Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched India’s first green hydrogen-powered bus on Monday, emitting only water. According to the minister, hydrogen will be India’s transition fuel as it moves away from fossil fuels.
The bus was unveiled by India’s largest oil company, IOC. IOC will produce nearly 75 kg of hydrogen by splitting water using renewable electricity. This hydrogen will be utilised to power two buses that will make trial runs across the national capital region.
For the test run, IOC’s R&D Centre in Faridabad is producing green hydrogen. The buses can go 350 kilometres on four cylinders with a capacity of 30 kg. The four tanks take 10-12 minutes to fill.
When hydrogen is burned, it produces solely water vapors as a byproduct. With three times the energy density and no harmful emissions, hydrogen stands out as a cleaner, more efficient way to meet the energy need. One kilograms of green hydrogen requires up to 50 units of renewable electricity and 9 kg of deionized water. Hydrogen can be used to power fuel cells.
Puri stated that IOC will increase the number of buses to 15 by the end of 2023. IOC will conduct operational testing of 15 green hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses on specified routes in Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. On Monday, the first two fuel cell buses were introduced as part of this project.
“Our government has ambitious clean and green energy plans.” “India has taken numerous steps towards low-carbon development, including the use of emerging fuels such as hydrogen and biofuels, and will account for 25% of global incremental energy demand growth over the next two decades,” Puri said.
Following the inauguration of the two buses, a total mileage of more than 3 lakh kilometers will be covered in order to test the long-term performance and durability of the new technology. India boasts one of the world’s largest synchronous grids, capable of handling fluctuating renewable energy, and has reached ‘One Nation-One Grid-One Frequency’.
“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 stated.
Puri stated that the world’s first BS 6 (Stage II) Electrified Flex Fuel vehicle prototype was recently launched, which includes both the flex fuel engine and an electric powertrain that provides increased ethanol use along with improved fuel efficiencies.
Hydrogen is seen as the fuel of the future, having enormous potential to assist India in meeting its decarbonization ambitions. By 2050, global demand for hydrogen is predicted to increase four to sevenfold to 500-800 tonnes.