Problem:

The challenge that we face today is that despite the production of 75 million tonnes of hydrogen globally on an annual basis, 98% of it is produced using fossil fuels. This results in a significant amount of carbon emissions, amounting to over 800 million tonnes, which is even higher than the annual carbon emissions of Belgium. It is imperative that we find a solution to this problem and produce energy with fewer carbon emissions. This would not only help us reduce our carbon footprint but also help us achieve a more sustainable future.

Opportunity:

There is a great opportunity in front of us to tackle the problem of carbon emissions. This solution lies in green hydrogen, which is produced from biomass that is powered by clean and renewable electricity. This can play a crucial role in decarbonizing some of the world's hardest-to-abate sectors. The word "abundance" perfectly describes hydrogen, as it is the most abundant element in the universe. It is also widely used in various industries, including oil refining, ammonia and methanol production, and steel manufacturing. The global demand for hydrogen stands at 90 million tonnes annually, highlighting its importance as a source of energy. By utilizing green hydrogen, we can meet this demand in a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner.

Issues with existing technologies:

Despite hydrogen is being abundant and providing approximately 4% of the world's primary energy demand, with a market worth of $170 billion, the existing technology has its own set of problems. More than 90% of the demand for hydrogen stems from oil refining and ammonia production, with a shift towards green hydrogen in the steel industry imminent. Electrolysis is the most popular method of producing green hydrogen, but it currently only accounts for 0.1% of global hydrogen production. The process of electrolysis requires 60kW of electricity to break the stable molecule, and the best industrial electrodes currently use rare and precious metals such as iridium, ruthenium, and platinum, which are not common and have limited reserves. Iridium, in particular, is one of the rarest elements on Earth, with less than ten tonnes produced annually, and the geopolitical scenario raises concerns over the supply chain as Russia and China have control over major reserves of these rare earth metals.

Green hydrogen in India’s energy future:

India's energy future holds great potential, with a total energy demand of 800 million metric tonnes. The COP26 brought a renewed focus on decarbonization, with countries committing to phase down the use of fossil fuels and phase out inefficient fuel subsidies. As per the Green Hydrogen policy released in February 2022, India's total hydrogen demand is expected to reach 11.7 million metric tonnes by 2029-30, with a significant increase from the current 6.7 million metric tonnes. The policy mandates that fertilizer plants and oil refineries must use green hydrogen to meet 0.15% of their total hydrogen requirements starting 2023-24, ramping it up to 10% within six years.

What is our solution?

The Thermally-accelerated Anaerobic Digestion (TAD) Technology is a revolutionary process that extracts Hydrogen (3-4%), Methane (12-14%) and bio-Tar (2-4%) by weight from bio-waste and converts it into smokeless bio-coal (25-28%). The fractionation process boasts an impressive 50% mass to fuel conversion efficiency, making it 5-7 times more efficient than any other biomass to fuel conversion processes in the world. The entire process can be powered by electricity generated from the byproducts generated during the process. TAD technology can use any biomaterial such as agricultural residue, fresh organic waste, dung, weed, etc as its raw material, which needs to be shaped if it is amorphous in nature. In the TAD reactors, raw materials are loaded and anaerobic conditions are created. Electrical heaters increase the internal temperature to start the conversion process, during which long carbon chains are broken down into smaller ones and gasses such as CO2, Ultrapure H2, CH4 (LNG) are collected. The final residue at the end of the process is coal with a GCV of more than 6600 Kcal/g, which is collected from the bottom.