Move to promote solar hydrogen energy

The National Hydrogen Energy Board (NHEB) is preparing a roadmap that will encourage people to use solar hydrogen energy. This will provide sustainable energy security and health to all by the year 2020.

"India has launched a comprehensive hydrogen energy programme as hydrogen has been found to be the most suitable energy storage medium and energy carrier, which when coupled with solar energy, is more efficient and environmentally sustainable than fossil fuels," Krishn Chopra, additional secretary, ministry of non-conventional energy sources, said at the 92nd session of the Indian Science Congress here.

"Many advanced countries are working towards the transition to a hydrogen-energy economy. India can show the way in this frontier energy technology area because it has already got a strong renewable energy programme," said Chopra.

In the solar hydrogen energy system, solar energy is used to produce hydrogen from water. Thus, both the primary and secondary forms of energy become renewable and environmentally compatible, resulting in an ideal, clean and permanent energy system.

The NHEB envisages that hydrogen will be available for a wide range of applications including power generation, transport and heating applications.

About the environmental impact of energy, Chopra said: "As part of an integrated sustainable energy policy, the environmental impact of all energy sources must be taken into account at each stage of the energy chain. Such an integrated policy will determine the optimum mix of energy options for meeting the needs of end users in an ecologically sustainable manner."

"In India, the present energy situation is a combination of commercial and non-commercial fuels in a 70:30 ratio. Coal is the most important commercial energy source, which has got high ash content. This results in large-scale production of greenhouse gases and air pollution. Non-commercial energy "" consisting of firewood, cow-dung and agriculture waste "" is used mainly in rural areas and results in indoor pollution. There is thus an urgent need to move towards progressively towards cleaner energy resources and technologies, which would reduce environment pollution and promote human health," said Chopra.

"We would require an increase in the use of sustainable energy resources However, both hydro and nuclear energy have serious environmental impacts, and the long term answer would be renewable energy, based on direct and indirect forms of solar energy," Chopra added.