IOC aims for net zero emission with plan to set up green hydrogen plants at all refineries by 2047

27 Feb 2023 , 10:03 AM

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), India’s top oil firm is planning to set up green hydrogen plants at all its refineries as it pivots a Rs 2-lakh crore green transition plan to achieve net-zero emissions. The company plans to achieve the target by year 2046-47.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said, “Oil will continue to be a mainstay fuel for the next few years but we are preparing for transition which will involve a combination of green hydrogen, biofuels, EVs and alternate fuels.” He added, “We are starting with Panipat but eventually all refineries will have green hydrogen units. We plan to invest over Rs 2 lakh crore to achieve the net zero.”

The company is planning to replace liquid fuels in refineries with natural gas, as well as to replace grey hydrogen (made from fossil fuel) with green hydrogen produced from renewable energy.

Around 96% of current emissions are caused by operations-related processes such as direct fuel burning for heating, steam generation, power generation, and cooling. These are the emissions that fall within Scope-1. The remaining 4% comes from using the grid to obtain electricity, which results in Scope-2 emissions.

Indian Oil Corporation wants to install electric vehicle charging stations at 10,000 gas stations during the next two years, increasing the capacity of renewable energy from 256 MW to 12 gigawatts.