By Rubina Obaid
www.asianbiomass.com
Transport sector in India is the second-largest sector in consuming energy after industries and the energy is obtained through high polluting oils. Significant improvement has been brought in the current power sector to expand the access with absolute acceleration in the last 7 years and further striving to reduce air pollution by electrification of mobility.
Over the last two decades, India has emerged as having the most polluted cities in the world and air pollution is responsible for more deaths than many other well-known risk factors. Hence, electrification of mobility has been found as a stepping stone for the improvement of air quality. Indian Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved “National Mission of Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage” with an Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee chaired by CEO NITI Aayog in March 2019. The transport sector plays a significant role in spiking air pollution in India and becoming the leading cause of premature deaths. Whereas, the present reliance on transport mobility is on CNG and battery-powered vehicles/Emergence of Electronic Transport and the transition towards renewable energy sources will greatly help the transport sector become cleaner.
The transport sector in India is the second-largest sector in consuming energy after industries and the energy is obtained through high polluting oils. The massive quantity of oil is imported by India due to huge population and growing economy that greatly depends upon the mobility of goods and people. Therefore, it is imperative to find sustainable renewable energy sources and localize the transition. Significant Electronic Transport improvement has been brought in the current power sector to expand access with absolute acceleration in the last 7 years and further striving to reduce air pollution by electrification of mobility in collaboration with urban conglomerates. In order to attract value-conscious consumers battery prices are being reduced with better offering to promote the electrification of transport.
This has raised the concern of electricity generation that majorly comes from thermal source therefore, electrification wouldn’t reach the anticipated targets. The country would have to focus on developing green supply and green demand simultaneously, the charging and swapping infrastructure will grow eventually by the state incentives. Heavy-duty vehicles account for three-quarters of HDV fuel consumption due to great dependence on economic activity and there are a lot engineering challenges to the electrification of HDVs due to their volumetric and gravimetric energy density of batteries. Second-generation biofuels and natural gas are the best to fuel alternatives to significantly cut down emissions.
It is imperative to gradually transform energy sources towards clean and renewable sources for the improvement of emission from the transport sector and robust electrification of the transport system is one of the key infrastructure needed for economic development and better opportunities. One of the key measures that Indian government has taken for electrification of transport is Time of Day (ToD) for EV charging. This aims at shifting the electric load to EV charging needs from the peak hours to non-peak hours to help the grid to manage the load without any disruption. As of November 2019, Energy Efficiency Services Limited has installed 65 public chargers and commissioned 300 AC and 170 DC captive chargers. Also, 57 public chargers have been installed by National Thermal Power Cooperation (NTPC) and more than 55 chargers were installed at all its regional and corporate offices. To reach electrification of transport Government of India is striving to improve India’s energy security, air quality, and industrial competitiveness.
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