Green hydrogen could create industries, jobs, says Director General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency

Abhay Bakre, Director General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, said here on Friday that green hydrogen sector could create industries and employment opportunities in addition to strengthening the energy security of India.

Speaking at the ‘MIR NetZero Vision 2047 Summit’, organised by the Italy-based MIR Group, Mr. Bakre said green hydrogen is the best solution to achieve net zero. Green hydrogen can replace many oil and gas-based fossil fuels.

He said trials are on to use green hydrogen into trucks and buses. These vehicles usually run on diesel. Efforts are on to convert green hydrogen into methanol to propel ships. Around 60 ships are running on green fuel worldwide, and India can produce such fuel in a most economic manner.

He said the fertilizer sector, which uses carbon-intensive fuels such as natural gas and grey ammonia for production, can use green ammonia. Terming green ammonia a net zero fuel, he said this would help generate green fertilizers. Efforts are also on to use green hydrogen for refineries for their refining purpose.

“Green hydrogen is the next level of green fuel which can take India to net zero in most of the sectors, where it is not possible from solar and wind,” he said.

Raffaele Marrazzo, Chief Executive Officer of MIR Group, said the company has a clear vision for sustainable urban regeneration. This means decarbonising the existing building stock, creating active buildings capable to produce more energy than they need, and buildings that are self-sufficient in terms of energy, water, and waste management.

MIR Group is committed to reducing planet’s ecological footprint by prioritising renewable materials producing them locally, reducing the use of plastic and employing it only where it serves specific purpose, and using renewable energy sources instead of fuels such as natural gas, coal and petroleum to heat and cool homes.

He said the group’s commitment is to make existing cities self-sufficient by producing energy locally and making use of available resources such as sun, wind, water, and earth.

The company’s proposed plant in Mangalore Special Economic Zone Ltd. will be capable of producing 1.5 million square meters of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) panels for facades and roofs every year, he said.