Energetica India Magazine January-February 2021

HYDROGEN/ FUEL CELLS Hydrogen: The Technology Targeting A Fuel Cell Future Hydrogen cell-based automobiles can be better than EVs as the rawmaterial is easily sourced, and is more cost-ef- fective as compared to EVs. The cost of hydrogen fuel-based vehicles would be the same as that of a diesel fuel- based vehicle. Hydrogen fuel cell mobility is more efficient than battery supported electric vehicles considering electricity is used for charging those vehicles. Hydrogen, a clean and reliable alternative to ease climate change and reduce the rise of temperature, can surely replace the expensive EV choice. 34 energetica INDIA- Jan-Feb_2021 Hydrogen fuel is also known as zero-carbon fuel burned with oxygen. It has been in use as commercial fuel for cell vehi- cles, passenger cars and buses for many years. Hydrogen cells are also used for spacecraft propulsion. Yet it is far from being recognized as the main fuel for automobiles. An enormous amount of interest was shown by several coun- tries in hydrogen as automobile fuel, and 2020s was declared as “The decade of Hydrogen”. The Hydrogen Council, an or- ganization comprising of 92 major companies, assured that the 2020s will be an innovative period in this sector. Hydrogen is light, storable, energy-dense, and does not produce any direct emissions of pollutants or any other greenhouse gases. A hydrogen fuel cell can be an answer to the world which is moving away from conventional fuel to reduce pollution levels. Hydrogen cell-based automobiles can be better than EVs as the raw material is easily sourced, and is more cost-effective as compared to EVs. The cost of hydrogen fuel-based vehi- cles would be the same as that of a diesel fuel- based vehi- cle. Hydrogen fuel cell mobility is more efficient than battery supported electric vehicles considering electricity is used for charging those vehicles. Hydrogen, a clean and reliable alter- native to ease climate change and reduce the rise of tempera- ture, can surely replace the expensive EV choice. Countries like Japan have invested heavily in hydrogen-based vehicles. Toyota is a front runner in Japan’s efforts to use hydrogen and fuel cells to power cars. Toyota has started selling Toyota Mi- rai a fuel-cell vehicle in 2014 and aimed to sell 30,000 ve- hicles by 2020. Other Japanese Companies like Panasonic Corp., Toshiba Corp., JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp are also pursuing this technology to cut emissions and its reliance on imported fuels. Alstom presented Coradia iLint during Inno- Trans 2016 in Berlin, Germany. It’s one of the first railway manufacturers in the world to de - velop a passenger train based on hydrogen technology. In 2018, iLint entered into commercial service in Germany. Air Products & Chemicals, the industrial gas giant, announced plans to build a green hydrogen plant in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest such project announced so far. Tata Motors has launched a hydrogen fuel cell bus in India in collabora- Akshay Kashyap Founder and Managing Director, Greenfuel Energy Solutions