Road to decarbonization: Navigating India's green hydrogen transition challenges through grey DEMATEL

Climate change has pushed nations worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transit toward sustainable and cleaner energy sources. Green hydrogen has emerged as one of the most promising solutions to achieve decarbonization. It is expected to play a crucial role in India's target of achieving energy independence by 2047. However, the deployment of green hydrogen energy systems on a large scale comprises multiple challenges. The present paper explores the complex landscape of India's green hydrogen transition from technological, economic, social, and environmental lenses. It reviews the existing research to identify the barriers and employs Grey sets and the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to analyze the nuances of interrelationships among them. The results reveal that limited policy and regulatory frameworks, lack of investment in R&D, and lack of awareness are the critical barriers to green hydrogen adoption in India. The findings offer significant implications to managers and policymakers to ensure a smooth and effective transition to decarbonized energy systems in India.