New Delhi: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday launched an indigenously developed hydrogen fuel cell bus developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and private firm KPIT Limited in Pune.
The Union Minister of State for Science and Technology on the occasion said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Hydrogen Vision’ aims to make the country “atmanirbhar” (self-reliant) in clean energy, meet climate change goals, and create employment in the sector.
The fuel cell utilizes hydrogen and air to generate electricity to power the bus, whose only effluent is water, thereby making it possibly the most environment-friendly mode of transportation, a release quoted Singh as saying.
The operational cost of hydrogen fuel cell trucks is lower than ones run on diesel and this could bring about a freight revolution in the country. About 12-14 percent of CO2 emissions come from diesel-powered heavy vehicles. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles provide excellent means to eliminate on-road emissions in this sector,” he said., The Union Minister of State said.
According to the media report, a primary advantage of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) is that they produce no tailpipe emissions. They only emit water vapour and warm air. Another advantage is that they are more efficient than internal combustion engine vehicles.
Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles have another advantage when it comes to refueling time, which makes them more practical than battery-powered electric vehicles for public transportation purposes. Even with the fastest charging technologies, it could take hours to charge a battery-powered electric bus.
(Vinayak)
