Clean Energy Adoption: Kerala to Set Model for Country, Say Experts

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala has the potential to set an example for the country in clean energy adoption and achieving net zero emission, experts at the country’s flagship startup festival Huddle Global 2024 said today.

Citing the state budget 2022-23, they said Kerala has set the vision of achieving net carbon neutral state by 2050.

They were delivering tech talks on topics that included green hydrogen, graphene and green energy at the conclave, organized by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) at Kovalam here.

Sharing his insights on the topic ‘Green Hydrogen-Fuelling the Future with Clean Energy in AI Era,’ K Premkumar, Scientist, ANERT, said Kerala is finalizing Green Hydrogen Policy which aims to position the state as a hub of green hydrogen production and use. As per the draft policy, the state aims to reduce the cost of hydrogen to Rs 200/kg by 2030.

“As a carbon-free energy carrier, hydrogen is the only alternative to carbon sources in sectors such as transport, refineries, fertilizer industry and steel. Thousands of tonnes of hydrogen are being used in Kerala now but they are all from natural gas conversion,” he noted.

He said as per the inventory report of State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC), a substantial portion of the carbon emission in Kerala is from energy while transport sector accounts for nearly 50 percent of carbon emission.

Highlighting that only three or four states have already announced green hydrogen policy, Premkumar said there will be special incentives for projects commissioned before June 30, 2025 and about Rs 50 crore has been earmarked for the first entity that sets up Green Hydrogen Hub in the state.

“A decentralized hydrogen generation is ideal for Kerala like solar. One kg of hydrogen costs above Rs 600 whereas grey hydrogen costs around Rs 150. Biomass-based hydrogen generation could easily be achieved below Rs 200,” he pointed out.

He also informed that National Green Hydrogen Mission has announced programmes of over Rs 19,000 crores in the next five to six years, and ANERT is part of one of the projects.

Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, will develop four Hydrogen Valley Innovation Clusters (HVIC) in the country by 2030.

“Kerala has given a proposal to the DST for setting up Kerala Hydrogen Valley Innovation Cluster from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram. The proposal is awaiting approval from DST,” he added.

Noting that high-rise buildings account for 20 percent of energy consumption, Dr. P V Unnikrishnan, Member Secretary, Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC),while speaking on ‘Green Energy and Micro Grids,’ said the average consumption per year of a high-rise building is 1.5MkWh (Million Kilowatt hour) .

According to him, high-rise buildings can reduce consumption by 30 percent through energy-efficient designs.

Speaking on ‘Graphene: Unlocking the Future of Technology and Industry,’ Dr. Alex James, Dean, External Linkage and Projects, Digital University of Kerala, said graphene 2D structures can be integrated into the existing materials like composites, semiconductors and polymers, besides enhancing their properties.

Dr. James said China, USA and South Korea are the leading players of using graphene, which has many applications in transducer, super capacitors, automotive sensors, semiconductors and aerospace industry.

Dr. Raju M, Founder’s Office, saath.care, in his talk on ‘Kerala Genomic Data Centre-An Overview,’ said Kerala Genome Data Centre (KGDC) is a project to establish a high-capacity data centre capable of storing and processing a large amount of genomic data.

The value of genomic data is growing at an exponential pace and UK Biobank’s current value stands at $11 billion per annum, he pointed out.

“The UK Biobank’s biomedical database and research resource contains in-depth genetic and health information from five lakh UK individuals. The database is available to approved researchers in the UK and abroad for various health research projects,” he added.

The three-day Huddle Global 2024 features a wide range of speakers, including industry leaders, domain experts, innovators, mentors, funding agencies and individuals, drawn from across the world.

KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.