The 41st Steering Committee Meeting of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE) is being convened in New Delhi, India during March 18 – 22, 2024.

The first day of the five-day meeting has been organised as IPHE Academic Outreach at IIT Delhi, on March 18, 2024, where the conference delegates provided valuable insights into the future of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

Addressing the inaugural session, Prof. Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor, Govt. of India, pointed out that while hydrogen is not a very new technology, there is a need to work together to make it more economical and cleaner. He emphasized on the importance of skill development and R&D in the sector and mentioned that besides the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, various other Ministries of the Government of India are also taking efforts for adoption of Green Hydrogen. The Principal Scientific Advisor highlighted that the major areas of work in the hydrogen value chain include five components, namely, Production, Storage, Transportation, Distribution & Consumption.

Sudeep Jain, Additional Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, highlighted the importance and challenging nature of climate change. He emphasized the work, collaboration and partnership that would be required from academia and research institutes for facilitating energy transition and development of the hydrogen sector. He mentioned about the importance of moving away from grey hydrogen and bringing about a larger share of green hydrogen.

Noe Van Hulst, Vice-Chairperson, IPHE, mentioned India as an economic powerhouse, an engine of global economy and a decisive actor in shaping the clean energy future. He put emphasis on the requirement of skills, educational outreach and Research & Innovation in shaping the future of Clean Hydrogen and the role of academia in this regard.

Prof. Naresh Bhatnagar, Dean (R & D), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, highlighted the involvement of IIT Delhi in R&D of vehicles run on hydrogen, for the past two decades. He informed about courses offered by the institute at undergraduate, masters and PhD levels on various subjects in energy systems and also about the R&D being conducted at IIT Delhi on high-pressure storage at 750 bar Hydrogen cylinder.

Kishor Nair, Chief Executive Officer, Avaada Group talked about India’s and other countries’ initiatives towards Energy Transition and their Net Zero commitments. He also requested Academia, Research & Innovation fellows to come forward with technology ideas to make hydrogen production, storage, transportation and applications more efficient and cost-effective.

In his welcome remarks, Ajay Yadav, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, mentioned the importance of Green Hydrogen as an alternative fuel of the future and highlighted the steps being taken by the Government of India for promoting green hydrogen under the National Green Hydrogen Mission.