Hydrogen cell tech to be available for defence in 5 years: Saraswat

Hydrogen Cell Technology will emerge a viable method to tap energy by the Defence sector within the next five years, Defence Research and Development Organisation Chief and Defence Minister's Scientific Advisor V K Saraswat said today.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a three-day International Symposium on Fuel Cell Technologies here, he said it would be possible to use Hydrogen Cell Technology for both onboard and off board requirements in weaponry and other defence systems, besides meeting the electricity requirements in the defence infrastructure.

However, Dr Saraswat could not inform about the timeframe by which the technology could be put to civilian use for transportation and other purposes. Affordability would be the main problem, he said, adding that the cost of generation of power using hydrogen cells would work upto about USD 3000 per KW as against the cost of traditional sources of power of USD 30 per KW. The cost could be brought down by one-tenth when the production of electricity, using hydrogen cell takes place at a mass level.

Dr Saraswat emphasised the role of Research and Development for reducing the cost of electricity using Hydrogen Cell. Earlier, in his address at the symposium, former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman and Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan underscored the need to dovetail research on Hydrogen fuel cell with its production and marketing, otherwise the research could become a never-ending affair.

He suggested Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the government research institutions and industry to help bring the technology to the market. Dr Kasturirangan also called for a national initiative for renewable energy, with fuel cell being one of its component, having clearly defined targets and timelines.

Highlighting the concerns regarding energy security and climate change due to use to fossil fuels, Dr Kasturirangan said the energy generation from fuel cell will play an important role in the energy-mix. ''This increasing demand will have to be met from multi-energy systems and sources with efficiency as the critical tool and certainly the renewable energy sources such as Solar photovoltaic, biomass, wind, Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, being environmentally benign, will have to play its part in a very significant manner,'' he said. Dr Kasturirangan said the deliberations at the symposium would be critical for renewable energy policy in the 12th Plan. Nearly 250 delegates, including about 20 from abroad, are participating in the Symposium. They will deliberate on issues related to fuel cell based electricity generation in keeping with concerns of global warming and climate change. A total of 170 scientific papers will be presented in nine plenary lectures and 16 parallel sessions including poster sessions.

The government has already announced an Integrated Energy Policy, which is designed to ensure energy supply from alternate sources at least costs and produce an environment that will ensure optimal use while meeting energy need for rapidly growing economy. The policy also addresses energy efficiency by 20 per cent per unit of GDP over next ten years. The Indian Navy, through Naval Material Research Laboratory (NMRL), has been actively participating in the Fuel Cell project, which is being pursued at various IITs, IISC (Banglore) and various Research Laboratories in the country. It has also included the technology in its 20-year strategic technical roadmap, where they will be looking at its use for warships and submarines.

-- (UNI) -- 11BY14.xml

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