- Timeline: Vehicle emission control in India
- What is Bharat emission standards?
- Alternative Fuels
- Suggestions to reduce tailpipe pollution
- Mock Questions:
- Correct answers
1991 | Vehicle emission norms introduced in India |
1999 | SC order government to introduce Euro norms like pollution control regime. |
2000 onwards | Bharat State emission standard I introduced. |
2003 |
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2005 |
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2010 |
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Dec 2012 |
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2014, May | Saumitra Chaudhri gave recommendations. Hence in news. |
What are Bharat emission standards?
- Euro norms define the maximum limit of pollutant that a vehicle can emit. (CO2, nitrogen oxide, sulfur and suspended particulate matter)
- If vehicle emits more than this limit, it cannot be sold in Europe.
- In India, we follow Euro norms under the label “Bharat stage” norms. we are gradually implementing them in more and more cities
Euro normBharat Stage | limit of RSPM* | India implements from |
---|---|---|
I (1) | 0.14 | 2000: nation wide |
II (2) | 0.08 | 2005: nation wide |
III (3) | 0.05 | 2010: nation wide |
IV (4) | 0.025 |
|
V (5) | 0.005 | 2022 (All India)# |
VI (6) | 0.0025 | after 2024 (All India)# |
- #as per Saumitra Committee recommendation.
- *Respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM)
Sulfur lead content vs Bharat norms:
- To reduce emission from vehicle, we’ve to fit “catalytic converter”, “particulate filter”, & other fancy devices in its exhaustion system.
- But the chemical catalysts in such devices get immobilized in presence of lead/sulphur.
- Therefore, fuel should have minimal quantity of lead and sulfur. Else, you’ll have to replace those fancy devices too often.
- Lead: we are already selling lead-free petrol. Since year 2000 only lead free petrol sold in India.
- sulfur: the Bharat norms give following limits:
year | particles per million (ppm) in diesel |
---|---|
present (BS3) | 350 |
2017 (BS4) | 50 (already done in BS4 cities) |
2020 (BS5) | 10 |
Why additional Levy on petrol/diesel?
To implement Bharat norms, we’ve to do two things:
To Vehicle manufacturers | To Oil refineries |
---|---|
You’ve fit “catalytic converter”, “particulate filter” & other fancy gadgets in the engine. This will decrease soot & pollutants. | You produce fuel with less sulfur, olefin & other impurities. (especially for Bharat stage 5) |
ok, Not a problem because these companies already fitting such equipment’s in engine, before exporting vehicles to Europe. (due to higher level Euro standards) | Problem because refiners have to buy machines and technology worth Rs.~80,000 crore. |
- Government can arrange cash for refineries, by imposing 75 Paise “special fuel upgradation cess” on Petrol and Diesel. (says Sumitra Committee)
- Send this cash to Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB)
- Then, OIDB will upgrade the refineries to Bharat stage 4 and 5.
- Previously, recall Famous lawyer Harish Salve reported to supreme court and asked for 30% cess on private diesel vehicles. and that money should be used for implementing Bharat stage 5 and 6.
Taxation: Misc. recommendations
- Import duty should be 0% on both LNG and crude oil.
- States VAT should be reduced on CNG sale (to promote CNG vehicles)
Bharat Standards: limitations
- Four refineries in the North East- Guwahati, Digboi, Numaligarh and Bongaigaon- their equipment outdated, cannot produce BS4, BS5 quality fuels.
- Government designated only a few cities under BS-4 standards. BS-4 vehicles more expensive than BS3. Hence public buys BS3 vehicles from peripheral towns to evade registration taxes.
- BS3 fuel is cheaper than BS4 fuel.
- On older vehicles, we need to fit “catalytic after-treatment devices” to reduce their emission. But government & public not pursuing this project enthusiastically.
- Our diesel to petrol usage ratio is almost (4.5): 1 hence more pollution. This ratio is low in USA, Europe and Japan.
Flash point in Diesel
- It is the lowest temperature at which a fuel starts turning into vapor (which will later ignite)
- Flash point of diesel is set at 35 degree C. (under both BS3 and BS4.)
- Some journalist argue that 35 degree is too dangerous. Because in India, temperature often above 40 degree celcius (Even EU has flash point limit 55 C, despite having cold climate.)
- Sumitra rejects this hypothesis, because even tropical countries like Brazil and Argentina have lower flash points. The temperature in and around the engine of the vehicle is well over 100 C – much above the highest flash point prescribed anywhere in the world. Hence 35 degree flash point doesn’t automatically mean explosion.
Misc. terms from his report
Olefin | These are unsaturated alkanes. We need to reduce their quantity in fuel, to reduce pollution. |
Cetane number | It is a measure of diesel quality. Lower the cetane number, diesel will produce more smoke. |
Alternative Fuels
Overall, Saumitra report is three things
- Bharat norms: implementing next stage
- taxation issues
- Alternative fuels- for reducing petrol and diesel consumption. Here, he give pros and cons of each alternative.
#1: Methanol
Good points | Bad points |
---|---|
|
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Mrunal notes: Additional pros, cons and facts can be gathered for each “alternative fuel” via google books, Britannica etc. but then article will become 5 miles long and will take another five days to finish. And yet there is no guarantee that it’ll have sufficient facts to solve a possible UPSC MCQ! Therefore, I’ve confined myself only to the facts mentioned in Saumitra report, nothing beyond that. But you’re free to dig through all angles.
#2: Ethanol
- is an organic solvent
- Ethanol itself burns cleaner and burns more completely than petrol.
- Ethanol can be derived from Sugar cane juice and molasses.
- Molasses is the byproduct when sugar cane juice converted to sugar.
2001 | Government permitted adding Ethanol in petrol. Pilot project in Uttar Pradesh. |
2006 | 5% Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) began in most states, except JK and North East. |
2008 |
|
2017 | Sumitra Committee proposed 20% ethanol blending by 2017 |
Case study: Brazil’s ethanol blending program
- Started in mid-70s
- Their car-engines designed such way, they use even upto 18% ethanol blending. (Exact figures not important but for MCQ the examiner may twist statement saying “car engine cannot run properly if ethanol blending more than 10%“…then you should know it is an incorrect statement.)
#3: Hydrogen fuel
Bad points:
- Cost of hydrogen pipeline is 15x times more expensive than a CNG/LPG pipeline.
- Hence, only few areas of USA have hydrogen pipeline.
- In the entire world hardly 200 hydrogen refiling stations by 2013. (rank: N.America > Asia > South America)
- Hydrogen burns with colorless odorless flame, hence hard to detect leakage.
Hydrogen Vision 2020 – (GIFT)
- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)’s Green Initiatives for Future Transport (GIFT)
- It has vision 2020 for Hydrogen.
- Aim: sell Hydrogen at cost of 60-70 per kg
- Build pipelines and refilling stations for hydrogen fuel.
- Get at least 1 lakh hydrogen vehicles on Indian road
- Safety regulation, laws and codes.
#4: CNG: Compressed Natural gas
Favor | Against |
---|---|
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Public not ready to buy CNG kits/vehicles because
|
#5: LPG-Liquefied Petroleum gas
- LPG is predominantly propane and butane. Propane constitutes 30-99%.
- LPG can be derived from.
- refining crude oil
- natural gas
- Hence no risk of “single source dependence”
- LPG is globally surplus because of Natural Gas production.
- In some countries, LPG is called “Auto-Gas” and used in taxis e.g. Korea, Turkey, Russia, Poland and Italy.
Good points | bad points |
---|---|
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#6: Hybrid and electric vehicles (HEV)
- HEVs have both internal combustion (running on petrol) and electricity.
- Both USA and China planning to add 1-5 million new HEV vehicles by 2020.
- India should also work on this. More details in old article click me
Suggestions to reduce tailpipe pollution
List not exhaustive. I’ve lifted only a few non-technical, easy to memorize points from his report.
- BEE (Bureau of energy efficiency) labels on vehicles to show their fuel efficiency.
- We need to replace the existing PUC system to a more reliable computerized system.
- We need to link vehicle insurance with pollution. (i.e. higher pollution vehicle should be ordered to pay higher premium for same coverage)
- Give subsidy, tax-benefit to vehicle owners to retrofit their engines with newly emission control devices
- Impose higher taxes on old vehicles, because they emit more gases.
- More tax on diesel guzzling SUV cars.
- Less tax on hybrid cars, CNG vehicles.
- Use chemical markers to detect adulteration of diesel/petrol with kerosene. Make oil companies responsible for fuel quality at their station.
Mock Questions:
Correct statements
Q1. Petroleum ministry had setup Saumitra Chaudhari Committee for ___.
- Diesel subsidy pricing in India
- Petrol taxation in India
- Implementation of Bharat stage 4 norms.
- Auto fuel vision policy 2025
Q2. Suppose two cars are of identical size and body. One produced India and another in Europe. Which of the following is/are correct:
- Euro IV car causes less pollution than Bharat V car.
- Euro III car causes more pollution than Bharat III car.
- Both A and B
- Neither A nor B
Q3. At present, every city of India is under ___ norm.
- Bharat stage VI or higher
- Bharat stage II of higher
- Bharat stage III or higher
- Bharat stage IV or higher
Q4. To comply with higher level Bharat norms, oil refineries need to produce diesel with less sulphur content because
- It is an air pollutant
- It deactivates the catalysts in particulate filter & other emission reduction devices fitted in the vehicles.
- Both A and B
- Neither A nor B
Q5. Consider following statements about flashpoint:
- Flashpoint is the temperature at which fuel catches fire.
- Indian diesel has flashpoint of 35 degree celcius.
- Higher the flashpoint, less dangerous the fuel.
Correct statement
- Only 1 and 2
- Only 2 and 3
- Only 1 and 3
- None of them
Q6. Consider following statements
- To improve the quality of petrol and diesel, refineries will have to add Olefin into them from Bharat stage IV onwards.
- Diesel with higher Cetane number is considered to be of lower quality.
- National biofuel policy 2008 requires Oil refineries to blend at least 5% ethanol with petrol.
Incorrect statements are
- Only 1 and 2
- Only 2 and 3
- Only 1 and 3
- None of them
Q7. Consider following statements about Methanol
- Pure Methanol can be used in treatment of retinal glaucoma
- Methanol is biodegradable in aerobic environment but not in anaerobic environment.
- In many countries, methanol is used as a fuel in race cars, including China.
Incorrect statements are
- Only 1 and 2
- Only 2 and 3
- Only 1 and 3
- None of them
Q8. Consider following statements
- CNG is not a safe fuel because contains traces of carcinogens such as Benzene in vapor form.
- In the whole world, North America has highest number of Hydrogen refilling stations
- Pure hydrogen fuel burns with blue flame hence provides highest amount of energy per kg, than any other fuel.
Incorrect statements are
- Only 1 and 2
- Only 2 and 3
- Only 1 and 3
- None of them
Mains
General Studies Mains paper 3 Syllabus topic: Environmental Pollution.
- Write a note on the salient recommendations of Saumitra Chaudhary Committee on auto fuels (200 words).
- What is India’s Hydrogen Vision 2020? (100 words)
- What are alternative fuels? Why is it impractical to adopt most of them in India? (200 words).
- What is Bharat Stage emission standards? Discuss the challenges in their implementation. (200 words).
- “To minimize vehicular pollution, Bharat norms alone are not sufficient.” Comment. (200 words).
Correct answers
- C-auto fuel vision policy
- D neither correct. Because Both Euro and Bharat norms are same. And higher stage means less pollution.
- C-Bharat Stage 3 or higher
- C both reasons correct
- B only 2 and 3 correct.
- A- 1 and 2 wrong. Olefin causes more pollution. Higher cetane is better quality.
- A- 1 and 2 wrong. Methanol itself can cause blindness even in minute quantity, how can you treat glaucoma with it! Second statement is also wrong.
- C- 1 and 3 wrong. CNG doesn’t have benzene and hydrogen flame colorless.