Shifting from Carbon to Hydrogen Economy: A Case Study of Rajasthan State in India

Transportation sector is one of the major contributors for environmental pollution. Exhaust gases released from vehicles are one of the major sources of emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. This paper presents the feasibility of CO
2
emission reduction in Kota, India by replacing the present fossil-fuel based internal combustion engine vehicles with hydrogen-fueled fuel cell electric vehicles. Hydrogen is produced by the electrolysis process due to its highest purity hydrogen production and the required electricity is generated by a solar photovoltaic power plant. Total CO
2
emission by 61,402 number of cars of Kota is calculated as approximately 4000 tonnes for an average driving distance of 500 km. 100 cars are taken into account in this paper for a pilot project calculation. 5000 litre of water and 25,183.45 kWh of electricity will be required for enough hydrogen production to run 100 cars. The required size of solar photovoltaic plant will be 5.5 MW and is also simulated by PVSyst software. For conversion of total cars into hydrogen-fueled fuel cell electric vehicle, solar photovoltaic power plant of size 3.5 GW and 3070 kilolitre of water will be required.