Delhi, the capital of India has been blanketed many times in a severe emergency smog levels. On top of that, out of 30 most polluted cities in the world, 21 are in the India. Without a doubt it is clear that we need to move away from fossil fuels as soon as possible.
Two immediate solutions that can address this problem are “Battery & Hydrogen” as a fuel in transportation and a storage medium in Industries.
For mobility, hydrogen can be refilled within 5 minutes for passenger vehicles, emits only water which is clearly the need of an hour solution considering India’s scenario.
However, hydrogen technology is little expensive at this moment, but certainly will achieve cost parity with IC Engine vehicles within 5-8 years.
On the other hand, battery vehicles need to be charged for hours and have limited range. But, available at lower cost than alternate solutions.
For two wheeler vehicles batteries can be removed and charged at home or office but this cannot be done for cars. You cannot simply remove car battery. Also, can you imagine long queue of cars waiting for hours to charge in the middle of city?
We feel hydrogen will play a major part as a viable solution in such situations.
For energy storage option, Batteries are certainly low cost option to do the required job. However, batteries do store energy for certain hours before they discharge.
Hydrogen can store energy for months and hence can be excellent solution for seasonal energy storage.
Energy transition is inevitable, batteries and hydrogen need to be adopted as both play critical role in decarbonizing the industry and economy. Both battery and hydrogen technology should work hand in hand for the sustainable future of the next generations to come.
A ‘Clean-Future Exclusive’ contributed by Dilip Deore, Chairman and Director, H2 ZEST