five-day meeting of the 41st Steering Committee of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE) is being convened here from March 18 to 22.

The first day of the meeting was held on Tuesday as IPHE Academic Outreach at IIT Delhi where the conference delegates provided valuable insights into the future of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

In his welcome remarks, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Ajay Yadav mentioned the importance of Green Hydrogen as an alternative fuel of the future and highlighted the steps being taken by the Central government for promoting green hydrogen under the National Green Hydrogen Mission.

Addressing the inaugural session, Principal Scientific Advisor Ajay Sood pointed out that while hydrogen was not a very new technology, there was a need to work together to make it more economical and cleaner.

He emphasised on the importance of skill development and R&D in the sector and mentioned that besides the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, various other Ministries of the Centre were also making efforts for adoption of Green Hydrogen.

Sood further highlighted that the major areas of work in the hydrogen value chain include five components, namely, Production, Storage, Transportation, Distribution and Consumption.

Additional Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Sudeep Jain highlighted the importance and challenging nature of climate change.

He emphasised the work, collaboration and partnership that would be required from academia and research institutes for facilitating energy transition and development of the hydrogen sector.

IPHE Vice-Chairperson Noe Van Hulst mentioned India as an economic powerhouse, an engine of the global economy and a decisive actor in shaping the clean energy future.

He put emphasis on the requirement of skills, educational outreach and Research & Innovation in shaping the future of Clean Hydrogen and the role of academia in this regard.

The IPHE Academic Outreach also featured two insightful panel discussions. The first panel discussion titled “Empowering Expertise: Cultivating Skill Development in the Clean / Green Hydrogen Arena,” focused on development of the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in the clean / green hydrogen sector.

While the second panel discussion titled “Unveiling the Future: Clean / Green Hydrogen Technologies and Its Transformative Applications,” explored the frontiers of clean / green hydrogen research and innovation, discussing its transformative potential across various industries.