Hydrogen: bridge between renewable energy and fossil fuels. HFC - Hydrogen fuel cells for stationary and mobility applications

This paper emphasises on the imperatives for hydrogen-based new energy systems, the technologies both at the generation and storage side and transport and user side, the cost economics at an integrated scale (well to wheel approach), the policy initiatives needed for entrenching hydrogen technologies in India, and finally the timelines for introduction of pilot-scale plants/ devices and technology demonstrators and subsequently commercial-scale systems in the ecosystem. The thrust of this paper is hydrogen as a credible option for large scale energy storage in the form of a fuel using surplus renewable energy like solar and wind (electricity), supplemented by hydrogen generation from clean coal/biomass conversion technologies. Subsequently, conversion of hydrogen generated from above into either a high-pressure hydrogen-gas (200-700 bar) or low-pressure hydrogen carrier fuels like methanol, DME (di methyl ester) or SNG (synthetic natural gas) or SLHC (solid or liquid hydrogen carrier) is discussed for hydrogen storage and transport. (author)