India gets green hydrogen buses. Will they change the way we commute?

On Monday, Union minister Hardeep S Puri flagged off India’s first green hydrogen buses that emit just water in New Delhi. Puri, the petroleum minister, said he expects another 15 such buses to ply on the roads of Delhi-NCR by the end of this year. Puri said hydrogen will be India’s transition fuel for moving away from fossil fuels. But what do we know about these buses? And will they change the way we commute?  Let’s take a closer look:  What do we know? Indian Oil purchased the two buses from Tata Motors. The move is part of its pilot project that will hold operation trials in Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

As per News9, the fleet will cover more than three million kilometres to test the pilot project’s feasibility.

According to The Times of India, the buses will initially run in Delhi-NCR sans passengers. When the fleet expands, designated routes will be added in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The hydrogen buses are powered via polymer electrolyte membrane-based fuel cells. These fuel cells, the heart of these green hydrogen-powered buses, employ hydrogen and air to generate electricity for propulsion. As per Hindustan Times, hydrogen gas is stored onboard at high pressure – usually around 350 bar. The buses each have four cylinders that can hold 30 kilos of hydrogen – allowing the buses to cover 350 kilometres. The tanks can be refuelled in 10-12 minutes. These buses will also be more fuel efficient – covering 12 kilometres per kilo of hydrogen as against 2.5 to 3 kilometres per litre for diesel buses. [caption id=“attachment_13172102” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Hardeep Singh Puri said that emerging fuels like hydrogen and bio-fuels would account for 25 per cent of global incremental energy demand growth over the next two decades. Image courtesy: PIB[/caption] The hydrogen fuel will come from an Indian Oil facility Research and Development facility in Faridabad. The 75 kilos of green hydrogen will be produced by electrolysing water with electricity from renewable sources, as per The Times of India.  As much as 50 units of renewable electricity and nine kilos of deionized water are needed to produce a kilo of green hydrogen. As per News9, Indian Oil at its facility has built a refuelling station that can produce green hydrogen via electrolysis through solar panels. “The fuel cell utilizes hydrogen and air to generate electricity to power the bus and the only by-product from the bus is water therefore making it possibly the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation as compared to conventional buses that run on diesel and petrol. With three times the energy density and the absence of harmful emissions, hydrogen shines as a cleaner, more efficient choice to meet the energy requirements,” Puri explained. Will they change the way we commute? Fuel cells are considered far superior to battery-powered vehicles. As per Energy World, they offer higher efficiency, longer range, and faster refuelling time compared to battery-powered vehicles. Economic Times pegs the thermal efficiency of fuel cells at 55 to 60 per cent compared to conventional engines at 25 per cent. K Dhandayuthapani, associate vice president at Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, told Deccan Herald that while battery-operated vehicles are preferable to cover short distances, hydrogen fuel powered vehicles are better for longer trips. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel for fuel cells.

Hydrogen when burnt emits only water vapour as a by-product.

With three times the energy density and the absence of harmful emissions, hydrogen shines as a cleaner, more efficient choice to meet the energy requirement. Hydrogen is deemed as the fuel for the future with immense potential to help India meet its decarbonization targets. The global demand for hydrogen is expected to increase by four to seven times to 500-800 tonne by 2050. Domestic demand is expected to increase by four times, from the current 6 tonne at present to 25-28 tonne by 2050. Oil and gas PSUs shall produce around 1 million tonne per annum of green hydrogen by 2030. However, according to Indian Express, green hydrogen faces a number of obstacles to being widely adopted including its pricey tag and the challenge of producing, storing and transporting on a massive scale. Industry experts peg the cost of setting up an electrolyser at nearly Rs 1 lakh per kilowatt capacity. IOC company officials, meanwhile, claim their Faridabad facility produces green hydrogen at Rs 1,000 per kilo. The Indian Express piece noted that the cost of producing green hydrogen would be around Rs 400 per kilo at scale – far higher than diesel and petrol. “With more innovation in technology and processes and scaling up of green hydrogen production, the costs are likely to come down, but that is likely to take a few years provided there is considerable push from governments and the industry,” the piece stated.  ‘Transform face of city transport’ This green hydrogen-powered bus is going to transform the face of city transport in the country. I shall be closely monitoring the project and wish you all the very best for successfully executing this project of national importance," he added. “The success of this project can catapult India from being a net importer of fossil energy to becoming a net exporter of clean hydrogen energy; and provide global leadership to other countries in terms of technology transfer while becoming a large green hydrogen producer and supplier of manufacturing parts.”  Puri said that emerging fuels like hydrogen and bio-fuels would account for 25 per cent of global incremental energy demand growth over the next two decades. [caption id=“attachment_13172172” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Fuel cell powered vehicles offer higher efficiency, longer range, and faster refuelling time compared to battery-powered vehicles. Image courtesy: Twitter[/caption] “Our government has ambitious plans on clean and green energy. India has taken many steps towards low carbon development- through emerging fuels like hydrogen and bio-fuels and shall account for 25 per cent of global incremental energy demand growth over the next two decades,” Puri added. “With one of the largest synchronous grids in the world, we have achieved ‘One Nation-One Grid-One Frequency’, and would soon be global champion in production and exports of Hydrogen and is set to emerge as the Hub for green hydrogen”, Puri said. “With the low cost solar, synchronous grid, large demand and engineering, India will be a global champion in production and exports of hydrogen and is set to emerge as the hub for green hydrogen,” he added. Puri said recently the world’s first BS 6 (Stage II) Electrified Flex Fuel vehicle prototype was launched that encompasses both the flex fuel engine as well as an electric powertrain that offers higher use of ethanol combined with better fuel efficiencies. The Union government in its Budget announced that it will target producing five million tonnes (MT) of green hydrogen by 2030. The Budget also provided Rs 35,000 crore for priority capital investment towards energy transition and net zero objectives. The government would support setting up of battery energy storage of 4,000 MwH, The green credit programme will be also notified under the Environment Protection Act.  With inputs from agencies