The Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and ASPI Delhi bring together green hydrogen experts and stakeholders to highlight the role of manufacturers as agents of change in Asia’s and India’s net zero transition. Shri Abhay Bakre (Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Government of India) will deliver keynote remarks on India’s vision for green hydrogen market leadership. This will be followed by a panel discussion with experts on the challenges and opportunities for green hydrogen and electrolyzer manufacturing brought about by net zero targets in key Asian economies.

This event will serve as the launch of a new ASPI report, Green Hydrogen for Decarbonizing Asia’s Industrial Giants, the latest report from the ASPI-convened High-level Policy Commission on Getting Asia to Net Zero. The report zeroes in on the market potential for electrolyzers as a key technology for fulfilling net zero and industrial decarbonization objectives. The discussion aims to explore how India could leverage such opportunities around industrial decarbonization to enhance its regional and global leadership while maximizing economic and social benefits.

All remarks will be on the record. Members of the press are welcome to attend the event.

Discussion to be followed by a lunch reception.

RSVP here or via email to Senior Program Officer, Meera Gopal at [email protected] 

SPEAKERS

Akshay Mathur is the Senior Director, Asia Society Policy Institute based in New Delhi responsible for the institute's policy mandate in India. His area of expertise is geoeconomics, specifically international financial architecture, global trading system, global economic governance, and global digital governance.

Akshay has advanced degrees in policy, business and technology, specifically an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as the Edward Mason Fellow, an MBA from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business with concentration in Finance and Business Analysis, and a B.S. in Computer Science from the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  

Abhay Bakre is the Director General of BEE. Before joining BEE, he worked as Executive Director in the newly created Environment Directorate of the Ministry of Railways. He was the nodal officer for developing INDC for the Railway sector along with a roadmap for greenhouse gas reduction in Indian Railways. He also participated at the transport sector events of COP 21 held in Paris and COP 22 held in Morocco.

He has also worked as the Joint Development Commissioner in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and was the nodal officer for National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme. As ED PCRA, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, he has been instrumental in development and implementation of various programs aimed at petroleum & energy conservation in industry, transport, domestic sector etc.

He has a Postgraduate degree (M. Tech.) in Elect. Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur. 

Dr. Ali Hasanbeigi is the Founder, CEO, and Research Director at Global Efficiency Intelligence, LLC. He leads consulting and market research activities across our service areas. He has over 15 years of international experience providing strategic analysis and technical research on several topics including, industrial decarbonization, energy systems efficiency, and industrial electrification.

Dr. Hasanbeigi is also the Founder and Co-director of the Industrial Electrification Center, which is a premier information hub dedicated to pioneering the transition towards a decarbonized industrial sector through the electrification of heating processes. Before founding Global Efficiency Intelligence, LLC, he was a Research Scientist in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he led the Low Emissions and Efficient Industry research group. During this time, he worked with various public, private, and non-profit organizations globally.

Deepak Yadav is the Programme Lead, with the Industrial Sustainability team at Council for Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW). At the Council, his work involves developing a roadmap for hard-to-decarbonise industrial sectors, engaging with industry partners on carbon mitigation strategies and supporting policy-making with insightful analysis.

Deepak is currently focussing on alternative fuels, renewable hydrogen and low-carbon energy sources such as natural gas for mitigating industrial emissions. His research involves technology assessment and forecasting, economic analysis and life cycle assessment of competing technologies for enabling transition in the industrial sector. Prior to joining the Council, he worked as a project engineer in the conceptualisation-to-commissioning of a megawatt-scale concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. Deepak holds a doctorate and a Master’s degree, both from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay. He is also a BEE certified energy auditor. 

Charith Konda is an Energy Specialist at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). He works on issues related to clean mobility, newer clean energy technologies, and the overall energy transition challenges of the Indian economy. He has over 17 years of professional work experience in public policy advisory, consulting, and business & policy research in a wide range of global firms.

Sujit Kumar Jena is a Policy Specialist at – G20 Sherpa Office (Mr. Amitabh Kant). In his current role, he provides technical and policy inputs to G20 sherpa, leads the policy discussion and technical insights to G20 members, and supports relevant line ministries for Energy Transition, Climate Finance, Digital Economy, etc. He played a critical role in the G20 Leaders Declaration in 2023 under India’s presidency.

He has 10+ years of work experience and has worked at the intersection of engineering, finance, and public policy. Some of his key contributions include the launch of the “National Monetization Program” (NMP), “Production Linked Incentive” (PLI) schemes, and Promote Sustainable Mobility initiatives under GoI under EVs (ACC/Auto, FAME II, E-Buses, Circular Economy, etc.,).

Kate Logan is Associate Director of Climate at the Asia Society Policy Institute. She is also a Fellow with ASPI's Center for China Analysis. Her work focuses on enhancing climate action across Asia, including developing a stronger regional vision for achieving net-zero emissions and encouraging more ambitious action in key national jurisdictions, especially China.

Logan began her career in Beijing, China, where she was a Princeton in Asia Fellow at the Natural Resources Defense Council and later directed international outreach and green supply chain initiatives for the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, a non-profit founded by Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun. She also co-founded and produced Environment China, a podcast on solutions to China's environmental challenges. She holds a Master of Environment Management from Yale University’s School of the Environment.