CSIR & KPIT Develop Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus, Launch it in Pune

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and KPIT Limited unveiled a domestically produced hydrogen fuel cell bus on Sunday (21st August 2022) in Pune. Kirtaney Pandit Information Technologies (KPIT) is an automotive & mobility ecosystem for making software-defined vehicles a reality company.

On the occasion, the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Hydrogen Vision” intends to make the nation “Atmanirbhar” (self-reliant) on clean energy while also achieving climate change targets and generating jobs in the industry.

Singh was reported in a release as saying that the fuel cell, which uses hydrogen and air to generate electricity to power the bus and produces only water as waste, maybe the most environmentally beneficial means of transportation.

According to the statement, over a million diesel buses are operating on long-distance routes in India, and each one emits an average of 100 tonnes of CO2 every year. He claimed that because hydrogen fuel cell trucks operate more cheaply than diesel-powered ones, the nation may soon experience a revolution in freight transportation. “Heavy trucks driven by diesel emit between 12 and 14 percent of all CO2 emissions. Vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells are a great way to get rid of roadside pollutants in this industry “added he.

Earlier, the Guinness World Records (GWR) officially recognised the largest solar tree in the world, which has been built at the Centre of Excellence for Farm Machinery in Ludhiana, Punjab, run by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-CMERI). The solar tree, which has a 53.6 kW capacity rating and a 50 kW on-grid inverter, cost Rs 41.6 lakhs to build.

Apart from this, last year, the India H2 Alliance expanded its membership with the inclusion of JSW Steel, which joined the IH2A energy transition coalition as the Steel and Cement Work Group lead, along with two government agencies – CSIR-National Chemicals Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) and Scottish Development International (SDI), the international arm of the Scottish Government; and three national sustainability think tanks – TERI, CEEW, and WRI India.