Solar Power and Energy Storage for Decarbonization of Land Transport in India

John P Barton,Murray Thomson

doi:10.3390/en14248277

John P Barton, Murray Thomson

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en14248277

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Abstract

By considering the weight penalty of batteries on payload and total vehicle weight, this paper shows that almost all forms of land-based transport may be served by battery electric vehicles (BEV) with acceptable cost and driving range. Only long-distance road freight is unsuitable for battery electrification. The paper models the future Indian electricity grid supplied entirely by low-carbon forms of generation to quantify the additional solar PV power required to supply energy for transport. Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis for use as a fuel for road freight provides an inter-seasonal energy store that accommodates variations in renewable energy supply. The advantages and disadvantages are considered of midday electric vehicle charging vs. overnight charging considering the temporal variations in supply of renewable energy and demand for transport services. There appears to be little to choose between these two options in terms of total system costs. The result is an energy scenario for decarbonized surface transport in India, based on renewable energy, that is possible, realistically achievable, and affordable in a time frame of year 2050.

Highlights

Demand for transport in India has grown rapidly over the last few decades [1], and will continue to do so over the three decades with increasing economic development [2,3].India is already the country with third largest greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) behindChina and the USA, and its emissions are growing rapidly year on year [4,5,6,7]
This paper uses a variety of published technical and economic data from academic, commercial, and journalistic sources to consider the technologies available to decarbonize each form of transport at point-of-use; the necessary investments needed to generate low carbon energy for transport; the analysis of the effect of transport energy on the temporal balance of supply and demand of electricity; and evaluation of the optimal time of day for recharging battery electric vehicles (BEV) including the economics of recharging infrastructure
This study considers distance travelled, unladen weight, maximum vehicle weight, and energy consumption to assess the mass of battery needed in a BEV providing the same service; Table 1

Summary

Introduction

Demand for transport in India has grown rapidly over the last few decades [1], and will continue to do so over the three decades with increasing economic development [2,3].India is already the country with third largest greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) behindChina and the USA, and its emissions are growing rapidly year on year [4,5,6,7]. Emissions from transport are just 9% of India’s GHGs but are growing as a percentage of the total. Poor air quality is adversely affecting human health and strategies have been proposed, and are being implemented, to reduce emissions of CO, NOX , sulfur compounds and particulates [9,10,11]. These previous strategies propose cleaner burning engines, cleaner burning fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), and promotion of public transport

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