Role of Renewable Energy in Automated Mobility Solutions
Published on : Wednesday 04-09-2024
Renewable energy is revolutionising automated mobility to cut transport emissions, says Jasbir Singh.
The world is striving to address the challenges of decarbonisation and environmental conservation. Decarbonisation is the effort to lower carbon emissions linked to human activities, primarily by transitioning to more sustainable energy sources.
Humans in the current scenario need an infinite network of vehicles for transportation systems to meet demand of societies and economies. From personal cars and public buses to freight trucks and trains, each mode of transportation plays a crucial role in connecting people, goods and services across vast distances. This vast network of vehicles leaves a significant imprint on the environment. The environmental impact is multifaceted, encompassing air pollution from exhaust emissions, greenhouse gas production, noise pollution, and habitat disruption. Cars and trucks, for instance, are major contributors to air pollution, emitting carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other harmful pollutants. The widespread use of fossil fuels for transportation also accelerates climate change, leading to more extreme weather events and shifting ecosystems. A vast and intricate network of vehicles and transportation systems are required to sustain societies and economies. Cars, buses, trains, trucks, and other modes of transport each leave their lasting impact on the environment.
Sustainable mobility involves creating and utilising transportation systems that are environmentally friendly, economically accessible, and socially equitable. Its goal is to minimise the adverse effects of transportation on the environment, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and resource consumption. The transportation sector is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, with conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles releasing CO2 and other pollutants into the atmosphere.
Technologists are working on wide options to develop mobility solutions targeting near zero or zero emission of gases from the green mobility revolution by innovation and use of AI and system automation.
Electric vehicles (EVs)
The electric vehicle landscape is swiftly transforming as advancements in technology and growing interest converge, paving the way for many more EVs to hit the roads, seas and skies in the coming years. Electric cars have a lower carbon footprint than petrol or diesel cars over their lifetime, even as more carbon is emitted in the manufacturing stage of these vehicles and batteries.
The Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI) is a global policy forum established in 2010 under the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). Recognising the potential of EVs, the EVI is committed to accelerating their global adoption. It aims to deepen the understanding of the policy challenges associated with electric mobility, assisting governments in overcoming these hurdles, and providing a platform for knowledge-sharing among policymakers. The EVI also fosters dialogue between government officials and various partners on key topics crucial to the transition to electric mobility, including charging infrastructure, grid integration, and EV battery supply chains. In 2022, the EVI launched the Zero Emission Government Fleet Declaration, a significant commitment by governments to achieve 100% zero-emission vehicles in public procurement.
Enabling autonomous charging would also address other challenges faced by EV drivers, such as automatic vehicle identification, seamless payment processing, and reducing wait times for available charging stations.
Hydrogen powered cars
Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) provide power to an electric motor for cars. FCEVs generate electricity through a fuel cell powered by hydrogen, rather than relying solely on a battery for power. During the vehicle design process, the manufacturer determines the vehicle's power by selecting an appropriately sized electric motor(s) and pairing it with a fuel cell and battery combination that can supply the necessary energy. While it's possible for FCEVs to be designed with plug-in capabilities for battery charging, most current models use the battery primarily for capturing braking energy, providing additional power during short bursts of acceleration, and smoothing out the fuel cell's power delivery. This allows the fuel cell to idle or shut off during periods of low power demand. The amount of energy stored onboard an FCEV depends on the size of the hydrogen fuel tank, unlike in all-electric vehicles where the power and energy available are directly tied to the battery's size.
Decarbonising in many sectors requires sector changes, where green hydrogen and its derivatives play a key role in delivering renewable energy. This underscores the critical importance of sustainable hydrogen production in driving the energy transition.
Green hydrogen (H2) is a flexible energy carrier with the potential to decarbonise various sectors. It can be utilised directly or converted into derivatives such as eMethanol, eAmmonia, or eFuels, serving as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
The ACME Group, a renewable energy company in India, and IHI Corporation, a Japanese integrated heavy industry group, recently signed an offtake term sheet for supply of green ammonia from India to Japan and this is a big leap towards renewable energy production and selling.
Saudi Arabia is aiming to complete the installation of a new hydrogen plant to produce up to 600 tonnes of carbon-free hydrogen daily, which will potentially eliminate five million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. Producing 600 tonnes of green hydrogen per day is enough to power more than 20,000 hydrogen-fuelled buses, trailers and trucks around the world. The green hydrogen will be exported to other countries of the world in the form of green ammonia for the use in transportation and hard-to-abate sectors including heavy industry.
Universal Hydrogen, an US based firm, provides solutions for hydrogen-powered flights. The business plan is in the process of designing aftermarket retrofit conversion kits to bring into operation the hydrogen power for the regional airplanes. They have developed conversion kits to retrofit the existing fleet with a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain and are in the process of building a flexible, scalable, and capital-light approach to hydrogen logistics by transporting it in modular capsules over the existing freight network from green production sites to airports around the world indicated on their website.
Cars run on Nitrogen as fuel at -250°C
Scientist Abe Hertzberg and his team at the University of Washington, USA, have recently developed a liquid nitrogen powered vehicle that does not emit any toxic substances. It has a noticeable way of generating fuel that purifies the air in turn.
The function of this machine is similar to a steam engine, except instead of steam it uses vaporising liquid nitrogen. The nitrogen vapor causes an air motor to spin to move the vehicle, and the exhaust is only nitrogen. Nitrogen as we know exists in approximately 78% of our atmosphere. There is hardly any imprint of the negative environmental effect of these vehicles.
The significant advantage of liquid nitrogen vehicles is minimising the emissions during Nitrogen Production in plants. In the process of production, the air is passed through a refrigeration cycle to generate liquid nitrogen, whereby other residue gases such as CO2 and SO2 are separated. Some of these are used for other purposes to produce chemicals or these can be safely disposed of. The liquid nitrogen is in solid state but not in powder form, non-corrosive, non-burning, and colourless. The main difficulty is that the electronics must be kept in an insulated environment so that during heat exchange it does not freeze while in contact with liquid nitrogen. There are some drawbacks in the prototype developed now that it has a top speed of 35 km/hr and high nitrogen consumption rates but with the improvement in design will reach higher speeds and reduced fuel consumption.
Liquid nitrogen cars are believed to run at a lower cost than normal EV or gasoline cars. In addition, their economic and environmental advantages are enormous. They can provide accurate, low-cost, and eco-effective solutions to the existing technologies with some futuristic development underway, which makes them prospective for the future mobility solution. Nitrogen expands 710 times between its liquid and gas states so the delivery of energy to the rotating part is simple and faster.
Automated battery charging by the use of robotic hands
· Mobile robotics with AI support charging at bus stands for large transport vehicles and for fleet taxi service can be implemented in future.
· Implementing automated charging at each stop of transport vehicles not only saves time and reduces costs but also allows for smaller battery sizes, making the shift to e-trucks more feasible.
· Ceiling-mounted mobile robotic chargers would be beneficial for charging e-buses in depots where space is limited.
· For distribution trucks, which have tight schedules for loading and unloading, fast charging is essential where robots can be used.
· It will enhance the convenience and efficiency of charging and moreover it will be essential with driverless vehicles.
· Robotic charging, payment modes, automatic vehicle advancement in queue and driverless parking are future trends thanks to advancement in autonomous driving.
Conclusion
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A new mobility ecosystem is emerging, setting the stage for immense innovation. Whether it is developing emerging AI technologies or greener fuels, we seek to create opportunities for community growth while protecting our planet for generations to come. In sustainable mobility, this process focuses on decreasing the carbon footprint of transportation by replacing fossil fuel-powered vehicles with electric vehicles and/or alternative fuels.
Sustainable mobility solutions focus on promoting clean energy, efficient and low-impact transport options, and infrastructure that supports active modes of transportation like walking and cycling. The future of transportation will most likely hinge on innovations that can maintain the necessary connectivity while minimising the ecological impact. A lot of research and development work is going-on to create energy that eliminates greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and reduces air pollution to a large extent. This includes advancing cleaner technologies, promoting public transportation, and adopting more sustainable urban planning practices.
Jasbir Singh is an Automation Expert having long experience in Factory Automation, Line Automation, Implementation Strategist, Business Coach, Regular writer on automation, Artificial Intelligence, Robots/Cobots, Digital Technology, Network Communication, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Wireless Communication, Block Chain and use of advance digital technologies. He has established a long association with Business Houses/large production houses to improve factory automation in their production lines as well as productivity improvement in factories in India and overseas; and in advising and designing the units to transform into digital platforms by use of Artificial Intelligence. Email: [email protected]
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