Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Analysing the implications of electrification of public transport buses in Pune city, India


Affiliations
1 School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 400 088, India
2 School of Natural Sciences and Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru 560 012, India
 

The urban road transport sector in India currently faces the challenge of increased travel demand, increased use of private vehicles, traffic congestion as well as alarming levels of air pollution. The consequent public health problems, energy insecurity resulting from oil imports and pressure to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the sector have also emerged as serious challenges for the country. Many cities in the world are considering electric buses for public transport as one of the potential solutions to address these issues. This article analyses the feasibility of introducing electric buses in the public transport fleet by estimating the financial burden that such a shift may entail, and the corresponding emissions it would mitigate. It also provides a methodology and illustrates the same for a city in India. The results indicate that while electric buses may not be financially viable at present and require state support and subsidies for operation, careful planning and phased implementation would make them a promising option for the future. The cost analysis indicates that for the immediate future, the replacement of air-conditioned diesel buses with similar electric buses in the fleet makes better economic sense. However, it is necessary to determine how the increased cost of using electric buses is to be distributed across the population of the city to avoid disproportionately burdening one section, i.e. bus commuters, with the cost of cleaning up the city’s air.

Keywords

Air pollution, electric vehicles, greenhouse gas emissions, public transport, urban roads.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • KPMG, Reimagining public transport in India. KPMG International Cooperative. (on-line) October 2017; https://assets.kpmg/ content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2017/10/Reimagining-public-transport.pdf (accessed on 20 October 2018).

  • Economic Times, India launches first auction of exploration blocks under new licensing policy (on-line), 18 January 2018; https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/oil-gas/india-launches-first-auction-of-exploration-blocks-under-new-licensing-policy/articleshow/62557212.cms (accessed on 22 November 2018).

  • Dhar, S. and Shukla, P. R., Low carbon scenarios for transport in India: co-benefits analysis. Energy Policy, 2015, 81, 186–198; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.11.026.

  • Xue, L. and Zhou, W., How did Shenzhen, China build world’s largest electric bus fleet? World Resources Institute, Shenzhen, China, 2018; https://www.wri.org/insights/how-did-shenzhen-chinabuild-worlds-largest-electric-bus-fleet (accessed on 5 November 2018).

  • Adheesh, S., Vasisht, S. and Ramasesha, K., Air-pollution and economics: diesel bus versus electric bus. Curr. Sci., 2016, 110, 858–862.

  • Hindustan Times, PMPML to float tender for 500 electric and 400 CNG buses (on-line) 27 April 2018; https://www.hindustantimes.com/pune-news/pmpml-to-float-tender-for-500-electric-and-400-cngbuses/story-fGdfDzKUToOwNE8tg6uoCN.html (accessed on 20 October 2018).

  • Pune Municipal Corporation, PMC Census Department, June 2019; https://pmc.gov.in/en/census?qt-city_census_department_overview= 1&qt-department_information=3&qtcity_census_department_populatio=0 (accessed on 27 July 2019).

  • Pune Urban Region, Census 2011; 2015; https://www.census2011.co.in/census/metropolitan/306-pune.html (accessed on 28 April 2019).

  • Pune Municipal Corporation, Pune Cycle Plan, 2017; https:// www.pmc.gov.in/sites/default/files/Pune-CyclePlan-Dec-2017.pdf (accessed on 10 May 2019).

  • ABP Maaza, Pune vehicles beat population number, 5 April 2018; https://abpmajha.abplive.in/pune/pune-vehicles-beat-populationnumber-of-vehicles-36-lakh-population-35-lakh-528636 (accessed on 21 October 2018).

  • Air pollution knowledge assessment city program – Pune. Shakti Foundation, New Delhi, Urbanemissions.info, 2017; https:// urbanemissions.info/india-apna/pune-india/ (accessed on 22 November 2018).

  • CSTEP, Implementation plan for electrification of public bus transport in Bangalore, Centre for Science, Technology and Policy, Bengaluru, 2018.

  • ISGF, Implementation plan for electrification of public transport in Kolkata. India Smart Grid Forum, Kolkata, 2017.

  • CSTEP, Electric buses in India: technology, policy and benefits. Centre for Science, Technology and Policy, Bengaluru, 2016.

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Mobile Combustion Category, 2006; https://www.ipcc.ch/report/2006-ipcc-guidelines-for-national-greenhouse-gas-inventories/ (accessed on 15 January 2019).

  • ARAI, Indian emissions regulations. The Automotive Research Association of India (on-line), November 2018; https://www.araiindia.com/pdf/Indian_Emission_Regulation_Booklet.pdf (accessed on 1 March 2019).

  • CEA, CO2 baseline database for the Indian power sector. Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Power, Government of India, on-line, June 2018; http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/others/thermal/tpece/cdm_co2/user_guide_ver13.pdf (accessed on 1 March 2019).

  • Saini, P. and Sarkar, P. K., Feasibility of electric bus operation in urban areas, case study – Delhi. Urban Mobility India (on-line), 2016; http://www.urbanmobilityindia.in/Upload/Conference/a409d3cd-25b7-4538-85e5-5a848f9cd290.pdf (accessed on 10 July 2019).

  • Lajunen, A., Lifecycle costs and charging requirements of electric buses with different charging methods. J. Clean. Prod., 2018, 172, 56–67; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.066.

  • Greenhouse Gas Protocol Emission Calculation Tools (on-line), 2019; https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/Emission_Factors_ from_Cross_Sector_Tools_March_2017.xlsx (accessed on 1 March 2019).

  • EMBARQ.org, Exhaust emissions of transit buses: sustainable urban transportation fuels and vehicles, on-line, 2012; https://wrirosscities.org/sites/default/files/Exhaust-Emissions-Transit-Buses-EMBARQ.pdf (accessed on 1 March 2019).

  • Mao, F., Li, Z. and Zhang, K., A comparison of carbon dioxide emissions between battery electric buses and conventional diesel buses. Sustainability, 2021, 13, 5170; https://doi.org/10.3390/ su1309517.

  • Zhou, B. et al., Real-world performance of battery electric buses and their life-cycle benefits with respect to energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Energy, 2016, 96, 603–613; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.12.041.

  • Zhao, E. et al., Emissions life cycle assessment of charging infrastructures for electric buses. Sustain. Energy Technol. Assess., 2021, 48; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101605.

  • Gazette of India, Scheme for faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles in India (Phase 2). Department of Heavy Industries, Government of India, 2019.

  • Gazette notification FAME scheme. Department of Heavy Industries, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise, Government of India, 2015; https://dhi.nic.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/OM_FAME_India.PDF (accessed on 25 November 2019).

  • Press Release, Sanction of electric buses under phase 2 FAME India scheme. Department of Heavy Industries, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise, Government of India, 2019.

  • Government of Maharashtra, Maharashtra’s electric vehicle and related infrastructure policy 2018, Department of Industries, Pune, 2018.

  • Central Institute of Road Transport, Review of the performance of State Road Transport undertalings for April 2016 to March 2017. Transport Research Wing, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, 2017.

  • DHI. Recommendations of the committee constituted to decide benchmark price for electric buses to be procured by different STUs, for release of demand incentives. Department of Heavy Industries, Government of India, 2018.

  • Kapadia, M. S., Mega cities power consumption to go up 7% annually. Project monitor-based on 18th electric power survey of India by Central Electricity Authority, 2013.

  • State Bank of India, SBI interest rates. 2019; https://www.sbi.co.in/portal/web/home/interest-rates-perquisite-calculation (accessed on 10 January 2019).

  • PMPML, Monthly performance reports, Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited, Pune, 2018.

  • MSEDCL, Retail electricity tariff of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd, applicable from 1 September 2018, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, Mumbai, 2018.

  • BNEF, Lithium-ion battery costs and markets. Bloomberg New Energy Finance, New York, 2017.

  • UITP India, Electric buses procurement in India – Indian cities got viable rates, UITP India, New Delhi, 2018; https://cms.uitp.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Procurement-of-Electric-buses-inIndia-20032018.pdf (accessed on 27 July 2019).


Abstract Views: 361

PDF Views: 130




  • Analysing the implications of electrification of public transport buses in Pune city, India

Abstract Views: 361  |  PDF Views: 130

Authors

Suvedh Jaywant
School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 400 088, India
Tejal Kanitkar
School of Natural Sciences and Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru 560 012, India

Abstract


The urban road transport sector in India currently faces the challenge of increased travel demand, increased use of private vehicles, traffic congestion as well as alarming levels of air pollution. The consequent public health problems, energy insecurity resulting from oil imports and pressure to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the sector have also emerged as serious challenges for the country. Many cities in the world are considering electric buses for public transport as one of the potential solutions to address these issues. This article analyses the feasibility of introducing electric buses in the public transport fleet by estimating the financial burden that such a shift may entail, and the corresponding emissions it would mitigate. It also provides a methodology and illustrates the same for a city in India. The results indicate that while electric buses may not be financially viable at present and require state support and subsidies for operation, careful planning and phased implementation would make them a promising option for the future. The cost analysis indicates that for the immediate future, the replacement of air-conditioned diesel buses with similar electric buses in the fleet makes better economic sense. However, it is necessary to determine how the increased cost of using electric buses is to be distributed across the population of the city to avoid disproportionately burdening one section, i.e. bus commuters, with the cost of cleaning up the city’s air.

Keywords


Air pollution, electric vehicles, greenhouse gas emissions, public transport, urban roads.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv122%2Fi5%2F557-568