What does India's Green Hydrogen Standard require (the 2 kg CO2e per kg limit)?
India's Green Hydrogen Standard, notified by MNRE in August 2023, calls hydrogen green only if it is made from renewable energy and its well-to-gate emissions are no more than 2 kg CO2e per kg of hydrogen, averaged over the last 12 months. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency accredits the agencies that check it.
Which emissions count: the well-to-gate boundary
The limit covers non-biogenic greenhouse gas emissions from water treatment, electrolysis, gas purification, drying and compression of the hydrogen. It stops at the plant gate. Transport, storage away from the plant, conversion into ammonia or methanol, and use by the customer are outside it.
Both electrolysis and conversion of biomass qualify as routes, as long as the energy is renewable and the emissions stay within the limit.
Why the 12-month average matters
The test is an average over the last 12 months, not a check of each hour or each batch. A single bad month, say during a renewable outage, does not by itself fail the plant if the 12-month total stays within the limit; a run of bad months will. Renewable power stored in batteries or banked with the grid under the applicable regulations counts as renewable energy. How the first year of a new plant is treated depends on the certification rules, so ask your accredited agency early.
How it is checked
- The producer meters electricity by source, water, hydrogen output and any fuel used, and keeps the records.
- An agency accredited by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, the nodal authority, monitors and verifies the figures.
- Certification follows MNRE's detailed methodology and certification scheme rules, which were issued after the standard; read them alongside the 2023 notification.
What the standard does not settle
- It is an Indian definition. EU, Japanese or Korean buyers apply their own thresholds and boundaries, so Indian certification does not by itself qualify hydrogen abroad.
- It does not cover the downstream carbon intensity of green ammonia or steel made with the hydrogen.
- It does not set a price or a purchase obligation; those come from separate schemes and contracts.
Worked example: a rolling 12-month check
- Hydrogen made in the last 12 months: 1,000 t (illustrative)
- Eleven normal months: 920 t at 1.8 kg CO2e per kg = 1,656 t CO2e
- One month with a renewable shortfall: 80 t at 3.0 kg per kg = 240 t CO2e
- 12-month average: (1,656 + 240) / 1,000 = 1.90 kg CO2e per kg, within the 2 kg limit
- If that month had been 6.0 kg per kg: 80 x 6.0 = 480 t, so (1,656 + 480) / 1,000 = 2.14 kg per kg, over the limit
All figures are illustrative. For how much grid power fits under 2 kg, see the page on grid-powered hydrogen.
What Senseible does here
Senseible does not check hydrogen against the Green Hydrogen Standard and plays no part in its accreditation process. It reads electricity bills and fuel invoices, which can serve as part of a plant's own energy records.
Sources: MNRE, Green Hydrogen Standard for India (August 2023); BEE is the nodal authority for accreditation (beeindia.gov.in)
Last reviewed 2026-10-16. MNRE issued certification scheme rules after the 2023 standard and may revise them; re-check the boundary and verification steps.