Net zero

By Rajesh Mehta and Ishita Shekhawat

In the race to net zero scenario, India is aggressively looking at cleaner technology for its transport sector which is one of its major carbon emitters. India’s transport emissions stand at 14 percent against a global average of 10 percent. Within this, the share of passenger and freight vehicles is about 50-50 percent.

The share of Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) in the passenger vehicles segment is gaining momentum and the government has set an ambitious target of converting 30 percent of India’s internal combustion fleet to ZEV. The freight segment which constitutes as the remaining 50 percent emitter is however lagging behind in the want for a more efficient and reliable fuel technology without it being very cost intensive to procure and operate.

EV conversion in the small and mid-size segments is a smaller battle to fight since the cost of individual units is in the competitive range. Besides, the market is also ready with a range of options in various price categories. State-specific EV policies have further provided a conducive environment for EV growth.

The situation with the freight or HDV sector isn’t as encouraging with slimmer chances for an overnight transformation in fuel technology. HDVs remain to be completely dependent on oil without much headway into cleaner emissions. With a small ownership pattern across the country, it only gets more complicated for truck owners to invest in electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles. Investment in a completely new fleet is dependent on external factors including fuel supply infrastructure, and issues of refuelling frequency and time. Most importantly the high cost of vehicle replacement acts as a deterrent.

For a country like India, the road to economic growth will be more treacherous going forward since it also needs to continually make progress in meeting its net-zero targets. In getting there, taking lessons from how other nations paved their way in the past is going to be in India’s interest. This will not just help India in tackling the problem of pollution but will also lessen the burden of heavy capital investments and a technological abyss for its HDV consumers.

Biofuels infrastructure in Brazil and USA

Brazil has been spearheading its ethanol blending journey since 1975 prescribing a 20 percent blend of ethanol with petrol. The composition of ethanol since then has been raised to 27 percent by now. USA on the other hand kick-started the use of renewable fuels and ethanol in 2005. Over a period of time, prescribed ethanol blending with petrol has become a norm in both these countries. Ethanol production is encouraged to take place near agricultural zones directly utilising the crop residue from farms.

Role of gas as a transition fuel in China

Beijing’s pollution has shown improvements continuously since 2015 as a result of its aggressive steps in replacing coal and diesel with gas for its transportation sector. By 2017, China stepped up an anti-pollution drive limiting the use of diesel-powered HDVs. As a result, the sale of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) trucks dwarfed the sale of diesel trucks within a span of 2-3 years. The gas trucks were found to be less polluting and cheaper to operate than diesel ones. By 2019 China had added a fleet of 600,000 trucks operating on LNG with over 3,000 LNG fuelling stations.

The government of India’s initiatives towards biofuel production and blending targets have started bearing fruit with a 20 percent ethanol blending goal likely to be achieved by 2025-26. In addition, the SATAT Scheme of 2018 has been another revolutionary step in the production of biogas by making use of agricultural waste. These are excellent steps in favour of decarbonisation but India now needs to work out a clear and distinct roadmap using its influence in the Global Biofuels Alliance along with USA and Brazil.

In 2021, the government introduced a draft LNG policy which was in cognisance of India’s upped LNG demand in the transport and mining sector. Going further, there is a need to ramp up other preparatory work like infrastructure rollout for LNG to act as an intermediate fuel option until a definitive and lasting zero-emission alternative is ready for large-scale adoption. Solutions such as Bio-LNG will further accelerate the journey of the transport sector towards carbon neutrality.

With the help of the vast experience of its global partners, India needs to develop a Freight Roadmap which lists a systematic manner in which energy transition can take place until there is ample confidence built towards the adoption of zero-emission technologies like electricity or hydrogen. For comprehensive decarbonization of the transport sector, governments at all levels, ministries, and departments along with companies and consumers will have to work in synchronisation to make steady progress in the shift towards greener technology. Systemic challenges will need to be addressed including support to define the policy, improving access to finance, incentives and gains, ensuring supply, provision of support infrastructure, and life management. This kind of systemic strengthening should lead to cleaner air, economic growth, jobs, reduced greenhouse gas, and oil dependence, and meet the ultimate goal of complete decarbonisation of the transport industry.

https://www.financialexpress.com/business/express-mobility-alternative-fuels-bridging-the-gap-to-net-zero-3204564/lite/