According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State, launched India’s first homegrown hydrogen fuel cell bus on August 21 in Pune. The vehicle was created by KPIT-CSIR.
The Union Minister explained to the crowd the significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Hydrogen Vision” in ensuring Atma Nirbhar means of inexpensive and accessible clean energy, fulfilling climate change goals, and fostering new businesses and jobs in India.
According to him, green hydrogen is a superb clean energy vector that permits the deep carbonization of emissions from the steel, cement, fertiliser, and heavy commercial transportation sectors as well as other hard-to-abate industries.
Uses hydrogen and air to generate electricity to power the bus
According to Singh, the fuel cell uses hydrogen and air to generate electricity to power the bus, and the bus’s only effluent is water, making it possibly the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation.
In comparison, a single diesel bus travelling long distances emits 100 tonnes of CO2 per year, and there are over a million of them in India, according to the Ministry.
According to Singh, the high efficiency of fuel cell vehicles and the high energy density of hydrogen ensure that the operational costs in rupees per kilometre for fuel cell trucks and buses are lower than those of diesel-powered vehicles, which can usher in a freight revolution in India. Furthermore, Fuel Cell vehicles emit no greenhouse gases.
The Minister praised the joint development efforts of KPIT and CSIR-NCL, noting that Indian scientists and engineers have the same technological prowess as the best in the world, but at a much lower cost.
According to Singh, diesel-powered heavy commercial vehicles account for 12-14 percent of CO2 and particulate emissions, which are decentralised and thus difficult to capture.
India intends to expand inland waterways
According to the Minister, hydrogen-powered vehicles offer an excellent way to eliminate on-road emissions from this sector. He also stated that India intends to expand inland waterways for freight and passenger transportation.
Singh concluded that by achieving these goals, India can transition from being a net importer of fossil energy to a net exporter of clean hydrogen energy, giving India global leadership in the hydrogen space by becoming a large green hydrogen producer and supplier of green hydrogen equipment.
Later, he dedicated the Bisphenol-A pilot plant at CSIR-NCL, stating that the pilot plants successfully demonstrated novel process technologies developed by NCL under CSIR’s Covid-19 mission programme and Bulk Chemicals mission programme.
He went on to say that the global Bisphenol-A market is expected to reach 7.1 million tonnes by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 2% between 2020 and 2027. Today, India imports its entire estimated annual demand of 1, 35,000 tonnes.
The Minister hoped that the technology developed by CSIR-NCL would enable import substitution of this critical raw material and contribute to India’s Atmanirbhar initiative.
The process developed by CSIR-NCL is unique in that it is a novel downstream process technology, making this indigenous technology competitive with global benchmarks. The process is now ready for technology transfer and commercial co-development.
Bisphenol-A (BPA)
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an important feedstock for the production of epoxy resins, polycarbonate, and other engineering plastics, according to Singh.
He went on to say that the global Bisphenol-A market is expected to reach 7.1 million tonnes by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 2% between 2020 and 2027. Today, India imports its entire estimated annual demand of 1, 35,000 tonnes.
The Minister hoped that the technology developed by CSIR-NCL would enable import substitution of this critical raw material and contribute to India’s Atmanirbhar initiative.
The process developed by CSIR-NCL is unique in that it is a novel downstream process technology, making this indigenous technology competitive with global benchmarks. The process is now ready for technology transfer and commercial co-development.
