World Hydrogen Energy Summit 2022
The World Hydrogen Energy Summit 2022, a global conference organised by the Energy and Environment Foundation along with the support of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and NITI Aayog, was held this year on 16th-17th October to discuss Green Hydrogen: Cleaner and Zero Emission Fuel for a Sustainable Green Economy. The event was supported by the Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF).
The inaugural ceremony was joined by Shri Anil Razdan, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India and Chairman of the Energy and Environment Foundation, Dr. N.B Mazumdar, Chairman of International Academy of Environmental Sanitation and Public Health, Dr. V.K Garg, Former CMD, Power Finance Corporation Ltd. & Chairman of Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission, and Dr. Anil Garg, President of World Hydrogen Energy Summit 2022. HE Bruce Ralston Q.C., Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, Government of British Columbia (Canada), and HE Mr. Aranha Corrêa do Lago, Ambassador, Embassy of Brazil, joined in virtually for the opening address.
During the ceremony, Prof. Dr. Christopher Hebling, Director of Division Hydrogen Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Germany, was commended with The EEF Global Excellence Award 2022 for his research work in the hydrogen energy sector. The ceremony was concluded with the idea that solutions toward sustainability depend on the habitat of each region.
The knowledge sessions for the day kickstarted with presentations on ‘Hydrogen Towards Net Zero Pathway’, from Prof. Dr. Hebling and Dr. R.K. Malhotra, President of Hydrogen Association of India. Virtual presentations were made by Dr. Sunita Satypal, Director of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies office U.S Department of Energy, Mr. Nobuo Tanaka, Former ED, International Energy Agency, Japan, Dr. Tianyi Sun, Climate Scientist at Environmental Defense Fund, USA and Mr. Laurent Antoni, President of Hydrogen Europe Research & Public Affairs Manager for Hydrogen Technologies, France. A key takeaway from this discussion was that collaboration on energy partnerships is a must. As Prof. Dr. Hebling summarised, “We should go beyond the competitiveness, instead we must link together so that there is faster progress, long term (trading) relationships and a secure environment.”
Thereafter, the discussion moved to ‘Hydrogen Fuel Cell Solutions and Green Energy Transition’ with presentations from Mr. Manoj K. Upadhyay, CMD, ACME Group, Mr. Nishant Arya, Vice Chairman, JBM Group, Dr. Sushil S. Ramdasi, Deputy Director, In Charge-Power Training Design, ARAI, followed by virtual presentations from Dr. Michaela Kendall, CEO, Adelan Ltd., UK, Dr. Xianguo Li, Professor, University of Waterloo, Canada, and Mr. Thomas Engelmann, Head of Energy Transition, KGAL Investment Management, Denmark. The speakers spoke of the benefits and challenges of Polymer Electrolyte Membranes and Alkaline electrolysers while highlighting the potential India possesses for reducing imports and focusing on local manufacturing of electrolysers.
The final panel discussion was on ‘Green Hydrogen & Green Ammonia for Heavy Transportation and Mobility’ wherein Mr. Ghanshyam Prasad, Chairperson of Central Electricity Authority, Dr. B.S. Negi, Former Member of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, Prof. T.P Yadav, Hydrogen Energy Centre, Department of Physics, Institute of Science Banaras Hindu University, Dr. Mukul Das, Director of Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, and Mr. Christian Pho Duc, Chief Technology Officer at Smartenergy Group AG, Switzerland spoke about the potential of Green Hydrogen in heavy motor vehicles (HMV) and the many safety and durability experiments being conducted across the world. Dr. Das also mentioned NTPC’s efforts for green hydrogen run HMVs in India. The day concluded with the spirit that to have a green sustainable economy, industries and the government would need to focus on clean and zero emission fuel.