India's first Indigenously developed HFC bus Flashcards
Why in News?
India’s 1st Indigenously Developed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus was unveiled in Pune recently by MoS Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday, 21st August 2022. The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus has been developed by KPIT-CSIR in Pune and is being termed the country’s first truly indigenously developed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus. The development of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus comes as part of the country’s commitment to the use of clean and green energy for transportation to reduce its carbon footprint and positively contribute toward climate change action. The Indigenously Developed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus has been developed as part of PM Modi’s visionary National Green Hydrogen Mission and Atmanirbhar Bharat mission.
How do Hydrogen Fuel Cells power Vehicles?
Unlike the traditional heavy vehicles i.e., Buses and Trucks, the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus uses Hydrogen and Air to produce electricity to power itself. The fuel cell employed in the Hydrogen Powered Bus would combine Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms to create electricity which can power the bus. The design of the hydrogen fuel cell allows hydrogen and oxygen gases to react in an electrochemical cell, which produces electricity as energy and water as its effluent with small amounts of heat.
Unlike traditional electrical vehicles, Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Powered Vehicles would not have to be recharged from time to time. Hydrogen Fuel Cells continue to produce electricity as long as they have hydrogen fuel available in supply. Therefore, hydrogen-powered vehicles are likely to resolve and overcome the challenges of range i.e., the number of km they can run, and the charging infrastructure that current electrical vehicles face.
Advantages of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus
Water as the only Effluent: The fuel cells used in the bus have been specially designed and developed by KPIT-CSIR in Pune, and instead of smoke or air pollution, the only effluent from the bus is water. This makes the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus possibly the most environment-friendly mode of transportation.
Reduced Carbon Footprint: On the flipside, a bus using the traditional fuel source of Diesel, which is mostly employed to ply on long routes would typically emit 100 tons of CO2 annually. With millions of buses being employed in the public transportation system, this creates a large carbon footprint. In comparison to this, a Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered Bus would be completely free of air pollution and instead will only produce water as its by-product.
Lower Operational Cost: The unique design of the hydrogen fuel cells developed by KPIT-CSIR makes them highly efficient. The high energy density of Hydrogen also reduces the overall operational cost per kilometre for heavy-duty vehicles including trucks and buses, in comparison to diesel-powered vehicles.
No Recharging Required: Unlike traditional electrical vehicles, which need to be recharged, Hydrogen-powered vehicles can continue to produce electricity as long as the supply of Hydrogen is available, giving it a longer range in comparison.
Refuelling in Minutes: With no recharging required, refuelling a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle can be done in minutes, similar to an internal combustion engine which uses traditional fuel sources of petrol and diesel.
National Green Hydrogen Mission
The National Hydrogen Energy Mission was announced in the Union Budget 2021 by the Finance Minister, who said it will be launched in 2021-22. India has set ambitious targets in the renewable energy sector and the push for hydrogen energy will help steer the country in the right direction in this respect. In this article, you can read all about the newly-launched National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHME).
What is the National Hydrogen Energy Mission?
Along with announcing the launch of the NHEM, the government also announced that it would be holding Green Hydrogen auctions. The budget allocates Rs.1500 crore for renewable energy development including hydrogen.
The government will, pursuant to the mission, draw a roadmap for using hydrogen as an energy source. This has the potential to transform the transport sector, as well as, other industries.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element on earth and this mission will capitalise on this. It is also a much cleaner fuel.
This mission will emphasise hydrogen from clean sources.
It also envisages linking the country’s growing renewable energy capacity with the hydrogen economy.
India’s target for 2022 for renewable energy generation is 175 GW and this mission is expected to bolster the process.
The renewable energy target for 2030 is 450 GW.
The country has set to decarbonise by 2050.
Using hydrogen will serve the twin purposes of achieving India’s emission commitments under the Paris Agreement and reducing the import dependence on fossil fuels.
The end-users of hydrogen energy are the transportation sector, chemical industry and steel sector.
These sectors contribute to 1/3rd of all greenhouse gas emissions because of their using fossil fuels.
Replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen in these sectors will help reduce GHGs in a big way.
Hydrogen as a Fuel
Hydrogen is a clean source of alternate fuel. When used in a fuel cell that produces electrical energy through a chemical reaction, the by-product is only water. This makes it extremely attractive as a renewable energy source.
Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of sources such as biomass, natural gas, nuclear power, and other renewable energy sources like wind and solar energy. Hence, hydrogen is a good option as fuel for electricity generation and transportation applications.
Types of Hydrogen
- Grey Hydrogen: Hydrogen from hydrocarbons (natural gas, fossil fuels) is called grey hydrogen. This is the most common method of production of hydrogen today. It produces carbon dioxide as a by-product.
- Black/Brown Hydrogen: This is the oldest method of producing hydrogen and involves transforming coal into gas. The hydrogen produced is called brown if lignite coal is used and black if bituminous coal is used for the process. It is a highly polluting process as both carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are released into the atmosphere which cannot be reused.
- Blue Hydrogen: This is the name given to the hydrogen produced from hydrocarbons where the emissions generated from the process are captured and stored. They are stored underground by industrial carbon capture and storage (CSS). Hence, it is considered a better alternative than grey hydrogen where the emissions are released. However, even in this process, about 10-20% of the carbon dioxide generated cannot be captured.
- Green Hydrogen: In this case, hydrogen is generated from renewable sources of energy like solar and wind. In this process, electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. This is the cleanest form of hydrogen generation since the by-products are just water and water vapour. Only 1% of the hydrogen generated is via this process.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars
Unlike conventional vehicles which run on gasoline or diesel, fuel cell cars and trucks combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, which runs a motor. Since they are powered entirely by electricity, fuel cell vehicles are considered electric vehicles (“EVs”)—but unlike other EVs, their range and refuelling processes are comparable to conventional cars and trucks.
Converting hydrogen gas into electricity produces only water and heat as a by-product, meaning fuel cell vehicles don’t create tailpipe pollution when they’re driven.
Differences between fuel cell cars and other EVs:
Electric vehicles use energy stored in a battery, whereas fuel cell vehicles have stored fuel that reacts to produce energy.
Whereas conventional vehicles burn fuel in an internal combustion engine, battery-powered electric vehicles don’t have an engine. Instead, they use energy stored in batteries to power one or more electric motors.
Fuel cell vehicles are also driven by an electric motor, but instead of being powered by a battery, they create the electricity in an onboard fuel cell, usually using oxygen from the air and stored hydrogen.
Fuel cells use a catalyst to combine two reactants, which generates a flow of electrons (i.e. electricity).
Fuel cells can be of many types, but the common one is which uses hydrogen to produce electricity.
When oxygen and hydrogen react, they produce only water and heat, making them “zero-emissions” vehicles (like battery-powered electric vehicles).
