The Indian national steering group on hydrogen energy, headed by industrialist Ratan Tata, has developed a roadmap to have 1 million hydrogen-fueled vehicles—combustion-engine as well as fuel-cell vehicles—on Indian roads by 2020 and to generate 1,000 MW of power through hydrogen-fueled plants.
Tata presented the National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, which entails an investment of Rs 25,000 crore (US$5.5 billion) to the Minister for Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Vilas Muttemwar.
The whole world, and certainly India, will face increasing shortage of hydrocarbons and so we have to look at alternative forms of energy. The document reflects the problems and attempts to define a roadmap.
—Ratan Tata
The Road Map examines different aspects of the problem including production, storage, transport, delivery, applications, safety, standards and codes, capacity building and awareness.
The Road Map has proposed two major initiatives: the Green Initiative for Future Transport (GIFT) and the Green Initiative for Power Generation (GIP).
The Green Initiative for Future Transport aims to develop and to demonstrate hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine and fuel-cell vehicles ranging from small two/three wheelers, cars and taxis, to buses and vans.
The Green Initiative for Power Generation envisages developing and demonstrating hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine/turbine and fuel-cell based decentralized power generating systems.
The roadmap highlights hydrogen production as a key area of focus, noting the need for urgent development of hydrogen production from coal gasification, nuclear energy, biomass, biological and renewable energy methods in addition to existing methods of steam methane reformation.
Of the projected cost, the majority (about 96%) would be allocated for creating infrastructure for hydrogen production, storage, transportation and distribution for meeting requirements of hydrogen under GIFT and GIP initiatives. The Road Map has recommended strong public private partnership covering the total hydrogen energy system for the implementation of its proposals.
The Steering Group under the Chairmanship of Shri Ratan Tata was constituted on 23rd February, 2004 during the first meeting of the National Hydrogen Energy Board.
India ranks fifth in the world in terms of energy consumption, and experienced an average annual growth rate in energy consumption of about 6% during 1981–2002. India is also one of the sixteen founding members of the International Partnership on Hydrogen Economy, established in November, 2003.
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