Siam for CNG-hydrogen mix for auto in New Delhi

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) has submitted a proposal to the ministry of non-conventional energy sources to conduct pilot testing of vehicles that would run on a blend of CNG and hydrogen in New Delhi.

The project, made in collaboration with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), would involve testing the fuel efficiency of CNG mixed with 10 per cent hydrogen on automobiles.

Although it would be the government's prerogative to decide which type of vehicles would be taken for the test, it is expected to be undertaken for both commercial and non-commercial CNG vehicles in the city.

Talking to Business Standard about the project, Dilip Chenoy, director-general of Siam, said, "The project is a joint initiative of the association and other partners to ensure that the usage of alternative fuels assumes dynamic proportions in the next few years."

The wheels to frame the project were set in motion in 2005 when Ratan Tata and Anand Mahindra proposed the use of hydrogen in blend with other fuels as an alternative to petrol.

Subsequently, in a core meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, it was decided that hydrogen would be explored not as an alternative but as a supplement to CNG.

"The use of hydrogen effectively means that the amount of nitrogen oxide being emitted with the burning of CNG would reduce at least 10 per cent . Another favourable factor is that hydrogen also has the advantage of being a renewable source compared with CNG," said Chenoy, while expressing his confidence in the government implementing the project in the coming months.

The issues that the automobile industry has faced with the introduction of a new fuel has been on board storage, conversion of the fuel, transportation and safety.

The proposal to use hydrogen has evoked the same concerns. Also at stake is the cost of hydrogen, which at present is 200-300 per cent more than CNG.

"In the 1935s, petrol used in combustible engines was considered dangerous and expensive. Today, it is the same case with hydrogen. Although the research on hydrogen as an alternative fuel for automobiles is at a nascent stage in the country, we plan to test it in mild and severe conditions as well as look into cost reduction," Chenoy added.

Apart from the research on hydrogen, Siam is working with IOC, Mahindra and Mahindra and Ashok Leyand on developing the use of biodiesel as a fuel.

The association has also undertaken modular research on straight vegetable oil to be used in automobiles.