This document proposes a comprehensive solution to India's energy challenges by transitioning to a hydrogen economy powered by renewable sources like solar and wind. It involves 1) replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen for transportation and power generation using fuel cells, 2) enhancing the national power grid with distributed smart microgrids that generate and store renewable energy, including hydrogen, and 3) government support through incentives and taxes to drive adoption. The proposal argues this solution will eliminate energy imports, create jobs, ensure universal access to clean power, and dramatically reduce emissions and health impacts.

1. A blueprint for India’s energy future
Abstract: India needs reliable access to clean, affordable energy to power homes
and businesses and also to power cars, buses and other forms of transportation. Our
energy demand exceeds supply, energy imports are expensive and in limited supply,
access to reliable power supplies is intermittent and the health impact of using fossil
fuels is enormous. India’s energy policy based on 1) the use of fossil fuels, 2) the use
of a national power grid driven by a few, large power generation units and 3)
subsidizing the use of power is handicapping our economy, degrading our health
and threatens our country’s future. We offer a comprehensive solution to these core
problems and a powerful vision of world leadership in clean, renewable energy
ensuring the goal of ‘Swacch Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’.
The key components of the solution are –
1. The use of hydrogen fuels cells for power generation, power storage and to
power a new generation of electric cars, buses, 2/3 wheelers that are cleaner,
more efficient and do not waste power
2. A hydrogen economy that generates unlimited hydrogen from multiple clean,
renewable sources, provides storage, transport and dispensing of hydrogen
3. Enhancing our current power grid with smart micro-grids that generate,
supply and store energy from multiple clean, renewable sources providing
clean, cost-effective, reliable power for every home in India and eliminate
power losses
4. Government commitment to support this effort with incentives, subsidies
and taxes on the use of fossil fuels
Several countries (USA, Germany, France, S Korea, and Japan) and companies
(Toyota, Daimler Benz, Hyundai, and GM) have made great strides in this direction.
The technologies needed for much of this is proven. Yet, additional work remains in
improving the cost-effectiveness of certain technology components and processes.
Indian scientific institutions and industry are capable of developing localized
solutions and benefit from this unique opportunity to provide world leadership. We
offer a draft roadmap for making this a reality and would like to work with the
government to finalize this.

2. Proposal: Our nation’s energy needs and use of fossil fuels to power our homes,
offices, cars, buses, 2/3 wheelers exceed our supply, impose a huge burden on our
economy and are taking an enormous toll on our health and environment. The size
of our nation and our rapid growth aggravates the national energy challenge and
threatens our future.
Figure 1. India’s energy challenge and root causes
Our vision for the nation’s future is simple –
1. Eliminate dependency on and imports of foreign oil, strengthen our global
financial position (est. annual $200B savings) and currency
2. Create new industries, companies, jobs and establish global energy
leadership with business, technology and government innovations
3. Generate all the power needed without use of fossil fuels
4. Eliminate use of fossil fuels for road transportation – replace IC engines with
fuel-cell electric power-trains.
5. Dramatically reduce national greenhouse gas emissions, reduce climate
change impacts, improve public health, save lives and reduce health care
burdens
6. Ensure every Indian, independent of location, has reliable access to adequate
clean, renewable, affordable power
7. Eliminate loss and waste of power (est. 35% loss) transferred over the grid
or power used in transportation vehicles
8. Double the efficiency of converting fuel to energy in cars, buses and 2/3
wheelers

3. A renewable solution to our energy focusing on the root-causes (burning fossil fuels,
the current power grid architecture and energy subsidies) will effectively resolve
the national pain points and require that we:
 Replace fossil fuels based transportation (cars, buses and 2/3 wheelers) with
hydrogen fuel-cell and battery electric vehicles
 Hydrogen production, transport and storage becomes central to the new
energy architecture
 Enhance the current power grid with a ubiquitous inter-grid (grid of grids) of
smart micro-grids with renewable power sources – wind, solar, fuel cells,
natural gas (with carbon sequestration) and biomass complemented with
power-to-gas energy storage and consumer connections
 Establish energy efficiency as central to public policy with incentives and
penalties for non-compliance
Just as coal was central to the industrial age, hydrogen will be central to the clean,
efficient post-industrial future. Hydrogen piped in to a fuel cell generates clean
electricity, simply and efficiently, and can store electric power for reuse and
transported. It is safe. It is being used in the USA, Europe, Japan and S Korea for
transportation (cars, buses, motorcycles, and fork-lift trucks) and to power homes,
offices and feed power back in to the grid. A fuel cell, fed by hydrogen, generates
electricity as long as hydrogen is supplied, with heat and pure water as waste. Fuel
cell electric vehicles (FCEV) like battery electric vehicles (BEV) generate excellent
acceleration, use regenerative braking, consume no power when traffic halts and
have zero toxic emissions. Unlike BEVs, they can be refueled in minutes and
currently can go 300 miles on a tank of hydrogen or even power a typical home for a
week. According to US government and industry sources, hydrogen would be
available as low as $1 per gallon equivalent or less once it is mass produced and
distributed as gasoline (US $4+/gallon today).
Toyota recently announced a December, 2015 US ship date for the mid-sized Mirai
with a base sticker price of $57,500. The Mirai can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 9.0
seconds, and can go from 25 to 40 mph (to pass other vehicles) in about three
seconds.

4. Figure 2. Toyota Mirai Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Automobile
Meanwhile, Honda announced it will release its fuel cell car, the FCX Clarity FCEV, in
2016. Hyundai, which began leasing its Tucson FCEV in June, pledged to produce
1,000 units this year. Daimler AG and GM have also made commitments to ship
FCEVs.
The US, Germany, Japan and S Korea have invested in hydrogen refueling stations as
part of each country’s goals to have a number of zero-emission vehicles on the road.
California is expected to build 28 stations by the end of 2016, bringing the state's
total to 48 stations. Ulsan in South Korea, Fukuoka prefecture in Japan and
Grenoble, France are cities termed hydrogen cities for their focus on hydrogen use
and research in aspects of the hydrogen economy. The EC proposed €1 4 billion
(US$1 8 billion) to fund its fuel cell program, FCH JU, until 2024–a 27% increase
over the last phase. Germany, UK, France, Norway, Denmark have made major
investments in this area. Japan’s 2013 RD&D budget for fuel cells and hydrogen was
almost double the 2012 budget, at ¥36.83 billion (US$363 million).
We should plan for a hydrogen economy which includes production, distribution
and storage of hydrogen in as ubiquitous a manner as gasoline today with one
difference – hydrogen would be produced at a wide range of locations from which
tankers and pipelines would transport the hydrogen to refueling stations for
vehicles and for use by stationary power generation locations – not unlike today’s
captive power generation units. Hydrogen would be piped, using natural gas
pipelines, as a gas under pressure or in liquid form in cryogenic containers.
Hydrogen would be produced at major power generation centers (using nuclear
power for high-temperature thermochemical/electrochemical processes,
hydroelectric powered water electrolysis and natural gas driven steam reforming)
and also in a distributed manner using electrolysis with electricity from renewable
sources (wind, solar) and biomass/biogas conversion to hydrogen as required.
Hydrogen can also be produced as part of a power to gas measure to store excess

5. power in the grid. Use of biomass/biogas for hydrogen production provides a
business incentive for proper disposal of recyclable waste in rural areas and reduce
emissions.
Intelligent power distribution is central to energy policy. An ‘inter-grid’ or grid of
community smart micro-grids linked to current primary power sources offers a
scalable, intelligent way to better serve the energy needs of the nation. Micro-grids
are power grids operated by and serving a small community comprising
 Clean, renewable power sources (fuel cells, wind, solar)
 Hydrogen generation using biomass and electrolysis systems ( to
power fuel cells or stored for FCEVs at refueling stations)
 Consumers such as homes and office buildings
A “smart micro-grid” includes intelligent software to monitor, predict, manage and
optimize energy supply & demand for a community power grid.
Figure 3. Smart Micro-grids
Smart micro-grids do a better job of matching demand and supply at the community
level using predictive analytics, reduce cost by smarter scheduling of power delivery
and storage, reduce peak hour demand on the central grid and adjust to vagaries of
wind and solar power by storing power as hydrogen.
The global market for hydrogen economy products and services is huge and will
create an industry estimated to be $8.6B and 1m new jobs in 2030 and $70B with
7m jobs1 by 2050. This is a leadership opportunity India cannot ignore.
Energy efficiency and use of clean, renewable fuels must be legislated. This must be
a national resolve with a combination of subsidies, tax incentives, carbon credits
and strong punitive actions for non-compliance. We offer a draft roadmap of next

6. steps that must be discussed with government and experts and finalized. These
steps would include:
 Start small, learn, extend to other villages, towns, cities - validate direction in
a specific town with an urban and rural populations e.g., fuel-cell powered
buses, community micro-grids
 Establish centers for research at IITs and other institutions for key parts of
the technology – hydrogen generation, transport, storage, dispensation, fuel
cell design and production, smart micro-grids
 Form tie-ups with countries and companies with related expertise to share
technologies and expertise
 Industry involvement with grants to set business goals, develop innovative,
related products, services and drive down costs
 Policy changes (taxes, subsidies) to incentivize transition to a new clean,
renewable energy based economy
 Work with government and experts to build detailed roadmap
The road to energy independence and establishing a foundation of clean, renewable
energy is neither simple not easy. It will require courage, resolve and determined
effort to establish the promise of the generation that freed this great land. Can we
afford to do this? More importantly can we afford not to.
References: 1. Based on Japan government projections
Author: Ram Mohan (ram@singularventures.com) is an Advisor/Technology
Development Initiative at IIT, Kanpur