Green hydrogen and capturing atmospheric CO2: Does a bright future lie beyond the gloomy economic horizon?

Source: The post is based on an article “Does a bright future lie beyond the gloomy economic horizon?” published in Live Mint on 21st October 2022. 

Syllabus: GS 3 – Environment 

Relevance: Green hydrogen and capturing CO2 from the air 

News: This article discusses the sustainable measures required to address the current economic situation 

What is the current economic condition of India, and what is needed to improve it? 

The economic condition of India is not good as the growth is declining with high inflation. Unemployment and underemployment are expected to worsen unless India achieves growth of 7-8%. 

As per Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran, the repeated efforts of India to boost the economy have failed due to the prevailing economic shocks (Ukraine war, high fuel prices, dollar/rupee rate, etc.) 

Therefore, according to him, India will grow by over 6% if these effects of the shock decrease and it is further expected to grow by 8% if external demands increase.  

India grows exceptionally fast whenever the world is growing exceptionally fast. Therefore, achieving a growth of 8% or so will depend on the state of the global economy. 

Why climate action is crucial for long-term global economic conditions? 

The long-term global economic condition will depend on the climate action taken by countries around the world as global warming is an emerging threat to humanity. 

Countries have already started taking efforts towards global warming by developing new technologies. However, green hydrogen and CO2 captured from the air hold an important position among all technologies. 

What is green hydrogen, and what are its uses? 

Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced through the electrolysis of water using renewable power. 

Hydrogen is already used in industrial production, but the use of green hydrogen has just started in the industries. 

The cost of producing green hydrogen was a concern, but it has declined from $6/kg in 2015 to an estimated $3/kg by 2025 and more countries are looking to switch to green hydrogen with increasing investments in it. 

It has a wide range of application in industries including steel, cement, ammonia for fertilizers, home cooking and heating, etc. 

It is expected that the market for green hydrogen could grow to over $1 trillion by 2050. 

The shift to green hydrogen will reduce CO2 emissions. However, it is not carbon-neutral or carbon negative which is required to combat global warming.  

What is required to capture CO2 from the atmosphere? 

Countries are developing new technology to capture CO2 emitted from industries or from the air. The technology will break down and convert the CO2 molecule for use in products such as fuels, plastics and other polymers, building materials, etc. 

However, developing technology which synthetically reproduces the natural photosynthesis process of plants and directly consumes CO2 from the air will be useful. This technology exists, but there is a need to improve it and increase its production. 

Moreover, direct carbon capture is a startup industry which is expected to grow $550 billion by 2040. 

What are the challenges and way forward? 

The challenge is to bring huge investments into these technologies and increase its production at the required rate to reverse global warming.  

Further, huge investments in these technologies could bring new investment boom and a new wave of other product and process innovations could drive a new phase of high global economic growth.