Clean hydrogen, Russia-Ukraine war major hurdles in G20 energy transition consensus

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Energy Transition Working Group is facing challenges in reaching a consensus on the joint communique with clean hydrogen and the Russia-Ukraine war being the key sticking points. About 60% of the communique has been agreed upon, but negotiations are still continuing on whether the future of hydrogen should be green or clean, people close to the development said. Officials are hopeful of some agreement on the second day of the talks on Saturday.

In the absence of a joint communique, a chair statement or summary may be released at the end of the meeting, sources said. There are 27 paragraphs in the draft communique on energy transition and the last leg of deliberations are before the G20 Energy Transition Ministerial Meeting on July 22 under India’s presidency. While green hydrogen is that produced through renewable energy, clean hydrogen is can also be generated from fossil fuels through the use of carbon capture and storage.

Countries like Saudi Arabia and the US have suggested including low-carbon hydrogen as well . However, there is a broad consensus for having some international standards for green or clean hydrogen. Whether hydrogen should be clean or green will play a significant role once countries start trading in this fuel.

More countries can export clean hydrogen-based fossil fuel through carbon capture technology than those that can make green hydrogen from renewable energy. India's Green Hydrogen Mission, which also aims for export, is based only on renewable energy sources. In the last such meeting in May, India had proposed a discussion on global standards for ‘green, clean and low carbon’ hydrogen which limits the emission to up to 2 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per kg of hydrogen produced.