Further electrification of India's rail tracks would actually result in higher CO2 emissions because electricity is majorly sourced from fossil fuels
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this Independence Day that India can achieve self-reliance in energy through an economy of gas-based fuels, electric mobility and bio-fuels/ethanol in petrol. Following up on the promise of National Hydrogen Mission announced in the 2021-22 Budget, he also launched this mission to facilitate generation of carbon-free fuel from renewables, setting a target of 2047 for India to achieve self-reliance in energy. He found the right optics by saying that the country has had to take a pledge to become energy-independent in the 100th year of independence.
Let us go back to another announcement by the PM on energy front; In the “Urja Sangam” conference in March 2015, he had proclaimed the objective of reducing India’s oil import from 77 per cent of total consumption in 2013-14 to 67 per cent by 2022. Today, the dependence has actually increased with imports accounting for 85 per cent of oil requirements.
Whether the new national targets are pragmatic or not is a subject of a larger debate. Days before the PM’s announcement, there was a media splash that Indian Railways (IR), with a view to kicking off hydrogen mobility in India, had invited bids for hydrogen fuel cell-based trains. Whenever calling of bids, and not actual execution, by IR becomes news, the project usually ends in a whimper. We will, therefore, confine ourselves to see the country-wide status through a limited prism of what IR has done. Before that, however, a glance at electric mobility, particularly e-buses.
Although diesel buses account for a small percentage of the total vehicular population, they contribute to more than 50 per cent of air pollution and carbon emissions in India. State transport corporations, mostly with poorly-managed finances, are known to run smoke-spewing, rickety, diesel buses. The Union Government made an ambitious plan to shift them to cleaner and sophisticated electric buses. It started with FAME (Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India) that proved to be ill-conceived and came a cropper due to ambiguity and misuse of the subsidy. It was later rejigged as FAME 2 for subsidy only to state transport corporations but the impact has so far been far from healthy; the penetration of e-buses in the country languishes at around 2000 buses whereas the number of buses in the country is over 17 lakhs.
If the bard’s “What’s past is prologue” is a lesson in history which sets the context for the present, then IR’s report card so far has been dismal and does not inspire any confidence in its ability to contribute and complement the PM’s ambitious road map.
The thrust started somewhat with bio-fuels and IR even set up a dedicated organization in Delhi called IROAF (IR Organization for Alternate Fuels), mandated for fixing standards, development, research and execution in fuel and energy efficient and eco-friendly technologies for assimilation in IR. After numerous experiments, sanctions, build-up of esterification plants, repeated news items, there is not one diesel train of IR which runs regularly on diesel+bio-fuel mix.
We soon heard of initiatives of a dual fuel mode, diesel with CNG, for diesel locomotives and diesel-electric multiple units (DEMUs) to reduce their tail pipe emissions. Some prototypes were made but the project was given up in favour of LNG as CNG has limitation of lower energy density and thus poses a space limitation for on board fuel. LN Ghas comparable energy density with diesel and therefore is much less problematic for on-board storage of fuel. The LNG project lies in infancy for years with no clear road-map.
The next to catch the fancy of IR was multi-gen set diesel locomotives, which with the option to switch on and off one engine, are more energy-efficient. Two such prototypes were made nearly ten years back but the project was foreclosed due to the increased pace of electrification of IR tracks and the IR perceived, belatedly, that these locomotives could not be proliferated.
We also heard of Solar Panels on roof tops of DEMU. A pilot project was completed on some coaches of DEMUs and introduced in the Delhi suburban area, touted funnily as the first-ever in the world. If indeed it was a first-ever, that itself should have alerted IR about the inefficacy of the project. Never mind, moreover, that these prototypes were so constructed that the solar panels mounted on top of the roof offered air resistance and nearly negated the saving in fuel due to solar cells. It was another irrational project which seems to have died with the death of DEMUs themselves in the face of rapid electrification.
Nearly twenty years after its formation, the IROAF website has this to state: “Except for minor projects and showcase installations, IR have not aligned itself with the targets of the 2022. There is very little that IR is doing on its own to contribute to the agenda set by the GoI. The steps taken so far by IR are not commensurate with the quantity of energy that it consumes and the influence that it can exert due to it being the single largest buyer of petroleum and electricity.”
An honest admission. But this is now followed by this hydrogen punch, supposedly in line with the PM’s declaration that green hydrogen would give India a quantum-jump in achieving its green targets. According to IROAF, the project will commence on the 89 kilometres-long Sonipat-Jind section with retro fitment of hydrogen fuel cell in two DEMU rakes.
It is notable that IR has been trying to acquire hydrogen fuel cell technology for diesel locomotives for a decade but in vain. Has there been any inquest before announcing this bidding process? In his speech, the PM also said what IR has been saying now for many recent years: 100 per cent electrification of all tracks under the zero-emission policy, thus becoming the first major railway-country in the world to do so. This policy itself is debatable. There is a view that further electrification of India’s rail tracks would actually result in higher CO2 emissions because electricity is majorly sourced from fossil fuels and therefore India should first prioritise greening its electricity network by pursuing regenerative energy sources more vigorously rather than electrifying its tracks. In any case, if the policy of 100 per cent electrification is indeed here to stay, why waste time and energy on the hydrogen fuel cell project?
Assuming that the project is an effort to develop a standby technology, sourcing of hydrogen needs to be settled simultaneously. All hydrogen production in the country employs the Steam Methane Reforming process that utilises fossils fuels because since the cleaner method of Water Electrolysis is not only expensive but also in the nascent stage. Will the project be green enough if hydrogen is sourced from fossil fuels?
Unless this project is taken up in right earnest with all loose ends about viability, tendering for equipment, ordering, designing the vehicle and retro fitment schemes, commissioning, trials and operation tied up with clear-cut responsibilities, it would also end up like all its predecessors. I hope these questions are settled and IR engineers work silently to make it successful instead of creating another hoopla which would turn a damp squib.
(The writer is retired General Manager, Indian Railways. The views expressed are personal.)
