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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

New technology a must for producing clean fuel-Lijee Philip
-The Economic Times

It is not uncommon for Indian companies to encounter situations that require ingenious engineering combined with a uniquely Indian approach to problem solving. Automobile companies around the world have developed some exquisitely advanced diesel engine technologies, but Indian companies had to go one step ahead.
More than a decade ago, as Indian car manufacturers began improving their diesel engines, some of their customers tried to reverse their efforts by tampering with the controls to improve the torque. The adoption of common rail technology put an end to this tampering. It was the beginning of modern diesel engine technology. 

Now, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) last week classified diesel exhaust as a carcinogen, Indian automobile industry faces an even tougher challenge to upgrade their technology. India uses the Bharat IV norms, which is similar to the Euro IV regulations, but other developed countries have gone ahead significantly.

Euro V norms for diesel engines, now in force in Europe, uses high- quality diesel combined with advanced pollution control devices in vehicles to reduce the exhaust to a near-clean level. The Indian automobile companies, on the other hand, are struggling with taxation and unsustainable cost increases. "A long-term policy on automotive fuel is a burning requirement for the country's health and well being," said VG Ramakrishnan, senior director, automotive practice, Frost & Sullivan. 

Diesel has come a long way from the early years to the technology which is available on BS IV vehicles today. There is still further potential to improve the pollutants from diesel vehicles provided the right fuel is available for reduction of particulates significantly. "We believe that diesel has a lot of potential in improving the energy security and global CO2 emissions and as a technology should not be disregarded," says IV Rao, Maruti Suzuki's managing executive officer (engineering). "There is however a concern on the health impact from diesel exhaust as raised by WHO, which has to do with fuel specifications as well."

So the difference in technology in India and developed countries is the nitrous oxide and particulate matter (diesel particulate filter a standard fitment in all vehicles in Europe). Initially, Indian car companies were lto adhere to euro 5 standards by 2015, now it is most likely to be 2017, people close to the development said. Automobile companies, however, deny that there is a problem. 

"We are not aware of any credible studies that link diesel emissions to health risks," says P Balendran, vice-president, General Motors India. "The new technology diesel engines being offered today, which use ultra-low sulphur diesel fuel, advanced engine and emissions control systems, have near zero emissions of particulate matter." He claims that diesel engine exhausts have been reduced by 99 per cent with new technology.

Some others agree. "With the enforcement of BS-IV norms in the country since April, 2010, diesel engines have become much less polluting in terms of particulate matter (PM) & Nox and is not a health hazard for the public," says Arvind Saxena, marketing and sales director Hyundai Motor India. Mahindra and Mahindra refused to respond to our queries. 

Car companies say that the next stage of technology to bring the emissions down further needs change in fuel specifications, but a roadmap is not available from the oil industry which makes it difficult for the OE manufacturers to develop the system and vehicles. Diesel is considered clean when it has less than 10 parts per million (ppm) sulphur content. 

The best diesel in India has 50 ppm sulphur, and many cities have diesel with 350 ppm sulphur. Says GCKisku, scientist at the Environment Monitoring Division of the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research in Lucknow: "In all the Indian cities, total air pollution is about two to five-fold higher than the prescribed National Ambient Air Quality Standards." 

The WHO's International Agency for Research in Cancer (IARC) came up with its classification after a unanimous decision among its working group members. Diesel exhaust was earlier classified as possibly carcinogenic, a group that includes petrol exhaust as well. The upgrade in status was due to some rigorous scientific studies that linked lung cancer in miners with continuous exposure to diesel exhaust. The studies were carried out on exhausts from diesel engines prior to the year 2000, but these engines are part of the majority of diesel vehicles in the world now. Extensive scientific studies are yet to be done on exhausts from contemporary diesel engines, and so we cannot conclude that modern technology solves the problem. 

The future of diesel technology depends on downsizing of engines, weight reduction and choice of new materials, improvements in fuel injection systems, improvements in air handling systems and advanced after-treatment and exhaust systems. 

Such improvements have been part of diesel vehicles in Europe and the United States for a while, but we may have to wait for another five years to get them in India. More importantly, older vehicles will continue to pollute for a long time in the country. 

With inputs from Hari Pulakkat