Energy News Monitor | Volume XVII; Issue 37 orfonline.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from orfonline.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gas Based Economy
The Government of India seeks to increase the share of natural gas in India’s commercial energy basket from 6.3 percent in 2019 to 15 percent by 2030 to make India a ‘gas-based economy’. To reach the target of 15 percent, annual growth in consumption of natural gas has to increase from less than 5 percent in the last decade (less than 3 percent in 2019) to well over 10 percent in the next decade. India’s natural gas consumption in 2019-20 was about 175 mmscmd. To increase consumption to 600 mmscmd by 2030, the annual growth rate in consumption has to be more than 13 percent. This is not an impossible target. In the period 2008-2018, natural gas consumption in China grew by over 13 percent. Behind this double-digit growth rate for natural gas consumption in China was an annual average economic growth rate of over 8 percent, regulatory reform for transparency and flexibility along with focussed policy mandates.
Why Hydrogen?
The idea of using hydrogen as an energy carrier is not new but this time there is hope that hydrogen will finally make a difference to energy supply and emission reduction. Part of the reason is that the hydrogen-electricity (“hydricity”) model is expected to be far cheaper than an electricity only model for decarbonisation of the energy sector. Apart from balancing intermittency of renewables, hydrogen can also facilitate decarbonisation of heavy industry (iron & steel, chemicals, cement, shipping and long-haul surface transport) which has proved to be a challenge for electricity from renewables. The progress made in reducing the cost of producing low carbon hydrogen is also another reason for the revival of interest in hydrogen.