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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

27/11/23 07:00 AM IST

Fleet electrification to tackle urban pollution

In News
  • The air quality index (AQI) in many Indian cities has entered the red zone several days this year.
  • Millions of people have to face serious health hazards due to recurring increases in air pollution.
Increase in truck fleet
  • About 9 lakh new trucks are added to Indian roads every year to an already running fleet of 70 lakh trucks.
  • India carries over 2 trillion tonne kilometres freight on trucks, annually.
  • These trucks consume over one-fourth of Indian oil imports and contribute to over 90% of road transport CO2 emissions.
  • The rate of increase of truck fleet is expected to keep increasing in a growing network of roads in an emerging economy.
  • If all these new trucks are powered by diesel-fired internal combustion engines vehicles, as is the case today, our cities will face a greater onslaught of PM2.5 pollution.
  • India has already electrified rail freight transportation, but that caters to only about 20% of the freight carried in the country.
  • On roads, India’s electric vehicle penetration rate has crossed the 6% mark, but electric trucks remain a challenge due to upfront costs and charging infrastructure constraints.
  • It is commendable that the government is aggressively electrifying the bus fleet, and sets electrification targets for bus aggregators. However, the focus must extend to diesel trucks and dust mitigation — significant PM sources requiring immediate attention.
  • This is important both from an energy security perspective and sustainability perspective.
Electric Vehicles
  • The recent demand for 7,750 e-trucks in India by 2030, if it materialises, will result in the country saving over 800 billion litres of diesel till 2050.
  • However, the Indian truck fleet is likely to reach a figure of 1.7 crore in 2050.
  • Hence, there is a need to push top gear on the pace of transition to e-trucks. Public funding alone cannot meet the transformational scale required.
  • A pipeline of bankable projects, effectively structured, which can attract private and institutional capital at a ratio of at least six rupees for every rupee of public money is the need of the hour.
  • The upfront cost of a mid-range electric truck in India is around ₹1.5 crore compared to about ₹40 lakh for a diesel truck.
  • This and the cost of charging logistics remain major hurdles in the transition to e-trucks in the country. 
Green freight corridors
  • Declaring some of the expressways and national highways as green freight corridors will have a demonstration effect in the country.
  • Accelerating feasibility studies, demand aggregation, supplier readiness, and a prudent risk allocation strategy are required to create green freight corridors in India.
  • Such corridors can first evolve in small stretches of 500 kilometres on routes with heavy truck movement.
  • Innovative financial instruments, incentivisation of charging infrastructure, facilitation of entrepreneurial efforts, and a conducive regulatory environment in the country can bring forth the much-needed breakthrough for truck electrification in India.
Source- The Hindu

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