National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHM)

• Vaid's ICS, Lucknow
• 22, Jul 2021

Why in News?

The Union Budget for 2021-22 has announced a National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHM) that will draw up a road map for using hydrogen as an energy source.The initiative has the potential of transforming transportation.

• NHMinitiative will capitalise on one of the most abundant elements on earth (Hydrogen) for a cleaner alternative fuel option.

Key Points

About the National Hydrogen Energy Mission:

• Focus on generation of hydrogen from green power resources.
• To link India’s growing renewable capacity with the hydrogen economy.
• India’s ambitious goal of 175 GW by 2022 got an impetus in the 2021-22 budget which allocated Rs. 1500 crore for renewable energy development and NHM.
• The usage of hydrogen will not only help India in achieving its emission goals under the Paris Agreement, but will also reduce import dependency on fossil fuels.

Hydrogen:

• Hydrogen is the lightestand first element on the periodic table. Since the weight of hydrogen is less than air, it rises in the atmosphere and is therefore rarely found in its pure form, H₂.
• At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
• Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel burned with oxygen. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines.It is also used as a fuel for spacecraft propulsion.

Type of Hydrogen:

Grey Hydrogen:

• Constitutes India’s bulk Production.
• Extracted from hydrocarbons (fossil fuels, natural gas).
• By product: CO₂

Blue Hydrogen:

• Sourced from fossil fuels.
• By product: CO, CO₂
• By products are Captured and Stored, so better than gey hydrogen.

Green Hydrogen:

• Generated from renewable energy (like Solar, Wind).
• Electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
• By Products : Water, Water Vapor

Facts for Prelims:

Monkey B virus (BV:

China has reported the first human infection case with Monkey B virus (BV).

About Monkey B Virus:

• First identified in 1932, the virus is learnt to have infected only 50 people till 2020, of which 21 died.
• It is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic in macaques of the genus Macaca.
• B virus is the only identified old-world-monkey herpesvirus that displays severe pathogenicity in humans.
• Currently, there are no vaccines that can protect against B virus infection.