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Hydrogen buses can pave the way for energy security in India’s heavy-duty mobility sector
India aspires to be energy-independent by 2047, the centenary year of its freedom. This entails a promising multiple fuels policy and ambitious targets for electric vehicles as well as ethanol blending in petrol and biodiesel. The recent launch of hydrogen buses or Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri further strengthens India’s vision of energy security. In order to achieve the net-zero target by 2070, almost 95 per cent of road freight must move to electric and/or hydrogen. In this article, we calculate the potential of hydrogen in India’s mobility sector and how it can learn from the electric vehicle (EV) roll-out.
Not just India, but the world is also rapidly experimenting with hydrogen in mobility. Europe is planning 1,200 hydrogen buses and 150 hydrogen trucks by 2025 under various schemes. In Asia, China is leading deployment and plans to add 50,000 fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEVs) by 2025 using heavy national incentives and state policy support. South Korea and Japan aren’t far behind with targets for hydrogen cars and buses.
There is an opportunity here for India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, which targets the production of 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030. Beyond mobility, hydrogen could find potential use in refineries, fertilisers, city gas sectors, steel production and shipping.
Is there substantial potential for FCEVs in the mobility sector?
EVs have achieved cost and functional parity for small and light commercial vehicles such as three-wheelers in passenger and freight segments, but the heavy-duty sector remains a concern. Road freight accounts for 35-40 per cent of India’s total on-road carbon emissions, using up 25 per cent of the oil imports.
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