JOIN USEV industry is booming, but a green ecosystem is missing
As pollution continues to engulf the country, to address climate change and volatility in the international crude oil process, India is intensifying its push towards electric mobility.
The central and the state governments are incentivising adoption of EVs with schemes such as upfront capital subsidy under FAME India Scheme, reduction in GST on EVs from 12% to 5%, and income tax deduction on the interest paid on loans taken for purchase of EVs. National and state-wise electric vehicle policies and regulations are also in place.
Recently, the Ministry of Power has revised consolidated Guidelines & Standards for Charging Infrastructure for EVs. While the country stands to benefit in a large way by switching its transport from Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) to electric motor-powered, there are challenges like lack of charging infrastructure, high initial cost and lack of electricity produced from renewable energy.
Still, e-commerce companies, car manufacturers, app-based transportation network companies and mobility solution providers have entered the sector and are slowly building up electric car capacity and visibility.
However, one aspect that has not been paid much attention to is the source of electricity itself.
EVs are positioned as an alternative to fuel-guzzling, pollution-emitting conventional diesel, petrol vehicles as they have very low vehicle tailpipe emissions.
However, some recent studies have pointed out that a battery electric vehicle operating on green electricity will have much lower greenhouse gas emissions than a gasoline-powered hybrid vehicle, whereas a battery electric vehicle operating on carbon-intensive electricity will have higher emissions than a gasoline-powered hybrid vehicle.
At present, EV rely on lithium-ion batteries, the manufacturing process of which carries its own environmental concerns. In places where conventional coal and gas-based power plants are used for generating electricity, as is currently being done in the country, the carbon emissions from production of an electric vehicle comes out to be at par with an ICE vehicle.
The low tailpipe emissions in EVs though compensate for these production phase emissions but the upstream emissions associated with production and distribution of electricity also need to be factored in.
These upstream emissions are present both in the case of EVs and ICE vehicles and the intensity depends on a number of factors like EV battery size and chemistry, vehicle lifetime, and the electricity grid used to recharge the EV among other factors.
In India, power generation itself is a high carbon emission exercise, with a significant part of power produced in India being through non-renewable sources such as coal. While India is likely to have an energy surplus of 6.4% and an overall peak surplus of 8.2% for the year 2021-22, according to Central Electricity Authority’s latest Load Generation Balance Report, 76% of it is expected to come from conventional sources whereas 11% from renewable energy sources, 10% from hydro and 3% from nuclear.
Thus, EVs instead of reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and import dependence on fossil fuels is in a way only deurbanising it towards power plants.
Until power woes are resolved and we actually move to cleaner power production technologies (renewables/ nuclear), moving to EVs is not exactly an environmental achievement that is to be lauded. Nonetheless it’s an important step in the evolution of our economy to a greener, sustainable future.
What can give a bigger leap in this evolutionary trajectory is creating a green ecosystem for the entire EV vehicle to operate - from infrastructure to power generation, charging infrastructure to designing of new models and recycling them. Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL) as a front runner in this sector is developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure and has signed a number MoUs across municipalities including New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), The Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration, Government of Telangana (CDMA), Chennai Metro Rail Corporation (CMRL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRL) among others.
They are also implementing a number of energy efficient projects in other sectors. For instance, EESL has initiated a large-scale programme for solarisation of agricultural feeders via implementation of decentralised solar power plants at vacant/unused lands at DISCOM substations.
It has also completed building energy efficiency projects in more than 400 buildings, including railway stations and airports. This in-depth knowledge that comes with developing solutions in diverse portfolios may help in creating synergies within the e-mobility ecosystem.
As a starting point, EESL and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), which is now the central nodal agency for the rollout of EV public charging infrastructure, may examine whether learnings from such existing projects provides effective solutions for developing energy efficient charging infrastructure with reduced dependence on thermal power grids for electricity.
Designing EV vehicles that have added renewable energy-based self-power generation capacity such as wind power for instance, some models of which are already in the market, is another green step to consider. Parallelly, the industry may also focus on development of a cost-effective recycling infrastructure for EVs.
Thus, new models need to be designed keeping a broader requirement in mind and work in even higher sustainability models of fuel than is currently being marketed.
Decarbonising the transport sector is one of the priorities of the government in line with its global climate commitments of reducing projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes from now till 2030.
Efforts are being made for increasing the share of renewable energy in electricity generation, with projections of renewable energy sources to the tune of 50% by 2030.
Meanwhile, the government may focus on addressing the issues at back-end like cost and environmental concerns associated with manufacturing of EVs, scaling of charging infrastructure with focus on renewable energy sources and recycling lithium-ion batteries so that by the time front-end adoption of EVs accelerates, a cleaner and greener framework is already in place.
The recent Budget announcement for a clean and sustainable mobility and a zero fossil-fuel policy is a prudent step in the government’s Climate Action plan. Electric Mobility is no doubt the future and the sooner we develop the ecosystem around it, the more sustainable the world shall become.
(Mamta Jain is an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Finance; Rishika Choraria is an Indian Economic Service Officer working as Deputy Director in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry)