Govt works to nudge industry off fossil fuel to green energy
NEW DELHI: The government is working on a long-term strategy to make Indian industry ecofriendly, electrifying industries that use gas and fossil fuels and moving others to harness green hydrogen, two people with knowledge of the plans said.
The plans have been devised keeping in mind India’s ambitious net zero commitments.
So far, the Centre’s focus has largely been on electrification of mobility by encouraging wider adoption of electric vehicles. It now wants to move away from the use of petroleum products to electricity across sectors, with the playbook being drawn up under the leadership of the power ministry.
The two people cited above said that as per the plan, in sectors where electricity cannot be used, green hydrogen will be encouraged. “A large section of industries still use petroleum products. The strategy aims at using electrification of overall sectors other than transportation, in which EVs are rapidly taking over. The plan is that wherever electricity may not be used, green hydrogen will come into the play,” said one of the two officials mentioned above.
The plan is to use green energy to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2070. Queries sent to the ministry of power remained unanswered at press time.
Switching to electricity in industrial companies that use diesel and other fossil fuels is thought to have several benefits, including lower maintenance costs. A report by McKinsey & Co. said that in the case of industrial boilers, for instance, the investment cost of the electrical equipment is lower. And, if zero-carbon electricity or renewable power is consumed, the greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions of the industrial site would be significantly lower.
The energy-intensive industrial sector is largely made up of iron and steel, cement, paper, textile, fertilizers and chemicals, sponge iron, bricks and a diverse array of MSMEs.
According to data from the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, among the energy-intensive industries, iron and steel have the highest consumption of electricity at 24%, followed by chemical and petrochemical (17%), non-metallic minerals (9%) and other industries (48%).
However, the penetration of electrification is high among MSMEs. Around 76% of the energy demand in MSMEs is met through electricity, followed by oil (11%), and coal (6%).