The billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries showcased a truck that runs on hydrogen, at the India Energy Week in Bengaluru, on 6 February.
H2ICE Technology Truck
So far, hydrogen fuel is the cleanest known fuel whose tail emissions are only water and oxygen.
During the event, a display near the truck said that this was ‘India’s 1st H2ICE technology truck on road’.
This hydrogen fueled truck was manufactured by Ashok Leyland with two large hydrogen cylinders.
It was placed at a hall adjacent to the main venue where Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the three-day event that is themed around ‘Growth, Collaboration, Transition’.
The truck has “near-zero emissions” as it uses hydrogen as fuel in place of conventional diesel or even recently introduced liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Further adding, “H2ICE vehicle performance on-par with diesel ICE,”.
Here, H2 is the formula for hydrogen and ICE stands for internal combustion engine.
Near Zero Emissions
While talking about this, Reliance said the truck it unveiled is India’s first Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine technology solution for heavy duty trucks flagged off, in a statement.
The statement mentioned, “The Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2ICE) powered trucks will emit near zero emissions, deliver performance on par with conventional diesel trucks and reduce noise and with projected reductions in operating costs thus redefining the future of green mobility,”.
Reliance with its vehicle partner Ashok Leyland and other technical partners are engaged in developing this unique technology from 2022.
Extensively Working On H2ICE Technology
Reliance said, “Going forward, Reliance will first extensively test and validate the H2ICE technology for heavy duty trucks before its first commercial deployment at scale initially across its captive fleet. Simultaneously Reliance is pursuing the opportunity to create an end-to-end Hydrogen eco system for mobility,”.
It appears that India is fast pushing for use of hydrogen, which can be produced by splitting water using electricity.
Prior to this, billionaire Gautam Adani’s group announced plans for a hydrogen truck during January this year.
Besides this, Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) which is part of the diversified Adani portfolio of companies, signed an agreement to launch a pilot project to develop a hydrogen fuel cell electric truck (FCET) for mining logistics and transportation with Ashok Leyland, India, and Ballard Power, Canada.
These hydrogen powered mining trucks will weigh 55 tonnes.
They have three hydrogen tanks, a 200-kilometer working range, and will be powered by Ballard’s 120 kW PEM fuel cell technology.
Earlier, the Adani Group had announced its plans to invest more than $50 billion over the next 10 years in green hydrogen and associated ecosystems corresponding to a capacity of up to 3 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually.
