Is Hydrogen The Fuel Of The Future?

Why Indian Oil Corporation believes hydrogen fuel cells and not lithium-ion batteries may revolutionise electric vehicles in India.

- Ashish Gupta

This element powered our first internal combustion engines, took us to the moon and back, and was discovered before fossil fuels. Yet, it has taken nearly 200 years for this clean energy source to even be considered for the roads. Now, as the world stares at an energy crisis and grapples with climate change, hydrogen is also on the table as a green alternative to fossil fuels.

“Hydrogen has never enjoyed so much international and cross-sectoral interest, even in the face of impressive recent progress in other low-carbon energy technologies, such as batteries and renewables,” says a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). It is just as well. Thanks to commitments made by governments around the world to reduce their net emissions by 2050, sectors whose requirements can be met by electricity are in the glare. These include aviation, shipping, and long-distance road transport. “How do you electrify heavy-duty vehicles like buses and trucks and also ships and aircraft through lithium-ion batteries?” asks S.S.V. Ramakumar, director, R&D, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). The answer, he believes as does the IEA, lies with hydrogen-based fuel cells.

Ramakumar explains that since hydrogen eliminates all disadvantages of lithium-ion batteries, it could be the “ultimate green mobility option for India”. What he is referring to isn’t just “range anxiety”—the apprehension about the distance travelled by an electric vehicle in one charge—but also the high cost of batteries, the challenges of setting up pan-India charging infrastructure, and a disposal mechanism for these cells. Plus, it’s not clear whether lithium-ion batteries will be as efficient in a tropical country like India, as elsewhere.