IISc Scientists, Bangalore Generate Green Hydrogen from Biomass

In what could prove to be a gamechanger in the field of renewable energy, the scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have innovated a green technology to produce hydrogen from biomass. Experts see it as a great feat as biomass is one of the most abundant renewable energy sources.

According to the researchers involved in the project at IISc, the new technology to extract green hydrogen from biomass, which is a two-step process. First, the biomass is transformed into syngas which is actually a mixture of gases but is rich in hydrogen. This is achieved through a reactor using oxygen and steam.

Thereafter, a low-pressure gas separation unit is used to extract pure hydrogen from the syngas. The researchers termed the technology as highly efficient, sharing that they are able to generate 100 grams of hydrogen from 1 kg of biomass. Though 1 kg of biomass possesses only 60 grams of hydrogen, the new technology is pathbreaking since it also extracts hydrogen from the steam.

The team calls its technology environmentally friendly since it is carbon negative. It leaves solid carbon and carbon dioxide in the end, which can be used as carbon sinks and value added products respectively. The researchers hold that nearly 50 lakh tonnes of hydrogen is used in India in multiple sectors and this is further poised for a robust growth in near future. Hence, the hydrogen technology comes at an apt time.

S Dasappa, a professor at IISc’s Centre for Sustainable Technologies, said, “But most of the hydrogen we currently use comes from fossil fuels through a process called steam methane reforming route.” He also mentioned that the same platform can be used for methanol and ethanol production.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DoPT) have shown support to this project. The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has also helped scale up the novel hydrogen technology to produce 0.25 tonnes of hydrogen each day that could be employed in hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses.