be directly connected to the electrolyser and will not interact with the grid. The IRENA report does not mention costs for 2040. However, for 2050, IRENA expects the solar and wind costs to be 165-481 USD/kW and 650-1000 USD/kW, respectively. While our 2040 solar prices are within the range, the wind costs are lower than the range specified by IRENA (IRENA 2019). In addition, the IEA world energy model (IEA 2020) estimates for India indicates the PV costs at 350 USD/kW in 2040. For wind systems, the model considers only a marginal reduction from 1060 USD/kW in 2019 to 1020 USD/kW in 2040. However, in the absence of any detailed methodology and break-up for estimating the future cost trends in these reports, it is difficult for us to explain the differences. For technology development, we make conservative assumptions and do not consider any improvements in the efficiencies and consequently, the load factors of solar modules and wind turbines. This is in agreement with the results from the world energy model (IEA 2020) that expects a modest 1% increase in PLF of solar and 3% for onshore wind turbines.
We make use of the AE in all our analyses. This is because, as shown in Table 1, the AE is cheaper and efficient than PEM electrolysers. We have assumed that the alkaline electrolyser has the capacity to instantaneous ramp up and down. This is a valid assumption given that the literature review indicates that modern alkaline electrolysers can ramp up and down up to ±20 per cent of the rated capacity per second (IRENA 2018). Nevertheless, in the current analysis, we focus only on hourly simulation that does not capture transient phenomena like cloud cover and dip in wind speed. As compared to an AE, the PEM has the advantage of instantaneous ramping ability and might be more suited for an integration with renewable energy. Therefore, we also illustrate a case that compares the economics of producing hydrogen from alkaline electrolysers with that through PEM electrolysis.
The output of the linear program (LP) model is the sizing of the system components, its operation, and costs. The LP model typically oversizes the renewable energy source to ensure better full-load operating hours of the electrolyser. For consistency, we indicate the renewable oversizing relative to the electrolyser size as the renewable energy/alkaline electrolyser (RE/ AE) ratio. The hydrogen cost is obtained as a function of RE/AE. The production costs for a chosen location, Jamnagar, is provided in Chapter 5 (Results) in which a spatio-temporal analysis for the remaining locations is also presented.
Fig 3: Learning rates for electrolysers, solar modules, and wind turbines
Source: Authors’ analysis and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). 2018. Hydrogen from Renewable Power: Technology Outlook for the Energy Transition. Abu Dhabi: International Renewable Energy Agency.
Figure 4 below shows the variation in the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) for the varying renewable energy (RE) to alkaline electrolyser (AE) ratio at Jamnagar, Gujarat. We plot the results for 100 per cent wind, 100 per cent solar, and an optimised solar and wind energy mix. The graph depicts an islanded system where the excess renewable electricity is curtailed. In the case of Jamnagar, the optimal energy mix is obtained for an installed capacity share of 50 per cent wind and 50 per cent solar.
We observe that the hydrogen cost first reduces with increasing RE/AE ratio, reaches an optimum point, and then increases again at higher RE/AE ratios. We also find the costs to be higher for a wind-based system. This is because, as observed in Figure 5, hydrogen storage size increases as the availability of wind (for power generation) is seasonal. Solar power is also seasonal, but its magnitude of seasonal variation is lower compared to wind. Figure 6 shows the hydrogen storage profile for the solar, wind, and hybrid configurations. The storage size corresponds to the peak point in the storage profile. We see that the storage size for a wind-based hydrogen plant is more than twice that of the solarbased system. The hybrid configuration benefits from the complementary nature of solar and wind energy. The electrolyser is powered by wind energy when the solar availability is zero at night and vice versa. Therefore, for the hybrid configuration, the hydrogen storage size is less than half of the solar-based plant.
Fig 4: Variation in the hydrogen production cost with changing RE/AE ratio in Jamnagar, Gujarat
Source: Authors’ analysis
We model the hybrid configuration based on the share of installed capacities of solar and wind systems. But such an assumption does not lead to a proportional annual energy use. The model is designed to minimise the cost of producing hydrogen. Therefore, the share of solar and wind power in the energy mix varies on an hourly basis. For the hybrid system the annual share of solar in total electricity consumption is 40 per cent and the rest is obtained from wind. Primarily, the model maximises the use of solar power because it is cheaper and its seasonal variation is low. However, since the load factor of solar power is a limiting factor, wind energy is used to provide energy during night and lean solar times.
Fig 5: Variation in the load factors of solar, wind, and hybrid systems
Fig 6: Variation in the hydrogen storage size for solar, wind, and hybrid systems
Figure 7 shows the distribution of costs for the three combinations considered in the study for Jamnagar, India. We indicate the distribution only at the optimum (minimum cost) points shown in Figure 4. As discussed earlier, the hydrogen storage cost is the maximum for the wind-based system. Since wind power is slightly expensive than solar power and also because it has higher curtailment due to seasonality, the energy costs are the highest for wind energy. Since the plant load factor (PLF) of a solar plant is less than 20 per cent, the electrolyser size increases compared to the wind-based system. Therefore, the electrolyser cost is the highest in the total cost of a solar-based system used for producing hydrogen. As expected, the cost of renewable power, electrolyser, and storage are the lowest for the hybrid configuration.
Fig 7: Distribution of the component costs for various configurations at the optimum points
In the renewable hydrogen system, as shown in Figure 8, the load factor of the electrolyser rises with an increase in the RE/AE ratio. The increased load factor decreases the electrolyser and storage size. However, the amount of curtailed electricity as a percentage of the total renewable power also increases with an increase in the RE/AE ratio. At low RE/AE ratios, the primary driver for the decrease in LCOH are the reduction in the electrolyser and storage size due to increased load factor of the electrolyser. However, beyond the optimal point, any further increase in RE/AE ratio significantly increases the curtailed power, outweighing the possible benefits of the increased load factor of the electrolyser. Therefore, the islanded system does not fully realise the benefits arising from the increased load factor of the electrolyser. The curtailed power, at the optimum point, as a percentage of the total annual generation is shown in Figure 7.
We now propose an alternative business model to further lower the hydrogen cost. In this model, we assume that the excess electricity generated by renewable energy is not curtailed but evacuated to the grid at the LCOE values. If this happens, the renewable hydrogen system would operate at a higher load factor without compromising on the hydrogen production costs. As shown in Figure 9, the increase in the load factor of the electrolyser proportionally reduces the hydrogen cost.
Figure 10 is a scatter plot of the percentage of curtailed electricity across various locations in India for the solarbased and hybrid hydrogen plants. In the plot, even though the scatter considers the temporal resolution, we differentiate them only based on the source of renewable energy. We find that for solar-based hydrogen plants, the curtailed energy is significantly higher than that in the hybrid plant. In India, there are a very few locations that have access to good solar and wind resources. Therefore, to enable a nation-wide transition to the hydrogen economy, the grid must evacuate excess electricity. Policies to support the evacuation of excess electricity is essential during the early phase of transition to the hydrogen economy.
Fig 8: Increase in RE/AE ratio increases the load factor of the electrolyser
Fig 9: Consumer buying the curtailed electricity significantly reduces the hydrogen costs
Fig 10: Percentage of curtailed electricity across various locations in India
Figure 11 shows the expected variations in hydrogen production cost in the three time periods (considered in our study) for the base case scenario. The costs indicated for Jamnagar in Gujarat has a blend of solar and wind electricity. At the current state of RE and electrolyser technology, we expect the cost of green hydrogen to be 3.5–4.5 USD/kg. The costs are expected to slide down to 2.5–3 USD/kg in 2030. We expect hydrogen prices to drop further to 2 USD/kg in 2040. We see that across all configurations, the LCOH is lower for the case where there is a consumer offtake of excess electricity generated in the hydrogen plant.
Figure 12 compares the production cost of green hydrogen (with grid offtake) across various locations in the three time periods considered in our study. In 2030, the estimated hydrogen production cost varies between 2.4 and 3.6 USD/kg of hydrogen and only 7 out of 19 locations are competitive with blue hydrogen (SMR + CCS) produced with a delivered natural gas price of 6.3 USD/MMBtu. However, in 2040, majority of the locations become competitive for producing blue hydrogen obtained with a delivered natural gas price of 6.3 USD/ MMBtu. The estimated long-term hydrogen costs for locations that have solar and wind resources drop below 2 USD/kg while the production cost in solar-only locations hovers around 2.1–2.3 USD/kg.
Fig 11: Variation in hydrogen production cost in all the scenarios for Jamnagar
In industries, hydrogen is used as a feedstock for producing ammonia or in refineries for desulfurising petroleum products. Steam methane reforming (SMR) is the conventional method (grey hydrogen) employed for industrial hydrogen production today. In India, the price of natural gas varies by the type of the industry. The fertiliser sector gets priority allotment of cheaper domestic gas, whereas other industries depend on liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet their energy demand. While the historical wellhead price of natural gas to priority sectors range from 2.5 to 5 USD/MMBtu, the delivered price hovers between 3.6 and 8 USD/ MMBtu depending upon tax and pipeline tariffs. The Annual Survey of Industries database (Gupta, et al. 2019) indicates that the delivered price of natural gas to industries ranges from 9 to 14 USD/MMBtu. For our comparison, we assume an average delivered price of 6.3 USD/MMBtu for priority allocation and 11.5 USD/MMBtu for industries using LNG.
We rely on the literature to obtain the price of hydrogen as a function of the natural gas cost (Salkuyeh, A. Saville and L. MacLean 2017) (Randolph, et al. 2017) (IEAGHG 2017). We arrived at a hydrogen production cost in the range of 1.76 USD/kg when considering the priority sector allocation price (6.3 USD/MMBtu) and 2.37 USD/kg for tier 2 industries (based on the natural gas price of 11.5 USD/MMBtu). We also estimate the carbon abatement cost by assuming that the carbon dioxide produced during the SMR process is captured and stored. We use the data published in literature (Parkinson, et al. 2019) (IEAGHG 2017) (Abramson, McFarlane and Brown 2020) for estimating the cost of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). We consider an average value of 78 USD/tonne of carbon dioxide for capture (including compression), 11 USD/tonne for transport and 13 USD/tonne for sequestration. Similarly, we take an average carbon intensity of 10.7 kg CO 2 /kg of H 2 for the SMR processes. Based on data available in the literature, we assume that about 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emitted during the reforming process is captured. Putting together all our assumed values, we expect an average carbon abatement cost for the SMR process to be ~ 1 USD/kg of H 2 . Thus, with CCS, we expect the hydrogen cost to be 2.74 USD/kg for the priority sector and 3.35 USD/kg for industries using imported natural gas.
Fig 13: Comparison of LCOH for a grid offtake system across years in the optimistic scenario
A production cost of less than 3 USD/kg of H2 by 2030 and 2 USD/kg by 2040 across all locations can only be achieved in an optimistic scenario. In the optimistic scenario, we presume an aggressive price reduction in both electrolyser and storage technologies. The electrolyser cost is expected to reduce by nearly half to around 400 USD/kW by 2030 from the current price level of 950 USD/kW and projected to plummet a further 50 per cent from the 2030 prices to 200 USD/kW by 2040. According to the bottom-up manufacturing costs estimated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the drastic fall in the electrolyser price is possible if the annual global electrolyser production capacity hits 5 GW by 2030 and 50 GW by 2040 (Mayyas, Mann and Garland 2018). The European Union’s Hydrogen Roadmap aims to achieve a 40 GW of electrolyser capacity by 2030 (European Commission 2020). If this target is achieved, the electrolyser prices would hit 200 USD/kW a decade earlier than projected in our study. But uncertainty will persist unless investments are made in commercial projects. To achieve a storage cost of less than 100 USD/kg of hydrogen by 2040, similar cost reduction measures need to be in place. Large pressure vessels are already commercial technologies and further aggressive cost reductions seem unlikely. While large-scale geological storage seems to be the focus for economies like the EU and Australia, India is yet to carry out an extensive analysis to map the prospective sites for storing hydrogen. Lack of low-cost storage solutions can become a potential barrier for the production of both green and blue hydrogen in India.
PEM electrolysers are found to be better suited for integration with variable renewable energy sources (solar and wind) due to their inherent ability to instantaneously ramp up and down. However, PEM electrolysers are more expensive and less efficient when compared to alkaline electrolysers. Here, we show a comparison of PEM and alkaline electrolysers by estimating the hydrogen production cost for Dahej, Gujarat. Table 2 summaries the cost and efficiency parameters of a PEM electrolyser considered for the comparative assessment. For the economic analysis with PEM electrolyser, we retain all other parameters indicated in Table 1.
Figure 14 shows a comparison of hydrogen production costs from using PEM and AE for the various scenarios considered in the analysis. The comparison is made assuming that excess electricity is bought by the consumer at LCOE. We see a progressive reduction in cost on moving from 2020 to the next two decades. This is because, as shown in Figure 3, the cost of the PEM electrolyser is projected to drop at a faster rate than alkaline electrolysers. It is observed that for the optimistic scenarios, the cost difference between the alkaline electrolyser and PEM is less than the respective base case. We therefore feel that the market share of alkaline and PEM electrolysers would depend upon the ability of alkaline electrolysers to adapt to the varying nature of renewable power and the relative cost and efficiency improvements in the PEM electrolyser.
Table 2: Cost and efficiency parameters for the PEM electrolyser
Fig 14: Hydrogen obtained from the PEM electrolyser is expensive than alkaline electrolyser, but the difference is expected to decrease in the future
The present cost structure of hydrogen production for grid offtake model and at locations that have access to both wind and solar energy resources would be able to produce hydrogen at a lower cost. As already shown in Figure 5, the hydrogen plant enjoys a stable load factor when both solar and wind resources are available. At the 2020 prices, the difference in cost between the hybrid and solar-only hydrogen production is 1.57 USD/kg of hydrogen.
As indicated in Figure 15, the model follows a pathway that minimises both the renewable energy (RE) costs and the electrolyser and storage costs. In 2020, the solar only locations have both high RE costs (primarily because of high curtailment) and high electrolyser and storage costs. However, in the future scenarios, the spread of production costs from these locations reduces and converge along the line of minimisation path.
We expect an aggressive reduction in capital costs of electrolyser and storage in the future, which in turn would lead to a drastic drop in production costs in solar-only locations even if the electrolyser and storage sizes are relatively high when compared to the wind-and-solar locations. Further, as RE power gets cheaper going forward and with a decreasing RE/AE ratio, the contribution of curtailed electricity to the cost plummets significantly, thereby bringing down the overall production cost. In the baseline scenario, we estimate the average cost differential to be 0.97 USD/kg in 2030 and 0.36 USD/kg in 2040, respectively. If excess electricity is absorbed by the grid, the cost goes down further. We foresee a similar trend for the optimistic scenario as well.
Fig 15: The difference in production costs (islanded system) between the best renewable locations and demand centres significantly narrows down in the long term
The locations with renewable resources favourable for hydrogen production are at least 500 km or more away from most of the potential demand centres in India. Our cost estimates for transporting hydrogen through a steel pipeline are based on the US Department of Energy’s hydrogen delivery scenario analysis model (Brown, et al. 2019) at the 2020 prices. The transportation costs and material prices are unlikely to become cheaper in the future. Our evaluation shows that hydrogen can be economically transported from the wind and solar locations to demand centres (or solar locations) up to a distance of 1,000 km in 2040 only if large-scale pipelines are laid. The transportation cost of a largescale pipeline (having an energy flow rate similar to the Hazira–Vijaypur–Jagdishpur [HVJ] natural gas pipeline) is displayed in Figure 16. The HVJ pipeline is the largest pipeline in India with an energy capacity of 107 million standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD). However, such high-volume pipelines would also require very high investments and needs a more detailed analysis to identify the optimal pipeline network capable of generating sustained revenues in the long run.
Fig 16: Comparison of pipeline transport costs with the production cost difference between solar and hybrid locations (islanded system)
Bhuj has been considered as the reference for estimating the cost and LCOH difference across all solar locations Source: Authors’ analysis using US Department of Energy’s hydrogen delivery scenario analysis model
The islanded system can realise a significantly lower cost of production if the excess renewable electricity can be evacuated. In 2020, the share of excess electricity in total generation ranges between 26 and 39 per cent for the solar locations and between 17 and 33 per cent for the hybrid locations. The corresponding revenues earned from these plants ranges between 0.7 and 1 (solar) and 0.4 and 0.7 USD/kg of hydrogen (hybrid) (Figure 17). However, the excess of renewable power needs to be evacuated at peak renewable generation hours (noon for solar), which requires building additional flexibilities in the grid. The revenues earned from the electricity sales do not reflect grid integration costs.
However, the quantum of excess electricity and the corresponding revenues are likely to reduce in the future with reducing RE/AE ratios and LCOE prices of solar and wind (Figure 17). Our projected reduction in electrolyser and storage costs is likely to favour oversizing of the electrolyser and storage capacity and a reduction in RE installed capacity, thus decreasing the overall RE/AE ratio and excess electricity. The additional revenue from solar locations ranges between 0.19 and 0.44 USD/kg of hydrogen, while it varies between 0.15 and 0.35 USD/ kg of hydrogen for hybrid locations. Our estimates show that the additional revenue earned by selling excess electricity would reduce the total cost of production by 8–14 per cent in 2040.
Fig 17: Comparison of the additional revenues from the sale of excess electricity in 2020 and 2040
Only an aggressive price reduction (optimistic scenario) of electrolyser and storage technologies would pull down the hydrogen production cost to our projected 3 USD/kg of hydrogen by 2030 and 2 USD/kg of hydrogen by 2040 across all locations. In comparison, the cost of blue hydrogen (reforming of natural gas coupled with CCS) is 3.3 USD/kg for natural gas delivered at a price of 11.5 USD/kg and 2.7 USD/kg for a natural gas price of 6.3 USD/MMBtu. However, achieving a low cost of hydrogen production crucially hinges on policy support and strategic research priorities, which we list below:
I. Revenue from selling excess power to the grid can bring in significant economic benefits in the short-to-medium-term. However, as the production scales up, for the evacuation of excess electricity, additional flexibility needs to be built in the grid to absorb high amounts of electricity within a few hours of peak generation. For example, in Jamnagar, 17 and 5 kWh of excess electricity is likely to be generated per kg of hydrogen in 2020 and 2040 (optimistic scenario) respectively.
II. Achieving 80 per cent reduction in the capex costs for both electrolyser and storage technologies in the medium-to-long term has to be set as a target for less than 2 USD/kg production costs of hydrogen. Reducing the electrolyser costs would be possible only if the annual global production capacity of 50 GW is achieved by 2040. Therefore, a strong international commitment towards scaling up hydrogen economy is needed.
III. The cost of storage also plays a very critical role in reducing the overall production costs. While large-scale geological storage is the focus in economies such as the EU and Australia, India is yet to carry out an extensive analysis to map the prospective sites for storing hydrogen. Lack of low-cost storage solutions can become a potential barrier equally for both green and blue hydrogen production in India. Similarly, for pressure vessel storage, the current storage costs may drop down to 345 USD/kg by 2030, but a further cost reduction to 100 USD/kg can be achieved through commercialisation of alternate storage technologies like metal hydrides and liquid organic carriers (Schoenung 2011). We therefore recommend the Department of Science and Technology and academic research institutions to take up hydrogen storage as one of the strategic research priorities.
IV. The production cost advantage of generating hydrogen from blended solar and wind energy resources diminishes in the long run. Locations with favourable renewable resources having access to both wind and solar resources are at least 500 km away from the potential demand centres. An inter-state pipeline to carry hydrogen becomes economically viable only for very large-scale distribution volumes. We recommend a detailed evaluation of the infrastructure costs associated with the hydrogen distribution network for effective utilisation of natural gas assets.
V. Evolving technologies such as green-hydrogen-based-steel have a significant mitigation potential but also carry equally high risks arising from technology failures and other unknowns such as the ecological effect or geopolitical implications (Biswas, Ganesan and Ghosh 2019). Research and development (R&D) efforts would require industry, government, and academia collaboration often extending beyond the national boundaries.
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Economic analysis of dairy farming under drought prone area in maharashtra state of india.
Submitted 29-05-2024 |
Accepted 27-08-2024 |
First Online 23-09-2024 |
doi 10.18805/ajdfr.DR-2238
Background: Dairy farming is a cornerstone of the rural economy in India. Maharashtra, particularly its drought-prone districts, is critical in this sector. Despite challenges posed by erratic monsoons and limited irrigation, dairy farming remains a viable strategy for economic stability in these regions. The aim of this study was to examine the financial aspects of dairy enterprises, focusing on socio-economic characteristics, economic viability and constraints faced by farmers. Methods: The study employed a multistage stratified random sampling method. Key analytical tools included average and percentage calculations, BEP analysis and a Cobb-Douglas production function. Additionally, Garrett’s ranking technique was used to ascertain constraints in dairy farming, while the MOTAD model assessed profitability and risk. Result: The findings reveal that crossbred cow milk production is more lucrative than buffalo milk production, despite its higher average total expenditure per lactation. Break-even analysis confirmed profitability for both types of milk producers. Key determinants of milk production, such as green fodder, concentrate and labour, suggest areas for efficiency enhancements. Farmer-identified constraints include high feed costs, insufficient veterinary services and water scarcity. Utilizing the MOTAD model, the study recommends integrating dairy farming with crop cultivation to maximize returns, mitigate risks and enhance overall farm resilience in challenging environmental conditions.
Materials and methods, results and discussion.
Table 1: Information of milk producers.
Table 2: Capital assets (Rs.).
Table 3: Cost of milkproduction per animal per lactation (Rs.).
Table 4: Profitability of crossbred cow and buffalo milk production (Rs.).
Table 5: Break-even point (BEP) for crossbreed cow and buffalo milk production.
Table 6: Determinants of milk production.
Table 7: Financial viability and risk exposure indairy farming.
Table 8: Garrett’s ranking for constraints in dairy farming (N=120).
Conflict of interest.
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Editorial board.
Published on 25 Oct, 2021
Green economy has recently emerged as a key concept on the global sustainable development agenda. Over the last decade, India’s rapid growth has created job opportunities and helped improved the standard of living. However, its remarkable growth record is restricted by a degrading environment and depleting natural resources, which has necessitated taking major steps to achieve a green and decarbonized economy. COVID-19 has turned consumers' attention to a greener economy, prompting brands to resort to sustainability by default. Consequently, with the aid of the government and corporations, India must make the transition to a circular economy.
Urbanization is a global phenomenon, but it is growing rapidly in developing countries such as India. A United Nations report shows that 60% of the global population would live in urban areas by 2030. Currently, Asia is home to 90% of the world’s rural population. However, the region is witnessing an exponential increase in urbanization, and its rate is expected to reach 56% by 2050.
Emerging countries such as India have the potential to transform the economy by harnessing the opportunities offered by urbanization, mainly driven by the growing population and accelerated industrialization. However, this growth in urbanization is causing the climate to change drastically.
Urban areas are responsible for the increasing levels of air, water and soil pollution. Excessive carbon emissions from cars in cities, spatial congestion caused by the urban sprawl, and groundwater depletion owing to overdevelopment and mismanagement are just some of the negative effects of over urbanization. Increasing population in large Indian cities not only puts a huge burden on the overall infrastructure and management of energy, water and transportation, but also has a hazardous effect on the atmosphere, and climate.
India's Status as a Green Economy According to the 2020 Environmental Performance Index, countries around the world are ranked based on indicators such as waste management, air quality, biodiversity & habitat, fisheries, ecosystem services, and climate change.
Among the top six largest economies, India ranked 169 out of 180 countries, indicating it lags in green growth. Individually, for some of the indicators India’s ranking are as follows: Air Quality (179), Sanitation & Drinking Water (139), Waste Management (103), Biodiversity & Habitat (149), Fisheries (36), and Climate Change (106).
India’s poor performance is a cause for worry, with nearly 1.3 billion people facing serious environmental health risks.
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United Kingdom | 81.3 | 4 | 5 |
Germany | 77.2 | 10 | 4 |
Japan | 75.1 | 12 | 3 |
United States | 69.3 | 24 | 1 |
China | 37.3 | 120 | 2 |
India | 27.6 | 169 | 6 |
Source: Wendling, Z. A., Emerson, J. W., de Sherbinin, A., Esty, D. C., et al. (2020). 2020 Environmental Performance Index. New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy. Indicators are weighed on a 0–100 scale, from worst to best performance.
Potential Hurdles India is emerging as the one of the fastest growing economies worldwide. It is currently the sixth largest economy globally by GDP and the third largest economy in Asia. According to IMF, the global economy contracted considerably in 2020 due to COVID-19 but is projected to grow 6.0% in 2021 and 4.9% in 2022 driven by macro recovery. India’s GDP grew at a record pace of 20.1% to ₹ 32.38 lakh crore during April-June 2021 compared to the corresponding period last year. The World Bank predicts the Indian economy would advance 8.3% and 7.5% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Key development indicators (KDIs) for India and some countries are listed in the table below.
Table: KDI for India and some countries
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United States | 20,936.60 | 63,543.6 | 4,981,300 | 15.2 | (681.71) |
China | 14,722.73 | 10,500.4 | 10,313,460 | 7.4 | 369.67 |
Brazil | 1,444.73 | 6,796.8 | 427,710 | 2.0 | 11.74 |
India | 2,622.98 | 1,900.7 | 2,434,520 | 1.8 | (8.22) |
Japan | 5,064.87 | 40,113.1 | 1,106,150 | 8.7 | (6.20) |
South Africa | 301.92 | 5,090.7 | 433,250 | 7.5 | 15.16 |
Source: World Bank Development Indicators
To meet its development goals, the Indian economy must continue to advance. However, the environmental consequences of growth may be huge as it would severely deplete natural resources such as mineral, water, and fossil fuel, thereby pushing the prices of fuel, energy, and raw materials.
The extent of green growth in India would depend on its ability to reduce dependence on the resources needed to support economic growth over time, thus improving social equity and creating jobs. Green growth can play a vital role in balancing these priorities. However, managing public debt and fiscal deficits the two main hurdles to national policy making, may obstruct the technological changes required for green growth. Additionally, trade balance would play a major role in macroeconomic policies. Therefore, it is necessary to understand and maximize the development benefits of green growth interventions across key sectors, such as energy, trade, and income.
Government initiative towards Green Energy The Ministry of Finance has proposed several initiatives for the environment:
Hydrogen Energy Mission - The initiative involves generating hydrogen from green power sources, which has the potential to transform the transport sector. It would also promote the use of clean fuels in India. The budget emphasis on green hydrogen is consistent with the technological advancement and long-term goal of diminishing reliance on batteries of minerals and rare earth elements for energy storage.
Public Transport - For the first time, the cabinet has allocated private financing of INR 18,000 crores (USD 2.43 billion) for 20,000 buses, along with innovative financing through public-private partnerships, which would completely alter the way public transport system works in India. The initiative aims to minimize dependence on personal vehicles, and thereby reduce the carbon footprint.
Deep Ocean Mission - The mission would undertake deep ocean survey and exploration as well as carry out projects that would protect deep sea biodiversity. A budget of over INR 4,000 crore would be allocated within five years for this program.
Urban Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 - The government intends to effectively manage waste from construction and demolition activities and bioremediate all inherited landfills, focusing on integrated management of manure, sludge, and sewage treatment; the classification of waste sources; the reduction of disposable plastics; and reduction of air pollution.
Consumer preference for Greener Products A recent study shows the new generation is aware of sustainable products. Consumers prefer to buy products from companies that emphasize waste reduction, carbon footprint reduction, sustainable packaging, commitment to ethical labor practices, and respect for human rights. The pandemic has further increased people’s awareness of the environment.
Consumers are now opting for recyclable plastic packaging and fibre-based packaging as they reduce environmental waste. They switch products or services when the company scores low on sustainability values, which presents market opportunities for players to innovate in favour of green products.
Several FMCG players have committed themselves to sustainable development and have opted for sustainable packaging materials. In 2020, the world’s top 10 consumer products companies (Danone, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Unilever, L’Oréal, etc.) set an ambitious goal of achieving 100% sustainable packaging by 2025.
Conclusion As India continues to fight COVID-19, it must simultaneously charter a path to economic recovery in order to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change and promote long-term sustainable and inclusive development. The country must prioritize investment in sectors assisting the transition to a green economy and reduce social risk related to health hazards.
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This research paper highlighted the concept of green growth as a strategy, its necessity, benefits, ways to achieve, green growth in India, initiatives by Indian governments and measures for ...
Dutta Satrajit (2016), 'Green Economy' In the Context of Indian Economy, International Review of Research in Emerging Markets and the Global Economy (IRREM), Vol. 2, Issue: 3 [ISSN: 2311-3200].
This research paper highlighted the concept of green growth as a strategy, its necessity, benefits, ways to achieve, green growth in India, initiatives by Indian governments and measures for ...
The analysis is based on data from Indian states from 2010 to 2021. The research paper uses the panel regression method to examine the association between fintech, green finance and economic growth by applying a two-step GMM (generalized model of moments) to determine the endogeneity issues of the variables.
Additionally, to invest in the green energy programme, the Indian economy can annually spend $40 billion in the expansion of clean, green, renewable energy and around $20 billion in improving its energy efficiency. ... The Distribution of Household Wealth in India: Research Paper 2006/116. United Nations University-World Institute for ...
This paper exlores the concept of green economy and its implications for sustainable development in India. ... and electric vehicles requires continuous innovation and research. India needs to invest more in research and development (R&D) to develop indigenous green technologies and improve existing ones. Additionally, technology transfer and ...
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