Green Hydrogen as a Future Multi-disciplinary Research at Kathmandu University

Abstract

Over 100 million tons of hydrogen are produced every year for a range of industrial purposes. The vast majority of this industrial hydrogen is produced from coal gasification or steam methane reforming, both of which need a lot of energy and generate significant carbon dioxide emissions. A much smaller proportion of hydrogen is produced from the electrolysis of water, which can be a far more sustainable and clean method if the electricity is produced from renewable sources. While the urgency of greenhouse gas emission mitigation has increased, many countries have begun to take action to decarbonize their economies. Nepal is expected to have about a 3000 MW electricity surplus by the Year 2030. It is a time to explore alternative use of electricity to make hydropower projects financially feasible. Hence it is also high time to investigate Hydropower-to-Hydrogen (H2H) technology and transfer the relevant knowledge in the region. Kathmandu University (KU) has been leading to initiate and institutionalize the new academic programs and research avenues to address the future need for this country. KU has played a role model to introduce and establish innovative and unique programs in engineering education in Nepal since it was established in 1994. Since the establishment period, KU carried the vision to establish itself as a research-based university. KU has carried the objective to design its academic programs, courses, and curricula to directly contribute to the research problem the industry or society has been facing. The intuitional realization that Green Hydrogen (GH) is the future academic and research need of this country will be the far-slightness of KU.