Unique technology for direct generation of Hydrogen from agricultural residue developed

What is the news?

Indian researchers have developed a unique technology for direct generation of Hydrogen from agricultural residue.

A team of researchers from Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), GOI, in collaboration with Sentient labs of KPIT Technologies, have developed this technology at lab-scale to extract hydrogen from agricultural residues.

What are the features of the technology?

The technology is 25% more efficient as compared to conventional anaerobic digestion processes used today.

The two-stage process eliminates the pretreatment of biomass, thus making the process economical and environment friendly. The process generates Hydrogen in the first stage and Methane in the second. The methane generated in the process can also be used to generate additional hydrogen.

This process also generates a digestate that is rich in nutrients which can be used as an organic fertilizer.

What is the significance of the technology?

India has set a target of 60% renewable energy of about 450 GW by 2030. To achieve this, in the current scenario, researchers all over the world are working towards renewable energy solutions which should be sustainable with a limited carbon footprint.

One of the most economical ways to achieve this is to produce hydrogen from a cheap, abundant, and renewable source. Agricultural waste, which faces a great challenge for disposal, could be one of the sources of hydrogen production.

What are the benefits of the new technology?

This innovation by Indian researchers will promote eco-friendly hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles by overcoming the challenge of hydrogen availability.

It would also solve the dual problem of energy generation and waste disposal.

Generating hydrogen from unutilized agricultural residue will also help India to become self-reliant on energy resources and add a major stream of revenue to the farmer community.

Source: This post is based on the article “Unique technology for direct generation of Hydrogen from agricultural residue developed” published in PIB on 1st Oct 2021.