India Eyes Shifting to Hydrogen-Based Fuel Use to Tackle Air Pollution Problem

The Indian government intends to use hydrogen-based fuel technology to help combat pollution, as Delhi once again covered once again in "severely dangerous" levels of smog.

Pollution levels in New Delhi rose to dangerously high levels a week after India's capital endured its most prolonged spell of hazardous air quality since public records started.

According to India's monitoring agency, SAFAR, New Delhi's overall air quality index reached 494 as of Wednesday morning - almost ten times the level considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The smog pollution prompted India's supreme court judges to once again scrutinize the government for neglecting to limit harmful conditions in the capital city and surrounding states.

Supreme court judges Ranjan Gogoi and SA Bobde told The Guardian that the Indian government and other stakeholders had made little constructive efforts to find solutions to the problem. "The whole of [Northern India] is suffering from the issue of air pollution," the supreme court judges said.

The Supreme Court of India, taking notice of several reports on worsening air pollution levels in the country, told the federal government to explore the feasibility of using hydrogen-based automobile fuel.

India's solicitor general, Tushar Mehta, told the Supreme Court that the central government eyes using hydrogen fuel technology to the cars across New Delhi as an alternative to some traditional fossil fuels used in cars, public transport, and factories. India will present a full report on the hydrogen fuel proposal to the supreme court by early December.

Hydrogen fuel, which generates water as a byproduct, is increasingly used in Japan as an alternative in public transport. Japan is turning to hydrogen transportation has set the target of 2030 to build the required infrastructure.

India's oil marketing major Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is examining two hydrogen-based technologies as options for traditional fuel. IOC has already set up a small reformer-based hydrogen charging station in New Delhi.

"Hydrogen fuel was produced at the Research and Development Lab of IOC to reduce carbon emissions further and enhance the fuel economy of [different types of transportations]," a spokesperson of the IOC told Sputnik.

IOC is also developing a Hydrogen fuel cell, which the state utility claim as the "ultimate green alternative for future mobility." However, IOC said the research is still at first few stages.

What caused the smog crisis in India?

Burning crop stubble is one of the biggest causes of air pollution in India and has remained unabated despite the supreme court warnings. The fumes created by the crop stubble has been a key contributor to northern India's pollution crisis of the past few weeks.

Carbon emission also added to the smog crisis in India due to discharges coming from power plants, factories, and vehicles. Dust from construction and road also add to the carbon footprint.

India's weather also added to the smog crisis. Winter season in New Delhi starts in November and ends in March. The season would result in slower wind speed and combining it with crop burning creates a "perfect storm" for pollution.