New Delhi: The potential for naturally occurring hydrogen, which is touted to be cheaper than green hydrogen, in India is not known yet. However, it is possible that the country might have some sites if impetus is provided by the government and research is initiated, according to industry experts.
“In India, if you start exploring, there could well be some sites of course… However, impetus from the government agencies is required to initiate research in those geographical locations which are most likely to have underground hydrogen deposits,” said Minh Khoi Le, head – hydrogen research, Rystad Energy, a Norway-based independent energy research company, told ETEnergyWorld.
At the end of last year, 40 companies were searching for natural hydrogen deposits, up from just 10 in 2020. At present, exploratory efforts are underway in Australia, the US, Spain, France, Albania, Colombia, South Korea and Canada, Rystad Energy noted in its earlier research.
According to Rajan Varshney, deputy general manager – new initiatives, NTPC, natural hydrogen in India has so far not been explored, and hence the potential is unknown. However, the government should take steps to begin geographical studies to find out its deposits.
“Naturally occuring hydrogen is mostly present where Helium deposits are and both of these gases are very light… Many times while extracting Helium, Hydrogen gas escapes out to the atmosphere without any detection,” he told ETEnergyWorld.
Is it cheaper than other forms of hydrogen?
According to Le, the current price of natural hydrogen from the sites in Mali, Africa – where natural hydrogen was discovered accidentally 37 years ago – is in the range well below $2 per kg of hydrogen.
Grey hydrogen, which is produced from fossil fuels, costs less than $2 per kg of hydrogen on average, while green hydrogen, produced using renewable electricity, is currently more than three times pricier, noted the research consultancy in its earlier report.
Can this bring a shift in India’s green hydrogen pathway?
“Whether this can bring a shift in India’s green hydrogen target trajectory or not hinges on the actual carbon intensity of the extracted natural hydrogen,” Brian Murphy, senior analyst, hydrogen and low carbon fuels, S&P Global Commodity Insights told ETEnergyWorld.
He added that this value is dependent on a myriad of factors, including gas composition, hydrogen leakage – hydrogen is an indirect greenhouse gas – and extraction methods.
How green is it?
With mitigation, natural hydrogen is cleaner than blue hydrogen, said experts.
“How green it is depends on several factors such as the emissions associated with the activity itself… Most of the emissions are tied to its extraction from the drilling process such as operation of drilling equipment which is actually not much and could be decarbonised,” said Le.
Another source of emission could be other gases that come out together with the hydrogen in the extraction process, he added.
Where is it found and how is it extracted?
The accumulation of hydrogen underground was previously thought to be unlikely due to hydrogen’s ability to seep through rock layers. However, new equipment, such as hydrogen-sensing gas probes, are now available to detect dissolved hydrogen in rock formations at depths of up to 1,500 meters.
These probes use spectrometers to measure and analyse dissolved gases in deep boreholes. Researchers are currently developing probes that can reach deeper depths, up to 3,000 meters underground.
