Govt issues guidelines for green hydrogen pilots in transport sector

The ‘Scheme Guidelines for implementation of Pilot Projects for use of Green Hydrogen in the Transport Sector’ have been issued by the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE).

“With the falling costs of renewable energy and electrolyzers, it is expected that vehicles based on green hydrogen can become cost-competitive over the next few years. Future economies of scale and rapid technological advancements in the field of vehicles powered by hydrogen are likely to further improve the viability of transport based on green hydrogen,” MNRE said in a statement.

Under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, along with other initiatives, the MNRE will implement pilot projects for replacing fossil fuels in the transport sector with green hydrogen and its derivatives. These pilot projects will be implemented through the ministry of road transport and highways and implementing agencies nominated under the scheme.

The scheme will support the development of technologies for the use of green hydrogen as a fuel in buses, trucks and four-wheelers with fuel cell-based or internal combustion engine-based propulsion technology. The other thrust area is to support the development of infrastructure such as hydrogen refuelling stations.

The scheme will also seek to support any other innovative use of hydrogen for reducing carbon emissions in the transport sector, such as blending of methanol or ethanol based on green hydrogen and other synthetic fuels derived from green hydrogen in automobile fuels, MNRE said in the statement.

The scheme will have a total budgetary outlay of ₹496 crore till the financial year 2025-26.

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Published: 15 Feb 2024, 12:24 AM IST