Hydrogen CNG Vehicles Pilot Project Planned By Indian Govt

Maruti S-Presso CNG — Cars that run on CNG can be modified to run on Hydrogen CNG

The top officials at the Ministry of Road Transport seem to be up on their toes off late and now a notification about Hydrogen CNG vehicles has arrived.

Suggestions and comments are being welcomed from stakeholders and the public about the possibility of using Hydrogen-enriched Compressed Natural Gas (HCNG) to propel vehicles.

The recent notification from the Ministry comes after it opened up to suggestions for standards to evaluate the safety of vehicles propelled by hydrogen.

This quest to find a viable alternative fuel comes despite the fact that vehicles are getting ever so cleaner. Also, the Ministry states that it is open to an amendment to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1979 to accommodate the new alternate fuel.

So what is this HCNG? It is nothing but CNG blended in with Hydrogen and reports claim that when used as automotive fuel, it reduces emissions even when compared with CNG.

However, minor tweaks have to be made to CNG-powered vehicles for them to be able to run on HCNG. The Indian government is going to run a pilot project on Hydrogen CNG vehicles, as well as modifying the existing infrastructure to understand its real-world usability.

Since there are many CNG stations across the country, the government reckons this move might work. It is significant because while the whole world is pushing towards electric cars, the government understands the flaws of the technology.

India is not even close to achieving self-sustainability in terms of producing electricity, let alone making excess of it to charge EVs. The government needs time to come up with the infrastructure.

If the current crop of vehicles can be made to run on a cleaner fuel, that would give the government the time it needs to be ready to meet the demands of the future while reducing pollution all along.